La vita italiana

This Valentine’s Day falls on the full moon. Every dog from Rome’s 22 rioni will howl until the Seven Hills echo with their cries. Small packs roam the city at night. Some beg scraps from commuters at Termini Station. Others congregate around …

A common complaint about old houses is the lack of closets.  The explanation is simple; before the Industrial Revolution the average person owned little more than the clothes he or she was wearing and a few tools and implements, all …

As we exchange gifts and recover from the debt accrued on our credit cards resulting from our holiday shopping, the end of December also means, at least for me, a time to get ready for the numismatic convention in New …

Genealogical research, after all, revolves about names.  The names of ancestors and relatives are the keys that connect us to them, and help to put flesh and bones on the dry statistics we may find.  To identify individuals, most western …

Last year New York City sports fans rooted for a potpourri of teams that were dull, inauspicious and almost comical in their athletic abilities.  From the New York Mets, Yankees, Giants, Jets, Nets, Knicks, Rangers, and Islanders, fans were greatly …

On New Year’s Eve, Romans stagger into Piazza Pasquino and pelt me with dry lentils.  Resembling coins, they symbolize good luck and are consumed in January throughout Lazio. Gourmands in Viterbo feast on lentils and cotechino. Rangers in the Aurunci …

  On December 8, a snow-white papamobile leads a caravan of black limos from Vatican City to the Column of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza Mignanelli, the southwest extension of Rome’s Piazza di Spagna. Dedicated shortly after Pius IX declared …

During one of my visits to Sicily, as I sat across the dinner table from my host Francesco, his wife Pina dished out mounds of spaghetti.  She seemed determined to fill her husband’s plate to capacity, but before she could …

By providing interesting insights into a culture, idioms and sayings add color to a language. Obviously, this also happens with the Italian Language. L’Italiano presents many common proverbs and idiomatic expressions, used so often by people in everyday talk that …

Dear Readers:  Before I get into the ‘meat’ of genealogical investigations, I’d like to clear up any misconceptions or ill feelings caused by my use last month of the term ‘Italians and Sicilians’.  I meant no disrespect to either group, …