Italy Blog

Custom Teaser:  As a student I knew that Pirandello had been born in Kaos, a suburb of Agrigento, but I never thought I would visit his birthplace or dreamt that Agrigento would become one of my favourite cities. However, on one hot, October day in 1992, I found myself standing outside the Casa Natale di Luigi Pirandello [Pirandello Birthplace] – at 12.55 pm., five minutes before it was due to close! Words by Pat Eggleton The A level student became a university student and there she studied Italian and fell in love with Italy on a first trip to Bergamo in 1969. read more

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Patti Chiari – How books brought me to Sicily – part 2

The phrase “dog days of summer” has taken on a whole new meaning for tourists on some of Italy’s beaches, where, as well as the traditional human lifeguard, they may well see a red-uniformed dog.

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Dog lifeguards are a hit with tourists

Italian composer Ennio Morricone [81] is to receive the Polar Music Prize, regarded as the “Nobel Prize” of the music world, on 30th August in Stockholm.

Excerpt from:
Polar Music Prize for Morricone

Over 150,000 people gathered in the small town of Guardia Sanframondi [Campania] on Sunday to watch a penitential rite that takes place every seven years on what has become known as the “giorno di sangue” [“day of blood”].

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Thousands gather for penitential rite

Italy’s Interior Minister Roberto Maroni has praised the French government for deporting hundreds of Romanians last week.

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Italy to be “tougher than Sarkozy” on Roma

Custom Teaser:  The double consonant in Italian is important and you will always hear it clearly pronounced.

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Take care with the double consonant

An unemployed man from Friuli-Venezia Giulia placed an advertisement on the internet offering one of his kidneys in exchange for €100,000 or a job.

Here is the original:
My kidney for a job

Custom Teaser:  Who really knows when a journey towards fulfilment begins?

Original post: 
Patti Chiari – How books brought me to Sicily – part 1

Custom Teaser:  If you are going to be in the Abruzzo region at the end of August and beginning of September, you will have the chance to see a very special event in Lanciano [Chieti Province]. From Sunday 29th August to Sunday 5th September the historic centre of the town will celebrate the medieval period when fairs were the hub of commerce and the centre of culture for many cities

Here is the original: 
Week-long festival in Abruzzo: the Mastrogiurato in Lanciano

After 900 years of male domination, the 425-strong Ente Gondola of Venice has accepted its first female member and the feminine word “gondoliera” has entered the language.

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First female gondolier for Venice