Valentina Nicastro
There’s this widespread idea that life in Italy is slow, that we do everything senza fretta (unhurried), lingering over espresso in the sunshine while the rest of the world moves fast. And while I’m not a fan of stereotypes, I have to admit this one gives me the perfect excuse to dive into some great …
I’m sure we’ve all met one of these people at least once in our lives: the colleague who laughs a bit too enthusiastically at the boss’s bad jokes, the student who showers the professor with compliments that would make even a Hallmark card blush. The kind of person who’s always super nice to someone important, not …
Card games hold a special place in Italian culture. Walk into any bar from the Alps to Sicily, and you’ll likely spot a group of people gathered around a table, studying their cards with the seriousness of surgeons preparing for an operation. We play cards at Christmas, at the beach, at the park, on long …
Imagine you’re in Venice, leaning dangerously off a vaporetto to capture the perfect shot of the Grand Canal (hard to resist, I know), when the ticket controller rushes over shouting: Non è sicuro!(It’s not safe!). Then, in full tourist mode, you book a local guide for the afternoon. Don’t worry, your hotel receptionist reassures you, è una guida …
You’ve just landed in Italy. Obviously, you’ve already memorised all the food vocabulary (priorities!). Maybe you’ve also rehearsed a few survival phrases. But at some point (and trust me, it will happen) you’ll also need to explain how your body feels. And I’m not just talking about the “I think that fifth gelato was a …
Have you ever heard of a Tuscan pasta dish called gnudi? They’re basically ravioli with no pasta wrapper, just the delicious filling, served as it is. Naked dumplings, if you will. Which brings us—quite naturally and very deliciously—to today’s word: nudo. nudo In Italian, nudo can work both as an adjective and as a masculine …