Culture

A Day in Vignanello

1 week ago

by Peta in Culture, Lazio, Travel Tips

TweetThis Sunday with the weather a little less conducive to wandering around an ancient village so we decided not to travel too far from home. I had heard there is a regular antique/bric-a-brac auction in Vignanello (about 10 minutes from Soriano) & missing a little of our life in Oz [...]

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We Came, We Harvested, We Made Olive Oil!

2 months ago

by Michael in Culinary, Culture, Food, Umbria

In November 2011, Culture Discovery Vacations brought a group of guests to a small traditional cold press olive mill. They harvested olives in Umbria, brought them to the mill, and operated the mill, making their own olive oil from start to finish.

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A Pig Named Sumo

1 year ago

by Michael in Cooking, Culture

TweetPaolo and Marisa are, by all accounts, your typical everyday Italian farmers. That is, with one big exception: Their farm happens to be across the road from us… those crazy people that bring all of the Americans to town… Yes, Canadians, Australians and Brits, too.. but to them, [...]

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Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Tales of Linguistic Missteps Learning Italian

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, language

TweetAnyone 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 [...]

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Italian Food You Won’t Find in Italy

1 year ago

by Michael in Coffee, Cooking, Culinary, Culture, Food, Travel Tips

TweetAs 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 [...]

The Mummies of Ferentillo

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, Travel Tips, Umbria

Tweet24 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 [...]

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My 5 Favorite Words in Italian

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, language

TweetToday 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 [...]

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You Want to Feed the Meal I Prepared… TO YOUR DOG?

1 year ago

by Michael in Cooking, Culinary, Culture, Food, Travel Tips

TweetOn 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 [...]

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“Boh!?”… And Other Perfect Italian Words & Phrases That Don’t Translate Well

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, language, Personal, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetWhen you split your life between two cultures with two languages, it is quite easy to get trapped in the wrong language from time to time. I sometimes find myself speaking one language, then suddenly a word or phrase pops out from the other. I don’t realize it until the person I am [...]

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Welcome To Italy… There’s a Tax For That

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetI haven’t gone on an Italy rant for a while, but with healthcare and taxes filling the US airwaves, it has really made me think about taxes in Italy. I’ll not get into my opinion of these subjects in the US, since this is not the place for it. I also don’t want anyone to see this [...]

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Anglitaliano: English Words in Everyday Italian

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, language, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetWe use a ton of Italian words in English. More than many might think. Just walk into a Starbucks, and you will probably walk out with something called a ‘LATTE‘ (Be careful asking for it in Italy, since all you will get is milk), and if it was a large, you will have asked for [...]

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Man Dies: Caught The Cold in Stomach

1 year ago

by Michael in Culture, Food, Let Me Vent, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetTraveling to Italy, some visitors notice various oddities about Italian culture that seem to defy explanation. Some are rooted in the socio-political history of the country, some are rooted in religious tradition, and others… the ones that are often the most seemingly nonsensical, [...]

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Who is Alfredo Sauce, and why do Americans keep asking about him?

1 year ago

by Michael in Cooking, Culinary, Culture, Food, Travel Tips

TweetI’ve heard it time and time again. ”I can’t wait to have Fettuccine Alfredo in Italy”. Ummm, sorry friend… you won’t find it. It isn’t Italian. Well, that isn’t entirely true, actually. You can get it in Italy, but you will never find anything like it it on a menu, [...]

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The Italian Beat – When Italy was covering all of our music

2 years ago

by Michael in Culture, Music, Things that make me scratch my head

TweetI was searching for Italian covers of popular International songs for the fun of it, and I couldn’t believe what I found. In the 60′s and early 70′s there was a huge trend for covers. Some are absolutely fantastic, while others are… well, they should have been left alone. I found [...]

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Calcata Italy – A Quick Peek

2 years ago

by Michael in Culture, Lazio, Tours, Travel Tips

Tweet Calcata is an ancient hilltop village that is about 45 minutes from Soriano, near Rome. What makes this village so special is that in the 1930′s, it was condemned, and became a ghost town. However, in the 60′s hippies and artists began to squat here, and over time it developed into [...]