Fabulous Florence in Pictures

We had a fabulous time, and marched our way around the churches and museums and ate our way round the foccaherias, gelaterias, mercado, trattorias and ristoranti!

My top food places of the trip were:

1. Il Latini – Via dei Palchetti 6
2. Trattoria Marione – Via della Spada 27/r
3. Gelateria Carraira – at the Oltrano end of the Ponte alla Carraira (and the Foccaheria just round the corner from it).
4. Mercato Centrale
5. Zoe РVia d̬ Renai, 13/r

Il Latini

The most memorable meal of the week – not least because I hadn’t quite got my Italian tongue in yet. We queued briefly for a table and were then seated between a family of Italians and a French couple.

The waiter opened a 2-litre straw covered bottle of chianti for the table that we were sharing with the French couple and then asked us whether we wanted apperitivo. I thought that he meant apperatifs so tried to order some and failed. He then asked whether we wanted apperitivo or soup or pasta, we went for apperativo to give us some thinking space. I was getting a bit worried by this point.

Anyway a wonderful mezze of different appetiser dishes started to appear: beutiful fresh milky soft mozerella with ripe tomatoes, chicken liver crostinis, melon and prosciutto and a grain salad. Meanwhile I was asking the French lady whether she had understood the deal with the wine as none of us had touched it. She caught the waiter’s attention and asked him in French – it was being charged for by the glass so we tucked in.

The apperitivo plates were cleared and I has started to settle down assuming that a menu would soon be provided. But no, to my alarm, another waiter came back and asked us whether we wanted soup or pasta next! The whole meal continued in this way – it certainly kept us on our toes but the food and the atmosphere were wonderful!

• Apperitivo
• Penne with Ragu
• A large thick beautiful pork steak with a salted spinach contorno
• At this stage we gave up and said no to dessert!
• Cantucci with Vin Santo
• No to coffee
• Limoncello gratis while we waited for the bill
• Oh, and two glasses of wine each and a bottle of mineral water

Then papa, for this was a family-run restaurant, was finally found to give us the bill. He arrived at the table and our waited came up to recite, from memory, what we had had (right down to the correct number of glasses of wine)! €70!

Zoe

For chilling, masses of free apperitivo (on a held-yourself basis), seeing and being seen and for Negronis. I am now waging a campaign to bring back Campari to the masses – it’s not all Luton Airport and Lorraine Chase you know!

Trattoria Marione

Wonderful plate of meats including a smoked lard. Fabulous piece of roasted pork rolled with sage – served with potatoes that had been roasted under the pork!

I do regret not having had a Bistecca alla Fiorentina though – especially after having read this review.

Never mind I have stroked the porcellino so I am destined to return to Florence and I can expand my knowledge then.

Filed under: Birthday, Cocktails, Food, Himself, Holiday, Italian, Language, Uncategorized

Revising Vocab

This is the vocab that we have leant so far.

Verbs

1. Guardare – to watch
2. Abitare – to live
3. Parlare – to speak/talk
4. Suonare – to play (an instrument)
5. Fumare – to smoke
6. Guidare – to drive
7. Lavorare – to work
8. Giocare – to play (a sport)
9. Ballare – to dance
10. Compare – to buy
11. Visitare – to visit
12. Studiare – to study
13. Mangiare – to eat
14. Passare le vacanze – to spend holidays
15. Acoltare – to listen
16. Preparare – to cook/ prepare
17. Telefonare a – to telephone
18. Desiderare – to desire/want

