Pizza...untouchable!

There are things one can not give up, even in economically tough times! For Italians, one of these untouchable pleasures is dining out with friends. According to recent statistical information about Italians’ eating habits, the numbers of people eating out have decreased but not as drastically as expected.
Dining at a restaurant is still a common practice for Italians, who perceive it as something more than just eating: it means spending time with friends, it means celebrations and sharing a relaxing time...The preference goes the more economical pizzas rather than the more expensive seafood dinners; yet, the habit of enjoying a good dinner with friends is still in vogue!

Let’s venture with words!

Read the following text and fill the blanks with the words or the expressions listed below:
come un lupo - sordo - Faceva paura - tromba - felino - si slanciò - fiamme - stramazzò - con forza - In quell'istante - il pirata - pugnale


Sandokan mandò un _____________ruggito. Con un salto _____________ si impadronì di una pesante sedia e _____________ sulla tavola che stava in mezzo alla sala. _____________; i suoi lineamenti erano ferocemente contratti per il furore, i suoi occhi parevano mandare _____________ e un sorriso atroce gli errava sulle labbra. _____________si udì al di fuori uno squillo di _____________ e nel corridoio una voce, quella di Marianna, gridare disperatamente: " Fuggi, Sandokan!". _____________ sollevò la sedia e la scagliò _____________ irresistibile contro il lord, il quale colpito in pieno petto, _____________ pesantemente al suolo.

Pronto _____________, Sandokan gli fu sopra con il _____________ alzato.
E. Salgari, Le tigri di Mompracem

As usual, if you find it too difficult you can contact us anytime!

The "new" Natural History Museum in Venice

After the nearly 10 years long restoration process, the Museum of Natural History in Venice has recently reopened with a new and intriguing exposition along the eleven halls of the Fondaco dei Turchi.
The Museum of National History collections include about two million pieces, which cover a historic period of 700 million years. The collections have been divided in three parts:
1. The trail of life, or paleontology: the giant dinosaur and the Sahara expedition by Giancarlo Ligabue open the exhibition, which presents in chronology the appearance of the different forms of life on Earth.
2. Collect to amaze, or the evolution of the naturalistic collecting. One of the several new things in the museum is the space dedicated to Venetian explorers and collectors from the 19th century, Giovanni Miani and Giuseppe De Reali, and from today, Giancarlo Ligabue. An area is also dedicated to the birth and development of naturalistic museums.
3. The strategies of life, or forms and functions in living beings.

Mine Vaganti by Ferzan Ozpetek

Mine Vaganti, the latest film by Ferzan Ozpetek, opened in the theaters on March 12.
The film was received with great favor at the Berlin film festival. It is a coral story and portrays the reactions of a ‘traditional family’ to the son’s unexpected revelation of his homosexuality. Set in the beautiful city of Lecce, among olive trees, “pasticciotti” and the blue sea of the nearby Gallipoli, Mine Vaganti narrates intensely and lightly at the same time a cross-section of Italian society, still intensely homophobic, and fogged by clichés.

Once again, Ozpetek brings on the scene a family, seen as an extended family to include friends as well as blood-related relatives, who care not so much for the sexual orientation of their son, brother and friend, as for his happiness. Once there is happiness, Ozpetek clearly states, everything else is secondary.

Terre della Venezia Orientale

Terre della Venezia Orientale. Guida turistica e culturale (€ 14,50), edited by Laura Pavan (Ediciclo Editore), is the perfect guidebook for those who want to discover the eastern part of the Veneto region, its art, its wines and its gastronomy.
The book will guide you through the territory between the rivers Sile and Tagliamento, and the many small cities and towns of the area, from San Donà to Portogruaro, and along the shore, from Cavallino-Treporti to Bibione, including also Caorle.

Terre della Venezia Orientale, published with the support of the province of Venice, combines scientific information with a clear and easy to read style. The numerous photographs, detailed maps of the itineraries of the territory and maps of the main cities make it an extremely user-friendly tool for the tourist.
There are four suggested itineraries: from the Sile river to the Piave river; from the Piave river to the Livenza river; from the Livenza river to the Lemene river, and from the Lemene river to the Tagliamento river. Each itinerary begins from a town on the coast and goes inland following the river. At the end of each itinerary, the reader can find a section dedicated to the typical products of the area and useful information (addresses and phone numbers of tourist offices, museums and cultural institutions, parks, markets, fairs and cultural events calendar).

The guidebook is also available in English, German and Slovenian.

magari

In each language there are words that escape a clear univocal definition and a precise use. This is the case in Italian of “magari”.
To look for help, we turned to the good old dictionary Devoto-Oli

MAGARI (ma-gà-ri)

It expresses:
a strong desire, felt as unrealizable “magari potessi andare!”[I wish I could go!]
an enthusiastic adhesion/acceptance: “vorresti venire con noi?” “Magari” [Would you like to come with us? Absolutely!]
a moderate assent “prendiamo un aperitivo?” “Magari” [shall we have an aperitif? alright]

2. It functions as adverb in parenthetical position as perfino, addirittura : “loro, magari, ti diranno che non lo sanno” [they will even say to you that they don’t know it]

The word magari comes from the Greek “makárie” vocative of “makários” meaning happy.

...alea iacta est!

In 49 B.C., on the shores of the river Rubicone (Romagna), which marked the border between Italy and Gallia Cisalpine, Julius Cesar stated the famous sentence: “Alea iacta est”, that is: “the dice is cast”. Crossing the Rubicone meant to violate the law that prohibited armed men to enter the Italian soil, hence Cesar’s action marked the beginning of the civil war, which brought the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of Cesar’s dictatorship.
The sentence still refers to actions that cannot be undone.