Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Objects Made from Body Parts Posted by Serena on Aug 25, 2014
A couple of weeks ago, when I was helping Geoff with our article Mixed Up Body Parts!, I was sitting on the sofa with my arm resting on the armrest, and the word il bracciolo (the armrest) came into my mind. I thought to myself: “Il bracciolo obviously has its roots in the word braccio…
Crapa Pelada Posted by Serena on Aug 21, 2014
If you had grown up in Italy in the Sixties and Seventies you would almost consider the four members of Il Quartetto Cetra as part of your family: they were on every TV show both for adults and for children. Well of course at the time we only actually had two TV channels: Rai Uno…
Saturday Night in the Village Posted by Serena on Aug 20, 2014
The other day, when I was weaving with Clara and Vincenza at the festival of Antichi Mestieri in Ponticello, Vincenza, watching Clara spinning the wool, began reciting a famous poem that we all studied at school: “Siede con le vicine su la scala a filar la vecchierella”. The poem is called Il Sabato del Villaggio…
The Weaver Posted by Serena on Aug 18, 2014
Dear Readers, many of you might find today’s blog quite challenging in that we haven’t translated the whole text into English but instead have concentrated on a selection of words and grammar. However, if you have any difficulty understanding what I’ve written please leave a comment and I’ll be pleased to help you out. In…
La Sbrisolona di Vilma Posted by Serena on Aug 4, 2014
Looking for a simple and delicious dessert? This cake which my friend Vilma made for my birthday is just the thing, la sbrisolona con ricotta. The name sbrisolona comes from the verb sbriciolare (to crumble), so a sbrisolona is a crumbly cake. It originally comes from the town of Mantova in Lombardy, where it is…
La Tempesta di Ugo Foscolo Posted by Serena on Jul 24, 2014
Introduction by Geoff It’s been a stormy week. It all began early Monday morning when a violent thunderstorm shook me from my dreams and commanded me to write a blog. Yes, inspiration from the skies! We began with La Tempesta from Vivaldi’s Le Quattro Stagioni, took a musical detour to 18th century Spain, courtesy of …
Boccherini in Spain Posted by Geoff on Jul 23, 2014
One of the aspect of researching for my blogs that I really enjoy is the way that one piece of information leads to another, and a whole new world of possibilities opens up before my eyes. On Monday, for example, I was searching for information onLa Tempesta when I came across a song by Angelo…