Archive for 'Culture'
Una Tazza di Tè all’Italiana Posted by Serena on Feb 23, 2012
To understand this blog you’ll need two things: 1. a reasonable knowledge of Italian, and 2. a sense of humour! Salve, sono Geoff, il marito di Serena, e per quelli che non lo sanno già, sono inglese. Abito qua in Italia ormai da un po’ di anni ed è stata una sfida interessante, a volte…
La Scaramanzia Posted by Serena on Feb 20, 2012
Scaramanzia, nella superstizione popolare, significa: parola, formula, gesto, o azione di scongiuro contro il malocchio o la sfortuna (Scaramanzia, in popular superstition, means: word, formula, gesture, or action to ward against the evil eye or misfortune). Hence: dire qualcosa per scaramanzia; toccare ferro per scaramanzia (to say something for good luck; to touch iron –…
La Disfida dei Falò Posted by Serena on Feb 19, 2012
The tradition of the winter falò (bonfire) is common in many parts of Italy, including the area where we live, Lunigiana in the northern tip of Toscana centred around the medieval town of Pontremoli. The falò tradition goes back to the pagan festival of welcoming back the light after the darkest days of the year…
Venerdì 17 Posted by Serena on Feb 17, 2012
Aiuto, oggi è venerdì 17! (Help, today is Friday the 17!) Here in Italy the unlucky day is not Friday the 13th, as it is in many countries around the world, but Friday the 17th. Why is this day particularly unlucky? Is it because us Italians always like to be different from the rest of…
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…
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…
Sant’Antonio Abate Posted by Serena on Jan 18, 2012
On the 17th of January the Catholic Church commemorates Sant’Antonio Abate (Saint Anthony the Abbot), patron saint of animali domestici (pets and farm animals), macellai e quelli che lavorano il maiale (butchers and those who process pork), and coloro che sono afflitti dal fuoco di sant’Antonio (those who suffer from shingles or herpes zoster, commonly…