Archive for 'Uncategorized'
Ponti d’Italia – 1. Il Ponte dei Sospiri Posted by Serena on Feb 3, 2012
Il Ponte dei Sospiri (The Bridge of Sighs) is one of the most famous of the roughly 400 bridges which span i canali di Venezia (Venice’s canals). Designed by the Swiss-Italian sculptor and architect Antonio Contino, il Ponte dei Sospiri was constructed at the beginning of the seventeenth century in order to span the Rio…
Una Ricetta Invernale Posted by Serena on Jan 27, 2012
Every now and then I publish una ricetta italiana (an Italian recipe), and if you browse through my recipe blogs you will notice that they all have one thing in common: they are senza carne (without meat). That’s because Geoff and I are vegetariani. Is it unusual to be vegetarian in Italy? Well, you’ll have…
L’Esilio di Napoleone all’Isola d’Elba Posted by Serena on Jan 25, 2012
Napoleone Bonaparte, who was born in Corsica in 1769 and died in exile on the island of St. Helena in 1821, was once the Emperor of most of Europe. In 1814 he was forced to downsize somewhat, becoming instead emperor of the little Isola d’Elba (Island of Elba) 10 km off the Tuscan coast, which…
Una Selezione di Blog del 2011 Posted by Serena on Jan 2, 2012
Allora, here we are at the beginning of a new year. I thought it might be interesting to start this year with a mini review of my 2011 blogs. Let’s take a look back at some of the diverse topics that we covered last year. I’d be very interested to hear from you, our readers…
Una Visita a Frasassi Posted by Serena on Dec 19, 2011
Il Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral), at 108.50 meters high and covering an area of 11.700 square meters, is the fourth largest church in Europe. Yet there is an enclosed space here in Italy that could swallow the cathedral whole! L’Abisso Ancona, altezza 200 metri, lunghezza 180 metri, e larghezza 120 metri (The Ancona Abyss…
Innovazioni Italiane – Part 2 Posted by Serena on Dec 16, 2011
In part 1 of this blog we began to look at some of the Italian innovations of the last 150 years since Italy’s unification. Let’s discover a bit more about Italian inventiveness: 1. L’Aliscafo (The Hydrofoil) Enrico Forlanini, already well known for his aircraft, helicopters, and airships, tested the first prototype of his aliscafo in…
La Breccia di Porta Pia Posted by Serena on Nov 30, 2011
Porta Pia is the name of the famous gateway designed by Michelangelo as an entrance through the Aurelian walls which once delimited the Stato Pontificio (Papal State). Ordered by Pope Pio IV as a replacement for the ancient Roman Porta Nomentana, Porta Pia was constructed between 1561 and 1565. Apparently Michelangelo presented three different designs…