Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Having Your Watch Fixed in Italy Posted by Serena on Jan 12, 2016
The setting: il negozio di un orologiaio (the watchmakers/repairers shop) in a small town in Italy The characters: Serena (the client), and l’orologiaio (the watchmaker) Serena: “Buongiorno, ho bisogno di cambiare la batteria dell’orologio” Serena: “Good morning, I need to change the battery in my watch” Orologiaio: “Mi dia pure l’orologio che guardiamo il tipo…
The Three Kings Arrive in Florence Posted by Serena on Jan 6, 2016
In the early 1990’s I worked at the archaeological museum in Florence. I used to commute there every day from Lucca by train and then walk from La Stazione Santa Maria Novella to the museum. If I had time, I’d stop for a few minutes at Palazzo Medici Riccardi and visit La Cappella Dei Magi…
Foggy Italy Posted by Geoff on Jan 4, 2016
We wanted to begin 2016 with some music: “Forse troviamo una bella canzone su gennaio” (perhaps we’ll find a nice song about January)” said Serena … “Hmmmm, vedremo” ( Hmmmm, we’ll see) I replied sceptically 30 minutes of fruitless searching pass … my scepticism has, unfortunately, been justified. Italian songs with the word gennaio in…
Il Mio Primo Capodanno Posted by Serena on Dec 29, 2015
Avevo quattro anni nel mio primo Capodanno di cui ho un ricordo preciso. I miei genitori avevano deciso di passare le vacanze di Natale in Egitto e così la notte di Capodanno eravamo alloggiati in un albergo di lusso al Cairo. Dopo cena mia madre mise me e i miei due fratelli maggiori a letto…
A Very Special Christmas Tree Posted by Serena on Dec 23, 2015
Every Christmas when I was a child we had to learn the usual stereotypical seasonal poems which inevitably referred to il Bambinello (Baby Jesus), angeli e pastori adoranti (adoring angels and shepherds), and pace e amore fra tutti gli uomini (peace and love between all people). So, whilst searching the other day for an atypical…
Just Good Friends Posted by Geoff on Dec 21, 2015
A reader recently commented on my blog Italian Sexual Euphemisms “I would love to see a post about words to describe the less graphic interactions between men and women. I’m particularly confused about how to say ‘girlfriend’, as distinguished from ‘friend who is a girl.’ Same with boyfriend. I’m sure there is a lot of…
Italian Sexual Euphemisms Posted by Geoff on Dec 16, 2015
With a title like that I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be our most viewed post of 2015! WARNING: This Blog Contains Naughty Words and a joke with the word God in it! In my article Italian False Friends I wrote: “If I were you, I’d be more concerned about the plethora…