My Italy student exchange: 4 things I wish I’d known
June 17, 2011Two decades ago this month, I was on the plane on my way back to Canada after a year abroad on an Italy student exchange program with AFS. I’ve since spent five of the last 20 years living and…
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Five favorite books for travelers to Italy or Italophiles
December 16, 2010The five recommendations below are all on my bookshelf. They are the ones I pick up frequently: the ones bookmarked with color-coded sticky flags, and the ones that I buy again and again as gifts for people. For…
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Meet the locals, but share your perspective, too
October 25, 2010Mingling with locals definitely brings a foreign destination to life, but there's one thing no local has: your perspective. They will never know that you love cobblestones unless you tell them. When I was in high school, our…
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Five favorite Italian words
May 03, 2010I was tagged by Melanie at the Italofile blog to write a post about five of my favorite Italian words, which I thought would be a lot of fun. So here they are, plus the reasons I picked them: Via!…
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Picnics in Italy
April 23, 2010The photo above was a picnic for about 20 people that we organized at a farmhouse in Tuscany. We just knocked on the door and asked the owners if we could use their back yard and it worked well. Picnicking…
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Italian language learning tip: notice Italian signs
February 05, 2010Learning a new language is a bit like detective work at first. You can memorize the grammar rules and a list of vocabulary and practice your accent, but those things are only useful when implemented in communication. Once you’ve arrived…
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Five Italian words with unsatisfying English equivalents
January 28, 2010If I’m speaking English with someone who I know speaks or understands Italian, I tend to inject the words below into conversation rather than use the English approximation. The Italian version is just better! Have a look at the…
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Do you know the name of this mountain? (and why you should know local names)
October 23, 2009Is it: a) Matterhorn b) Mont Cervin c) Monte Cervino d) all of the above The answer is D. Asking Italians about The Matterhorn – a Swiss mountain also visible from Italy and France – will produce blank…
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Why are there holes in Italian buildings and towers?
October 16, 2009When I worked as a tour guide in Italy, I got this question pretty frequently from travelers who paid attention to architecture. Why are there holes in Italian buildings and towers? The photo below is of the clock tower in…
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Write an Article for Italy Beyond the Obvious
Would you like to write an article to be published on Italy Beyond the Obvious? Read this first.
