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Nevicata Posted by Serena on Feb 13, 2012
Snow is dominating our lives here in Italy at the moment. This winter started off unusually mild, but now it’s hitting us with everything it’s got. A sprinkling of snow has even fallen on the small island of Pantelleria, just 70 km from the North African coast! The snow does, however, have its aesthetic aspect…
Neve, neve e ancora neve! Posted by Serena on Feb 10, 2012
Yesterday we had a bit of respite, the ventaccio gelido (horrible freezing wind) finally dropped and the snow and ice began to thaw. Che bella sopresa (what a lovely surprise) then, to wake up this morning and find more snow. Cavolo! Yes, it looks lovely in photos, but in reality the novelty of snow quickly…
Come Smacchiare Posted by Serena on Feb 8, 2012
Whilst writing my blog Come si faceva il bucato una volta (How the washing was done once upon a time) I remembered a little handbook that I sometimes refer to, which explains come smacchiare (how to remove stains). I asked myself how many people still bother to try and save a piece of clothing when…
Come si faceva il bucato una volta Posted by Serena on Feb 6, 2012
When our 78 year old neighbour Dina was a girl, la gente andava giù al fiume a fare il bucato (people went down to the river to do their washing). The freshly washed clothes were left stretched out on big rocks to dry in the sun. Dina remembers that ‘i panni lavati così erano tutta…
Ponti d’Italia – 1. Il Ponte dei Sospiri Posted by Serena on Feb 3, 2012
Il Ponte dei Sospiri (The Bridge of Sighs) is one of the most famous of the roughly 400 bridges which span i canali di Venezia (Venice’s canals). Designed by the Swiss-Italian sculptor and architect Antonio Contino, il Ponte dei Sospiri was constructed at the beginning of the seventeenth century in order to span the Rio…
Essere Vegetariani in Italia Posted by Serena on Jan 30, 2012
It was about 20 years ago that I discovered that my cousin Simona, who is two years younger than me, had become a vegetarian. Simona was very fond of her pet rabbit, so one day when she opened the fridge to find a dead, skinned rabbit inside she was so shocked that she decided to…
Una Ricetta Invernale Posted by Serena on Jan 27, 2012
Every now and then I publish una ricetta italiana (an Italian recipe), and if you browse through my recipe blogs you will notice that they all have one thing in common: they are senza carne (without meat). That’s because Geoff and I are vegetariani. Is it unusual to be vegetarian in Italy? Well, you’ll have…