{"id":10174,"date":"2015-10-07T17:18:02","date_gmt":"2015-10-07T15:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=10174"},"modified":"2015-10-07T17:18:02","modified_gmt":"2015-10-07T15:18:02","slug":"carmelas-italian-footwear-obsession-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/carmelas-italian-footwear-obsession-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Carmela\u2019s Italian Footwear Obsession \u2013 Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the train pulled out of La Stazione Di Mantova<\/strong> just before midday, Carmela was still on board. Mantova had been on her list of \u2018luoghi da visitare\u2019<\/strong> along with the name of an expensive shoe shop and a conveniently located bank, but having told the young vigile<\/strong> that silly story about visiting her poorly aunt there, she had immediately penned rimandato<\/strong> alongside that particular entry, just as she had for Modena.<\/p>\n

\u201cVabb\u00e8, a volte succede cos\u00ec\u201d<\/strong>, she told herself, \u201cmeglio non correre il rischio \u2026 non \u00e8 mica che non ci sono altri negozi di calzature o altre banche! Scendo invece a Verona, mi hanno sempre detto che \u00e8 carina come citt\u00e0.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Part<\/a><\/p>\n

By the time Carmela exited the glass and concrete structure of Verona’s<\/strong> Porta Nuova<\/strong> railway station the sun had dissolved the morning mist to reveal a limpid azure canopy. The shadows now cut clean into the pavement as she headed across the piazza in search of a bus to the centro citt\u00e0<\/strong>.
\nA poster advertising La Tempesta di Shakespeare<\/strong> at l’Anfiteatro Romano<\/strong> reminded her to try and visit the famous balcone di Giulietta<\/strong> \u2026 depending on how\u00a0things went with her \u2018business affairs\u2019 of course. Sometimes it was necessary to leave town rather more rapidly than one would have liked! \u201cVediamo un po\u2019 \u2026 mi piacerebbe davvero visitarlo!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Part<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite unpleasant childhood memories of her dysfunctional family, Carmela remained at heart a romantic. But, \u201c\u00e8 meglio sognare\u201d<\/strong> she always told herself, \u201calla fine i sogni sono quasi sempre pi\u00f9 belli della realt\u00e0.\u201d<\/strong>
\nYet she was also a pragmatist, and now she had work to do. A cappuccio <\/strong>and pasta alle mele<\/strong> was her lunch. If she ate too\u00a0 much she wouldn’t be able to concentrate, and she\u2019d already snacked on the train. Now to find an anonymous and inexpensive pensione<\/strong> where she could settle down to peruse her little black book \u2026\u00a0and\u00a0draw up\u00a0her plans. \u201cMeno male che quel poliziotto me l\u2019ha ritrovato sul treno! Devo essere pi\u00f9 attenta in futuro.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Part<\/a><\/p>\n

At the Ufficio Turistico<\/strong> in the nearby piazza she picked up a map of Verona and a list of pensioni economiche<\/strong>, then set off.
\nLater in a small cosy room at La Pensione La Rosa<\/strong>, with her few belonging laid neatly out on\u00a0the dresser, she sat on the edge of the bed, removed the expensive black ankle boots, and swung herself round until she was propped up comfortable against a couple of pillows with her legs stretched out before her. She glanced at the Beretta 92 placed within easy reach on the bedside table, broke off a chunk of cioccolata fondente <\/strong>from the bar in her lap, and opened her precious\u00a0libretto nero<\/strong>.
\n\u201cAllora, dove cominciare?\u201d<\/strong> she asked herself.
\nA look of pure pleasure lit her face as she turned the pages.<\/p>\n

\"Part<\/a><\/p>\n

Dear Readers, how do you find the format of these short stories? Is it useful to decipher the Italian dialogue by yourselves, or would you prefer a translation\/glossary at the end of each chapter? From personal experience I can say that I learned a lot from working through translations on my own or in a study group, but you may need help with idiomatic or colloquial expressions.
\nPlease let us know, we always value your feedback.
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

... and yes, in the next chapter you finally get to glimpse inside Carmela’s libretto nero<\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

When the train pulled out of La Stazione Di Mantova just before midday, Carmela was still on board. Mantova had been on her list of \u2018luoghi da visitare\u2019 along with the name of an expensive shoe shop and a conveniently located bank, but having told the young vigile that silly story about visiting her poorly…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":10179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[385922,385921,13312],"class_list":["post-10174","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-italy-by-train","tag-romeo-e-giulietta","tag-verona"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10174"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10201,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10174\/revisions\/10201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}