Déjà vu. On Thursday I am heading back up to Perugia to cover the verdict in the Amanda Knox Appeals Trial. Hundreds of journalists, including lots of Americans, have gathered in this Umbrian hill town, just as they did two years ago. The satellite trucks are packed in tightly in the small piazza in front …
One of the best things about Rome, after sunsets over the eternal city, is that it is the only place in the world where one can get a quick hit of Caravaggio on the run. Caravaggio 24/7. Unlike many women who marry Italian men, I had not studied anything Italian and came to Italy knowing …
Una delle cose più belle di Roma – a parte i tramonti – è il fatto che la città eterna è l’unico posto al mondo in cui si può avere un assaggio del Caravaggio in ogni momento. Caravaggio acca 24, sette giorni a settimana. A differenza di tante donne che sposano un italiano, io non …
According to author Amy Chua in her “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother” there are 7 points which distinguish a Chinese mother from a “typical Western overscheduling soccer mom.” Instead, I would like to contrast these 7 points with how I see the warmth and coddling of the Italian “Mozzarella Mamma”. I suppose if I …
Italy is the country where instead of giving someone the traditional finger in the car, you can really insult them by giving them the ‘corne’ or horns. That is the index finger and the pinkie raised to look like horns. If you say in Italian that someone has corne, it means that his or her …
According an Italian, whose name is preferable for an exclamation, Madonna or Eve’s? My adolescent daughters have adopted an Italian teenage expression. They pepper their conversations with the exclamation: “‘Maaaa – ddonnnnn– aaaa”. That would be “Madonna”. My Italian, and Catholic husband, Gustavo, does not like this one bit and every time he hears it he …
Food is nearly always top priority for Italians. A certain delicacy may even be worth physical risk. One example is the behavior of Roman cameraman Massimo Mariani. According to the story recounted to me by CBS producer/editor Jos Mason, Massimo was in the back of a jeep headed with a CBS crew down some rough …
The summer in Italy is a particularly trying time for a woman, especially in the sunny South. Rome is boiling hot in July and August, and Romans clear out of the city, heading for the mountains or beaches, leaving the tourists to swelter as they plod from the Coliseum to St. Peter’s Square. Anyone who …