La vita italiana

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 …

As we approach the Lenten season, many who follow the precepts of the church prepare themselves for forty days of fasting.  The pre-Lenten season brings two words to mind: Mardi Gras and Carnival.  Both terms relate to the festivities leading …

President Barack Obama met with French President Francois Hollande, and both world leaders discussed the economic and political issues of their respective countries as well as the Syrian crisis.  Since President Obama played host to the French president’s visit to …

The Renaissance proper began in Florence in the Fourteenth Century, a rebirth of the learning of classical antiquity, the discovery of long lost Greek and Latin literature, and a flowering of art, science  and scholarship – the creation of the …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …