It can’t be that different, I hear you cry. Both European countries, only one hour of time difference, essentially both “Christian” countries… surely the differences are minimal? Well there are similarities, and culture shock going from the UK to Italy of vice versa is surely not as great is it would be between say the UK and…
Wordy Wednesday – D is for Donna
Not the name. The word donna in Italian means woman. The etymology is simple, from the Latin domna meaning lady or mistress. There are no particular historic connotations of note. However… Italian society is notable for its lack of equality. The statistics speak for themselves. Circa 20% of women in Italy are unemployed in comparison…
Driving in Italy – the real rules of the road
The main rule to keep in mind when driving in Italy is that there are no rules. Or rather, there are, just don’t expect anyone to stick to them. They are more like… guidelines. Which, much like those emanating from the European Union, are routinely ignored. Most people will tell you “don’t drive in Italy” and…
Wordy Wednesday – C is for Ceramica
Ceramica, Ceramic. Practically synonymous with the Amalfi Coast, and in particular with Vietri, the first town on the coast after the city of Salerno. The town is linked to Cava dei Tirreni (a quarry turned city) and the art of ceramic deveoped from there. Vietri is now covered with colourful works of art in ceramic…
Birthday cake and a new camera
I don’t have a huge amount to say tonight, but I am ridiculously excited that I got a brand spanking new camera (in case you didn’t notice I had been taking pictures with my mobile phone) and am looking forward to taking lotsalotsalotsa pics and sharing them with you all! I was at a birthday…
Birra in Villa – Beer festival!
Now most of us perhaps think of beer as being more of a Northern European thing… after all, the Southerners have wine. We in the North aren’t that great at making wine… so they won’t be great at making beer. Stands to reason, right? Um, wrong. Dratted Southerners… Birra in Villa in Castel San Giorgio…
Survival Guide – Coffee
Coffee. Many of us are addicted to the stuff. The Italians however take coffee obsession to a whole new level, and sometimes it can seem as though there are as many types of coffee in Italy as there are pasta shapes – that’s a lot of coffee people! It can get confusing, especially as there…
Survival Guide – The Aperitivo
The Italians call it happy hour, but it is unlike any happy hour any of us anglosaxons are familiar with. The drinks don’t cost any less than at other times, in fact they may even cost a couple of euros more… the difference is that you get fed! This can be anything from some salted…
“Regù” Salernitano
No, not a mispelling. I really do mean Regù, not Ragù. They say that traditional is best and that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and traditional Ragù Bolognese certainly isn’t broken but one of our friends, Domenico decided he was going to “fix” the recipe anyway, and change the name to make it…
Wordy Wednesday – B for Bella Figura
Wordy Wednesday is back and as promised is sticking to the alphabet. Today I am going to attempt to explain the incredibly Italian concept of the Bella Figura (literally “good face”) This is a phrase you will hear often in conversation. When used positively it is accompanied by smiles and immense enthusiasm “che bella figura…
Bologna
I am in Bologna for work and realised too late that I need a wifi code for the internet if I want to write a proper post… The b&b owner has left, so I’m stuck… I primise I will post wordy wednesday as soon as I can get a stable connection… With love, from Italy
lovefromitaly 