Topics
Language conventions:
Italian is in bold, English equivalents in Italics.
Italian is typically accented on the penultimate (next to last) syllable, or on any vowel marked with an accent, typically, ` , grave. To indicate accented vowels that follow neither of these rules, I use a , ^ , caret. This is not a part of the Italian spelling, but is an aid to pronunciation.
Blogroll
- Airline companies servicing Catania Aeroporto
- Catania (Sicily) Airport
- Catania airport daily flights
- Comune di Piazza Armerina link to the Villa Romana di Piazza Armerina
- Florence Scandicci line close-up
- iTunes link to English 24
- iTunes link to Gastronauta
- Lisa McGarry, writer and artist
- Rick Steves YouTube tour of Villa del Casale di Piazza Armerina
bus lines
places to stay
Author Archives: John Rose
Tracking down regional airlines: Italy and Europe
What if you want to depart or arrive from a smaller regional airport? How do you contact directly the small airlines with the inexpensive flights? There are the booking sites, but they don’t always handle details, such as a needed … Continue reading
Booking on Windjet
Having trouble booking online with the aerolinea, airline, Windjet? I wanted to fly from Rome to Catania, and Windjet offered flights nicely spaced through the day. The other low-cost airlines offered limited times, and none of them worked for me. … Continue reading
Posted in Airlines
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The T-1 Scandicci Tramvia line
The T-1 Scandicci line, Florence’s first tramvia, literally tramway or what urban planners often call light rail, travels to the periferia (pl.), suburbs, southwest of Florence. Scandicci is 6 km from Florence, and the 7.4 kilometer line makes the full … Continue reading
Posted in Transportation
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Radio and Podcasts in Italian
Plenty of helpful Italian podcasts and radio can be had on iTunes or at a station's website. A few shows I subscribe to are English 24, Gastronauta, and Decanter. When I began listening to Italian radio on the computer some … Continue reading
Posted in Radio and Podcasts in Italian
Tagged italian podcasts, italian radio, radio 24, RAI 2
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Centuries
Il quattrocento (literally, the 400) refers to the 1400’s. Il novecento (lit., the 900), the 1900’s. This is the common form. They also use sêcolo, century, the same way we do. Il diciottêsimo sêcolo, the eighteenth century, is the 1700’s, … Continue reading
Enough with the counting, already. I just want to buy some formaggio and salumi, cheese and cured meats
The basic unit of measure in the marketplace is the etto, .22 pounds (one-tenth of a chilo). One etto is un’etto, about one-quarter pound. Un chilo (one kilogram) = 2.2 pounds. At the market, you order by the etto, plural … Continue reading
Posted in Easy language tips
Tagged counting in italian, italian marketplace, italian pronunciation
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Pronunciation tips
This will help when ordering items from signs at counters, reading menus, in il mercato, and more. A c followed by an i or e renders a soft English “ch” sound: ci (as in peachy, dieci); ce (as in chest, … Continue reading
Useful Italian: Counting and your birthday
A travel book I enjoy is Next Time Round in Tuscany by Ian Norrie. The following guide is for the first time round, and the best simple thing you can do first time round is to learn numbers and counting. … Continue reading
Posted in Easy language tips
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Oltrarno
Oltrarno comprises five neighborhoods along the south bank of the Arno. Arrayed west to east, these are Pignone, San Frediano, Santo Spirito, Pitti, and San Niccolò. From the Comune di Firenze, Council of Florence, website, here’s a map that accurately … Continue reading
Favorite Florence neighborhoods: Santo Spirito
This section is about Santo Spirito, our favorite piazza and quartiere, neighborhood, the place we think of as our “home” in Florence. Reading about Florence, you’ll read about Oltrarno, the area across the Arno from the historic center. Oltrarno is … Continue reading
Posted in Favorite Florence neighborhoods
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