I’ve been compiling a list of my fave Italian words on my phone for a while with a half-baked idea for a post, and I am grateful to this months Dolce Vita Bloggers theme of ‘five Italian words’, which has jogged my memory and allowed me to finally sit down and write about the Italian…
Continue reading ➞ Five Random Italian Words
I have been following Veronica Di Grigoli’s blog for a few years now, laughing along at the Sicilian Housewife’s struggles and humorous confusion associated with day-to-day life in Sicily as an expat. Now the blog has become a wonderfully polished and hilarious laugh-out-loud-belly-laughing-thigh-slapping book and I cannot resist expressing my absolute delight! The Dangerously truthful diary…
Continue reading ➞ The Dangerously Truthful Diary of A Sicilian Housewife
One of my favorite new blogs about this complex isle I live on is Secret Sicily written by a fab virtual friend of mine named Oriana. I love meeting new people through their blogs and I think good blogging is about bringing out your own personality, passions and interests. It was great to have a…
Continue reading ➞ Visit Secret Sicily with Oriana
This year on Blogging around the World we have been to Barcelona with Rob Dobson on Homage to Barcelona, to the Maldives with Irene from Maldives Dreamer, Saudi Arabia and around the globe with Tahira on Tahira's Shenanigans, enjoyed some fun tid bits from France with Joanna of Multifarious Meanderings, Florence with Misty at Surviving…
Continue reading ➞ Blogging around the world with Kate from Driving Like a Maniac
I have been dipping into Distant Drumlin a blog by Karolyn Cooper for quite a while now as there is a fascinating journey behind it and Karolyn has led me into the world of many other excellent international expat experiences and bloggers. The creator of Distant Drumlin returned to the UK after living in India…
Continue reading ➞ Blogging around the world with Karolyn from Distant Drumlin
There is no doubt that expat blogs from Florence are probably the most popular around, there are literally hundreds of them, but there are few which are able to make themselves stand out and original like Tiana Kai in Florence. Tiana combines her love of travel with her curiosity and knack with photography to explore Tuscany,…
Continue reading ➞ Blogging around the world with Tiana Kai in Florence
***Warning this post contains images of Italian toilets, bad double entendre and Australian slang*** I have never understood the reason behind the lack of public toilets in major Italian cities as you would think it is a common courtesy to keep lovely, clean toilets for tourists and visitors. So what should anyone visiting do to…
Continue reading ➞ The toilet situation in Italy
Elio Vittorini’s Conversations in Sicily has been on my reading list for a while and I was delighted to find the original English translation in the Amazon Kindle store compete with an introduction from Ernest Hemingway so I immediately snapped it up. However, for some unknown reason, it was never delivered and after several emails,…
Continue reading ➞ Conversations with Elio Vittorini and his critics
Today I want to tackle your questions about living in Italy full-time. To be honest I haven’t been asked many questions so I got my virtual and real Facebook friends to send me some random ones, which I’ll answer below. Maryann asks: How is the plumbing and the water? Well, the average Italian bathroom…
Continue reading ➞ Quirky questions about life in Italy
It is always a challenge for non native speakers of any language to learn and assimilate into a new country but Italy has its own particular surprises reserved for struggling expats. Before moving to Italy permanently I thought I was quite savvy with my Italian. After all I had almost majored in Italian, lived…
Continue reading ➞ Tongue tied in Italy
When I was a child I had an Uncle who was terribly capricious, a real joker (he still is until this day) and he took great pleasure in teaching my brother and I all the colourful Italian swear words possible. My Uncle thought it was all terribly funny and hoped we’d use them in front…
Continue reading ➞ Sicilian’s flare for uttering profanities
Lately, I’ve noticed a new development with my language skills. I think I’m going native. Many missionaries from past centuries wrote of how after years of living with a foreign culture and language they have felt like a constant outsider until the day when they realise their tongue has somehow assimilated elements of the local…
Continue reading ➞ Picking up a Sicilian vocabulary
Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s The Leopard (Il gattopardo) is my favourite Sicilian novel of all time. The sumptuous world of the Prince of Salina is a precious link to Sicily’s baroque aristocracy. It also inspired one of the best international cinematic productions with the classic 1963 film adaptation directed by Luchino Visconti starring Burt Lancaster as…
Continue reading ➞ Literary Islands: Giuseppe di Lampedusa
Most language students who study Italian at university level are familiar with Giovanni Verga as his short stories in the simple realist style are a perfect introduction to Italian Literature as they are easy for first-year students to follow. Verga’s short tale Cavalleria Rusticana was made into an opera libretto which together with the…
Continue reading ➞ Literary Islands: Giovanni Verga
This September has been a sombre month, the end of summer and the prelude to winter it is a transitional period in the cycle of life with the promise of new beginnings. The month began with the funeral of a friend's great grandmother who was the matriarch of the family. Carmela was elderly and she…
Continue reading ➞ A funeral, a wedding and a baptism in Sicily
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