Blogs from Concordia Sagittaria, Veneto, Italy, Europe

[i]Lingua[/i] is the Italian word for language and also for tongue

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria July 21st 2007

A few of you have asked how I’ve been doing with the language barrier. I can say, for the most part, that I’m doing pretty well, and though the learning curve is steep, as long as I hear/ understand 60-75% of the words spoken to me, I can keep up with the conversation. A few exceptions… The oddest thing happened to me the other day. Language has been playing all kinds of tricks on me. The second night I was here, I dreamed in Italian: days of the week and conjugating some common verbs—it was simple but it happened. And you know what they always say ("they" being who?): if you dream in a foreign language you're getting the hang of it. Hasn’t happened since. But as I was saying, the other day I was—where was ... read more

Venice versus the rest of Italy, part 1

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria July 17th 2007

RECOVERED

michiamopatrizio

I spent most of Thursday, Friday and Saturday back in Venezia. Abe, my Brooklyn roommate whom I abandoned, had been in Switzerland for the Montreaux Jazz Festival, so I convinced him to stop here on his way back to Stati Uniti. Thursday afternoon Amanda and I tracked him down in Piazza San Marco. Along with a girl he'd just met we (brace yourself, New York) fed some pigeons. Right from the palms of our hands. After disinfecting, Amanda led us to a table in the sun at the Florian, considered by some to be the premier cafe in Piazza San Marco for cocktails. We ordered a champagne spread (one bottle of prosecco and bowls of olives, chips and nuts) and we sat back and we talked and we watched the sun course over the piazza. Live ... read more

Un giorno nella vita

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria July 17th 2007

RECOVERED

michiamopatrizio

I guess I'm at a bit of a blogging crossroads. Life here is great, but it's simple and I'm enjoying that most of all. Especially contrasted with the constant in your face and up-to-date New York world in which I was living. So how many times can I write about all the caffè I've been drinking and the pasta I've been eating without becoming repetitive to the point where the audience is lost? What did I do today? I was up by ten, drank a coffee, watered the lemon tree, watered the pool. Amanda and I rode our bikes to the baker to buy bread for lunch and by then it was noon, so we stopped at a café for a couple spritz aperol (prosecco spritzed with mineral water and aperol liquer). Plenty of people blog ... read more

What is Today?

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria July 9th 2007

RECOVERED

michiamopatrizio

Tuesday? Si, Martedi. The weekend passes like the days of the week: much ado about nothing, but at any moment something made from nothing. Family stops by for a caffè and end up staying through dinner, even if they choose not to eat; others drop in only to say hello and we end up following them home, 40 km away, for cena. The one (only) thing that gets me (just a little bit) down about being unemployed is that the week provides no great promise for the weekend. On the contrary, Monday does not loom with despair and sorrowful anticipation, but rather the chance to live another week at life’s pace. Last night we played our first game of Scrabble. In Italian. And I won. Certo. 108 to Amanda’s 81 to Signora Burigatto's 73. The gamebreaker ... read more

Sono qui (I am here)

Europe » Italy » Veneto » Concordia Sagittaria July 6th 2007

RECOVERED

michiamopatrizio

I promise the rest of the entries won't be quite as manic. As surprising as it may sound, life in Italy so far has been full of indecisions. Time to relax, but feeling restless. Working for years at the pace of a New York minute really gets your wheels wound up. So Amanda and I arrived here on July 4, and since then I've been a bit up and down just trying to get relaxed. My thought processes? I brought a handful of books to read and have started, oh, nearly all of them but can't decide which to stick with. Or if I want to even read at all right now. Not sure if I want to stay up late or sleep all day and kick this jet lag. So I get up early, have ... read more

Brief history of Italy

Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI establis...more history

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