Archive by Author
Fuoco! Posted by Serena on Mar 26, 2015
Every cloud has a silver lining, or, if you’re a writer, every cloud has a little story to tell. For example: Venerdì sera stavo preparando la cena quando Geoff, che stava lavorando al computer, mi ha chiamato: “ Serena, puoi controllare il fuoco per piacere? Sta facendo un mucchio di rumore”. Così mi sono asciugata…
A Bit More About Tanto Posted by Serena on Mar 24, 2015
Really … more about tanto?! Sì, è vero, c’è tanto tanto! (Yes, it’s true, there’s a lot of tanto!). In our last article on the topic Every Now and Then we looked at five of the most common uses of tanto. Today, I’m going to delve down into the deep dark recesses of il mio…
Una Canzone per tutti i Papà Posted by Serena on Mar 19, 2015
Oggi, il 19 marzo, è la Festa del Papà. Per celebrare questa festa ho scelto una canzone che parla di un papà, un papà vero. Il titolo della canzone è Viaggio Con Te ed è scritta dalla cantante Laura Pausini. Il padre di Laura Pausini è stato un musicista di piano bar e ha sempre incoraggiato ed aiutato Laura a diventare…
Spaghetti alla Carbonara Posted by Serena on Mar 17, 2015
There are several classic Italian pasta based dishes that have become well know throughout the world. One of these I described in my recent post la pasta all’Amatriciana. Another famous, but often misinterpreted, Italian pasta dish is gli spaghetti alla Carbonara. Origins: There are many stories about the origins of this dish. The most credible…
Neroli and Nerola Posted by Serena on Mar 11, 2015
When I was a child we use to spend our summer holidays in a little village near Roma called Montorio Romano. To get to the village we had to go past Nerola, a small town on the old Roman road known as the via Salaria. Outside Nerola, at the 47 kilometre ‘milestone’, there was an isolated…
Son Tanto Brava Posted by Serena on Mar 5, 2015
Sunday the 8th of March will be La Festa della Donna (International Women’s Day), and I thought it would be nice to find a special poem for the occasion. Searching through my poetry books and the internet for something appropriate I came across a short poem written by Sibilla Aleramo between 1912 and 1920, and…
Michelangelo’s Secret Room Posted by Serena on Mar 4, 2015
Last week I recounted an anecdote about my visit to the Vatican Museums and how I ended up running away from the Sistine Chapel. However, as I said at the end of it, “l’anno dopo ebbi la mia rivincita con Michelangelo!” (the following year I got my payback on Michelangelo!) Here’s how: The summer following…