The Italian New Year period is called Capodanno, literally ‘head of the year’. It is celebrated in much the same way as the rest of the world, although there are a number of quaint traditions to follow.
The night of the 31st usually kicks off with the cenone (big feast) where you can load up on [...]
Col bianco tuo candor, neve,
sai dar la gioia ad ogni cuor
E’ Natale ancora, la grande festa
che sa tutti conquistar
Un canto vien dal ciel lento
e con la neve dona a noi
un Natale pieno d’amor
un Natale di felicità.
I’m dreaming of a White Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten
and children listen
to hear sleighbells [...]
The streets are lit up, the shops are teaming, ‘jingle bells’ is everywhere… we can only conclude that arriva natale (Christmas is coming)!
The Christmas period starts properly with the decoration of the albero di natale (Christmas tree), not forgetting the all important stella (star) or angioletto (little angel) on the top. Under the tree in [...]
Italian consonants are relatively easy to pronounce as they follow simple rules and there are no irregularities in spelling as there are in English.
The following consonants are pronounced as you would expect them to be:
b, d, f, l, m, n, p, s, q, t, v, x
However, these consonants are a little different:
c - is pronounced [...]
Ingredienti:
300g farina
1kg patate
1 uova
sale (quanto basta)
Preparazione:
La prima cosa da fare è preparare le patate: lavatele e, senza sbucciarle, mettetele in una pentola con dell’acqua salata e lasciatele bollire.
Ancora calde, sbucciatele, schiacciatele e mettetele su un piano di lavoro ben infarinato.
Aggiungete un pizzico di sale, la farina e impastate fino ad ottenere un composto compatto ma [...]
There’s no denying it - when it comes to i vestiti (clothes) the Italians know what they are doing! La moda (fashion) is one of Italy’s biggest exports and the average person on the street usually looks like they have just stepped out of Vogue.
Here are some things the average Italian has in their armadio [...]
Italians have a different approach to la salute (health) than in many other countries. To say they are knowledgeable would be an understatement. Not only do most people know what the correct temperatura del corpo (body temperature) should be, they even know what their own temperature is on any given day. A slight variation to [...]
L’inverno (Winter) doesn’t officially arrive in Italy until the 15th December, although its presence can be felt a lot earlier than that. In many parts of the country nevica (it snows) as early as November, a great start for those who want to sciare (ski) but not so great for motorists stuck on the motorway [...]
One of the first things a visitor to Italy notices is that Italians look very slim and fit. This could be attributed to the mediterranean diet eaten here but it’s also because exercise is very important and most people like to practicare uno sport (do a sport). The most popular, as in other countries, is [...]
