How to Amuse Oneself in an Italian Hospital! Posted by Geoff on Sep 3, 2014
All photos (CC) by Geoff Chamberlain I don’t think anyone particularly enjoys waiting around in hospitals. Despite the good healthcare that I’ve come to expect here in Italy I’ve always found the hospitals to be particularly barren and institutional. Those long, naked, antiseptic smelling corridors are particularly unnerving, and the only thing to distract the…
An Ice Cream for the Prime Minister Posted by Serena on Sep 2, 2014
Last week’s cover page of the European edition of The Economist carried the image of a sinking paper boat made from a 20 euro note. Standing in the boat are, from right to left: the German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, the French President Francois Hollande, and the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, and seated behind…
Using Essere and Stare in the Past Tense Posted by Serena on Aug 29, 2014
Recently I received a comment from a reader asking about the correct use of the imperfect and present perfect of essere and stare. Here is my reply: Firstly, if you want to revise the difference between essere and stare, you can read THIS BLOG. Now let’s have a look at their use in the imperfetto…
The Edible Dormouse Posted by Serena on Aug 27, 2014
Cats are fascinating creatures, they teach us so much about nature! In fact nearly every day we study biology with them. They do the dissecting, leaving the dismembered carcasses outside the kitchen door, and we play the identification game: “Sooo, what did they kill for us last night? That looks like a rat’s head to…
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…