Blog :: Cooking & Touring in Italy
Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Tales of Linguistic Missteps Learning Italian
Sep 3rd
Anyone that has learned a second language knows all about those embarrassing moments when they were trying to say one thing, but unknowingly said something completely different. In most cases, the thing they actually wound up saying is something that would never say on purpose.
With that in mind, this is my tribute to those moments. I’ll share some of MY most embarrassing moments while trying to communicate in Italian over the years, as well as some of my wife’s while learning English.
Forgive me in advance for some of the profanity you will find here. It certainly was never intended when it was More >
Italian Food You Won’t Find in Italy
Aug 31st
As we learned with Alfredo Sauce in the “Who is Alfredo Sauce, and Why do Americans Keep Asking About Him? ”, that which you believe to be Italian, very often is not. Since we do culinary vacations in Italy, you can imagine how many people come with certain expectations about Italian food, only to learn… well, NOT Italian. Some of these things I list may seem obvious to you, but everything I list here has been an expectation by more than one person.
Hoagies / Sub SandwichesAbout ten years ago, a friend came to visit us in Italy. He spent about a More >
The Mummies of Ferentillo
Jul 6th
24 years ago on the Monday that followed Easter, we were boating on a beautiful lake in southern Umbria with a friend. He asked us if we had ever heard of “The Mummies”. Mummies? Naturally Egypt and King Tut suddenly popped into mind. No, not those kind of mummies…. So we went.
We drove to a tiny village that was so small and seemingly deserted that I was sure the tiniest of villages called it tiny. We walked up to the little church, and through a door into the basement. Laying on the dirt throughout this basement area were… yeah, mummies. More >
The Battle with Jet Lag – How to Fight and Win (sort of)
May 10th
It has always amazed me that some people suffer jet lag horribly, while others barely feel the effects at all. Me? I fall into the first group: I used to dread every trip because I fall squarely on the top of the “Suffers Horribly” column.
Before I go any further, let’s dispel a myth: You don’t get used to it. At least I didn’t. No matter how many times I cross that ocean, and no matter how often I do it, jet lag has always been up there with getting a bad flu for me. But over time, I have learned More >
My 5 Favorite Words in Italian
May 3rd
Today I received a tweet from Melanie (Twitter: @italofileblog) at Italofile Blog asking me if I would be part of a mass-effort of Italy-focused bloggers to each provide a list of their five favorite Italian words, along with a brief description citing why each was chosen.
A bunch instantly popped into mind, and as I was thinking of them, I went to look at the post that started the whole thing, which had been written by Jessica (Twitter: @italylogue)of WhyGo ITALY (another fantastic blog) and 2 of the favorites listed there were also among mine (Zanzara and Dai). Argh! So I had to think of More >
How (NOT) To Implement a Recycling Policy in Your Town
Apr 30th
I’m a big fan of recycling, and I was really happy to hear that our town, Soriano nel Cimino, was planning on implementing a recycling program. Better yet, it would include garbage pick-up. Cool! The fact is, that much of Italy is full of litter, many towns have garbage bins that overflow, and the concept of responsible dissposal isn’t quite what I am accustomed to. So this is fantastic, right? Ummm… not so much.
There is a popular joke that compares the strengths and weaknesses of various European societies. It goes like this:
Heaven is where the police are British, the chefs Italian, the More >
You Want to Feed the Meal I Prepared… TO YOUR DOG?
Apr 29th
On day one of every cooking vacation we offer, there is a little talk with all of the newly arriving guests. We go over the things that they can expect, and should not expect. We discus the plans for the days ahead, and we go over some of the more common cultural faux-pas that guests can avoid as we try to integrate them into Italian culture for their brief time with us.
One of the items on the list that seems to get more resistance than others is that of doggie bags. It just isn’t done in Italy, and once you understand Italian More >
