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Le Frittelle Per La Festa del Papà Posted by Serena on Mar 18, 2013
On the 19th of March the Catholic Church commemorates San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph), the father of Jesus on earth, and therefore on this day we also celebrate La Festa del Papà (Father’s day). This festival wouldn’t be complete without the traditional zeppole or frittelle di San Giuseppe, a type of sweet fritter or doughnut, which…
Papa Francesco Posted by Serena on Mar 15, 2013
On Friday the 13th of March, the Catholic Church chose its new pope, Papa Francesco. Jorge Mario Bergoglio (the new pope’s real name) is the first non European pope to be elected in centuries, the first ever Latin-American pope, the first Jesuit to sit on Saint Peter’s chair, and the first pope to choose the…
Grazia Deledda Posted by Serena on Mar 8, 2013
Today, the 8th of March, we celebrate la Festa della Donna (International Women’s Day), and as is now my tradition, I’m going to dedicate today’s blog to a famous Italian woman. In the past I have written about educationalist Maria Montessori, and artist Artemisia Gentileschi, today’s blog is about the writer Grazia Deledda. Grazia Deledda…
Memorie Napoletane Posted by Serena on Mar 5, 2013
Tanti anni fa, quando studiavo archeologia all’Università di Pisa, la mia prof. di Egittologia fu invitata a dare una serie di lezioni al prestigioso Istituto di Studi Orientali di Napoli. L’Istituto metteva a disposizione un limitato numero di borse di studio per gli studenti di Orientalistica che volessero partecipare a questi seminari della durata di…
Che Cavolo Mangiamo Oggi? Posted by Serena on Feb 24, 2013
We are reaching the end of the winter (hopefully), and the only vegetable that still survives on our sad orto (vegetable garden), all covered in snow, is il cavolo nero toscano (Tuscan black cabbage). With its tufts of long, dark green leaves that look almost black against the white wintery mantle, il cavolo nero is…
Il cognome del marito? No, grazie Posted by Serena on Feb 19, 2013
“Il tour mondiale della signora Carter. Ma chi diavolo è, vi starete chiedendo se, come me, vi siete persi alcuni dettagli della vita privata di una delle popstar più famose a livello internazionale? Agli ignoranti (in materia) come me, basterà un solo nome: Beyoncé … Ma era proprio necessario farsi chiamare con il cognome del…
Il Cielo In Una Stanza Posted by Serena on Feb 15, 2013
Yesterday morning I woke up with un tarlo musicale (literally: a musical woodworm, a repetitive piece of music that sticks in your mind) in my head. It was the beginning of an Italian song called Il cielo in una stanza, written by singer and songwriter Gino Paoli in 1960. This old song, wonderfully interpreted by…