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Albicocche al Marsala Posted by Serena on May 24, 2011
Going to the greengrocer at this time of year is a feast for the eyes and dolori per il portafoglio (pains for the wallet). Summer fruits such as fragole (strawberries), ciliege (cherries), albicocche (apricots), nespole (medlars), pesche (peaches) and meloni (melons), are just coming into season, but they are still very expensive. Last week I…
Andiamo a votare Posted by Serena on May 21, 2011
Here in Italy on the 15th and 16th of May, many towns and cities held elections to vote for their new administration. Amongst these was our local town, Pontremoli. Here in Pontremoli four groups put themselves forward as candidates for election: ‘Cara Puntremal’ (‘Dear Pontremoli’. ‘Puntremal’ is the dialect spelling for Pontremoli), ‘Amo Pontremoli’ (‘I…
Nomi Composti Posted by Serena on May 18, 2011
Not content with confusing foreigners with multisyllabic words we frequently like to stick a couple of them together – just for fun! These nouns, which consist of two or more words joined together, are called nomi composti. Here are a few common ones: 1. formed from the verb parare = to shield / to protect…
Ti fregano anche da morto Posted by Serena on May 15, 2011
It never ceases to amaze me the variety of ways in which i furbi riescono a fregare la gente (cunning people manage to rip folk off). Here is a little story about a fregatura (scam) that I read in the newspaper Il Secolo XIX: Tangenti sui morti, tre arresti – Bribes for the dead, three…
I Figli Mammoni Posted by Serena on May 12, 2011
In Italian we have a word that describes a high percentage of young Italian men: un mammone (a mum’s boy), or literally ‘a big mum’. The typical mammone lives at home with mummy and daddy until well past the age of thirty (my youngest brother moved out when he was thirty six!), he doesn’t usually…
L’Etimologia della Pasta Posted by Serena on May 9, 2011
I thought it would be fun to have a look at just a few of the innumerable varieties of pasta that we produce in Italy, and to discover where they get their names from. Click on the images below to enlarge them. Va bene, cominciamo con la pasta italiana più famosa: gli spaghetti (o.k. let’s…
Carsulae e la via Flaminia Posted by Serena on May 6, 2011
When I visit an ancient site I like to let my imagination wander and to ‘feel’ the history. I find this much harder, or even impossible to do amongst hoards of tourists, so I prefer to find lesser know places, such as the ruins of the Roman town known as Carsulae near Terni in Umbria…