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At the Art Gallery in Italy Posted by Serena on Dec 18, 2015
The setting: the ticket office of the Galleria Nazionale in Parma The characters: the ticket seller and an elderly couple Tired from the long journey and the heat, the couple are trying to make sense of the notice board at the entrance of the Galleria Nazionale: Marito: “Oggi che giorno è?” Husband: “What day is…
Memorie dal Silenzio Posted by Serena on Dec 11, 2015
La settimana scorsa siamo andati a La Spezia a trovare il nostro amico Omar, compagno di squadra del nostro club di Softair. Prima di tornare a casa Omar ci ha prestato il DVD del film American Sniper, che non avevamo ancora visto. Così ieri sera lo abbiamo finalmente guardato. Mentre scorrevano le immagini finali del…
Timeless Emigrants – Part 2 Posted by Serena on Dec 4, 2015
As promised in my last post, here is Part 2 of Edmondo De Amicis’ poem Gli Emigranti (The Emigrants). In the first half of the poem De Amicis describes the emotions of the emigrants as they board the ship which will carry them away into the unknown: the desperate men, women and children, clutching onto…
Timeless Emigrants – Part 1 Posted by Serena on Dec 2, 2015
I came across the poem Gli Emigranti (The Emigrants) by chance, and I was immediately struck by its timeless message. In a period when the news is flooded by images of thousands of migrants leaving their war torn countries to the apparent ‘safety’ of the west, we can forget that we Italians have also been…
At the Pharmacy in Italy Posted by Serena on Nov 24, 2015
The setting: a pharmacy in an Italian town The characters: the pharmacist and a family of tourists (mother, father and their child) Farmacista: “Buongiorno, desidera?” Chemist: “Good morning, how can I help you?” Signora: “Buongiorno. La bambina è stata morsicata dalle zanzare e si gratta sempre” Wife: “Good morning. My daughter has been bitten by…
Italian Style Preserved Olives Posted by Serena on Nov 23, 2015
Suddenly our normally quiet little village is very busy. People who don’t live here, but have land in the area, are coming and going every day: it’s time for the olive harvest. The first step is to clear the terraces on which the olives are planted of dead leaves. Then the nets are spread beneath…
A Walk Through the Woods Posted by Serena on Nov 18, 2015
Inspired by a lovely walk near our home in Valdantena I wanted to try and find an Italian autumn poem. However, unable to unearth anything that seemed to fit with what I had in mind, I eventually decided to write something myself, assisted by Geoff’s photos. Eccolo: 1. Una mattina apriamo gli scuri e scopriamo…