Archive for 'Culture'
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…
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…
Il Menu di Natale Posted by Serena on Dec 24, 2010
When I lived in England and taught Italian, at this time of year my students would ask me: "What is the traditional Italian Christmas meal?" They were very surprised when I told them that we don’t have a standard national pranzo di Natale (Christmas lunch), but each region has its own culinary tradition. So, this…
Auguri di Natale Posted by Serena on Dec 21, 2010
Yes, it’s time for the inevitable ‘Christmas Blog’. This year, I thought we’d have a look at what to write if you want to send a card to an Italian friend, or perhaps you just want to impress someone with your amazing linguistic ability! The mass exchanging of cards isn’t as big a thing here…
La Storia della Pasta – part 3 Posted by Serena on Nov 14, 2010
Evoluzione During the mediaeval period, the tradition of pasta, passed down from the ancient Greek, Arabic, and Etruscan cultures, was further developed by the introduction of new forms, such as hollow pasta, and pasta ripiena (filled pasta), and a new method of cooking. In antiquity, pasta was cooked, together with its condiment, directly al forno…
Pazzesca Burocrazia Gattesca – part 2 Posted by Serena on Nov 8, 2010
As I explained in part 1 of ‘Pazzesca Burocrazia Gattesca’ (Crazy Cat Bureaucracy), getting Mimì the cat sterilized turned out to be rather more complicated than we had anticipated. In order to qualify for the free service which should be provided for gatti randagi (stray cats) we would be obliged to jump through all sorts…