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Finocchi Gratinati Posted by Serena on Jan 18, 2011
We are in the middle of winter here in Italy, and one of my favorite vegetables at this time of the year is il finocchio (‘bulb’ or ‘Florentine fennel’). We divide fennel bulbs into two categories: if the bulbs are round and compact, they are called finocchi maschi (male fennel) and are best eaten raw…
In Posted by Serena on Jan 15, 2011
‘In’ is one of those Italian words that seems like a gift from the gods for English speaking students of ‘La Bella Lingua’. Finally a word that is exactly the same in Italian as it is in English! … or is it? In = in There are certainly cases in which the two words coincide…
Gli Spauracchi Posted by Serena on Jan 12, 2011
Most of us, when we were children, had our own spauracchi. Often they lived under the bed or down in the cellar. Mine used to hang out in a dark corner of the landing that I had to pass whenever I needed to go to the bathroom during the night. Every culture has its spauracchi…
Gennaio Posted by Serena on Jan 10, 2011
Gennaio (January), the first month of the year, takes its name from Janus, the Roman god of gates and beginnings who is represented with two faces, one on the front and one on the back of his head. Principali Festività (Main Festivals): On the first of January we celebrate Capodanno (New Year’s Day). On the…
Il Turista Sotterraneo – 2. L’Italia del Centro-Sud Posted by Serena on Jan 6, 2011
Let’s continue our visit to underground Italy. In our last post we visited some Hidden Places in the North of Italy. Today we are going to visit the centre and the south of Italy. Chiusi Several years ago, Geoff and I spent a couple of weeks exploring Umbria, and as we are very interested in…
Il Turista Sotterraneo -1. Italia del Nord Posted by Serena on Jan 3, 2011
Let’s begin 2011 with a brief look at an aspect of Italy that few tourists ever see: L’Italia di Sotto (Underground Italy). Milano Visiting the modern industrial city of Milan you would never guess that a century ago it was not unlike Venezia: a city of canals! In order to make the most of every…
La Tombola Posted by Serena on Dec 30, 2010
The other day I was reminiscing with some friends about games we used to play during the Christmas and New Years holidays in the good old pre-electronic games days. Probably one of the most popular cooperative games was, and hopefully still is, la tombola (with the accent on TOM-bola), which is more or less the…