Phrases

1. Dove abiti? – Where do you live? (Inf)
2. Come? / Scusi?/ Prego? – Sorry (as in can you repeat please)
3. Qual è? – What is? (Kwalé?)
4. Come si scrive? – How is it spelt?
5. Di dove sei? Di dove? – Which country are you from? Which part?
6. Beata te! – Lucky you! (Fem)
7. Beato te! – Lucky you! (Masc)
8. Invece – On the other hand
9. In periferia – on the outskirts
10. In centro – in the centre
11. Ma – but
12. in – in a region/country
13. a – in a town
14. all’università di Warwick – at the University of Warwick
15. Controliamo – Shall we check?
16. Perce non? – Why not?
17. Con – with
18. Come state? – How are you? (plural)
19. Sto bene, grazie – Well,thank you
20. Benissimo, e lei? – Wonderful, and you?
21. Io sono la Signora Leaver – I am Miss Leaver
22. Questo è – This is (Masc – Form & Inf)
23. Questa è – This is (Fem – Form & Inf)
24. Ti presento il mio amico – Let me introduce you to my friend
25. Di dov’è? Where are you from? (Form)
26. Sono inglese di Essex – I am English, from Essex
27. Di dove sei? – Where are you from? (Inf)
28. Chi è? – Who is?
29. No es possible – It’s not possible.
30. Buon pomeriggio – Good Afternoon
31. Ascolto – Listen
32. Pronto – Ready
33. Sono – I am
34. Sto – I am (feeling/emotions)
35. Come ti chiami? – What is your name? (Inf)
36. E Lei? – And you? (Form)
37. E tu? – And you? (Inf)
38. Piacere – Pleased to meet you.
39. Come stai? – How are you? (Inf)
40. Puoi ripetere per favore? – Can you repeat that please?
41. Credo – I think
42. No lo so – I don’t know
43. Anche io – Me too
44. A presto! – See you soon
45. A domani! – See you tomorrow
46. Alla settimana prossima! – See you next week
47. Ciao – Hi/ Bye
48. Buonasera – Good Evening
49. Buongiorno – Good Day
50. Buonanotte – Good Night
51. Arrivederci – Goodbye
52. Come si chiama? – What is your name? (Form)
53. Salve – Hello/ goodbye
54. Mi chiamo – My name is
55. Si – Yes
56. No – No
57. Per favore – Please
58. Grazie – Thank you
59. Prego – You’re welcome/ excuse me/ pardon me
60. Scusi – Excuse me (attracting attention)
61. Mi scusi – Excuse me (sorry)
62. Permesso – Excuse me (Let me through)
63. Alora – Well…
64. Me dispiace – I’m sorry
65. Non parlo italiano – I don’t speak Italiano
66. Non capisco – I don’t understand
67. Capiche? – Understand?
68. Non c’è male – Not bad (Response to How are you?)
69. (Non) Sto bene/ male
70. Come vi chiamate? – How are you? (Plural Inf) – CHECK
71. Qual è il tuo indirizzo? – What is your address? (Inf)
72. Qual è il tuo numero di telefono? – What is your phone number? (Inf)
73. Che cosa studi? – What are you studying? (Inf)
74. Un po’(ca) – a bit
75. Senza – without

Nouns

1. la sera – evening
2. la musica – music
3. la TV – the TV (t-vu)
4. la targa – car number plate
5. golf/rugby/tennis
6. calcio – football (north)
7. pallone – football (south)
8. la publicità – publicity
9. la cità – city
10. il bambino – the little boy
11. il bambina – the little girl
12. il compito – homework
13. la torre – the tower
14. il pianoforte – piano
15. Signore – Mrs
16. Signore – Mr
17. Signorina – Miss
18. Pane – Bread
19. Dottore – Anybody with a university degree (if you put a name after Signore or Dottore you loose the final e)
20. Professore – A teacher or lecturer
21. Cognome – a surname
22. Scitore – a writer
23. Nome – Name
24. La nazionalità – nationality
25. La città di origine – City of origin (birthplace?)
26. Il indirizzo – address
27. Il numero di telefono – telephone number
28. il cuoco – a cook
29. il cuore – a heart
30. la lavagna – the blackboard
31. la porta – the door
32. il registratore – the tapeplayer
33. la finestra – the window
34. la penna – a pen
35. la sedia – a chair
36. il insegnante – the teacher
37. il tavolo – a table
38. il libro – a book
39. Germania – Germany
40. Inghilterra – England (also commonly used for Britain)
41. Portogallo – Portugal
42. Francia – France
43. Svizzera – Switzerland
44. Spagna – Spain
45. Italia – Italy
46. Irlanda – Ireland
47. la chitarra – a guitar
48. uno zucchero – the sugar
49. un ristorante – a restaurant
50. un tavolo – a table
51. un bicchiere – a glass
52. una birra – a beer
53. un caffé – a coffee
54. un té – a tea
55. un succo di frutta – a juice (bottle/carton)
56. uno pasta – a pastry
57. un panino – a bread roll
58. un bar – a bar
59. uno scontrino – a till receipt
60. una tazza – a cup
61. un vino – a wine
62. un cappuccino
63. un limone – a lemon
64. uno cioccolata – a hot chocolate
65. uno spremuta – a fresh juice
66. un cornetto – a croissant
67. un gelato – an ice cream
68. un toast – a toastie
69. una cassa –
70. una bottiglia – a bottle
71. uno spumante – asti
72. un espresso
73. un latte – a milk
74. un’acqua minerale – a mineral water
75. un’aranciata – a fanta
76. una pizza
77. giaccio – ice
78. la tivu – the telly
79. lo sport – sport
80. un bugiardo – a liar
81. un italiano – an italian
82. uno spagnolo – a spaniard
83. uno studente – a student
84. uno zoo – a zoo
85. il prosecco
86. un caffé latte – a white coffee
87. un macchiato – un espresso con un po’ di latte
88. la schiuma – the froth
89. un caffé correto – coffe with grappa/brandy (un corretto con grappa)
90. un caffé americano
91. un latte caldo – hot milk
92. un latte freddo – cold milk

Adjectives & Adverbs

1. piano – slowly/soft (and break with hand)
2. forte – quickly/loudly
3. austriaco/a – Austrian
4. tedesco/a – German
5. americano/a – American
6. francese – French
7. inglese – English
8. irlandese – Irish
9. italiano/a – Italian
10. molto – a lot/ much/ many
11. caldo – hot
12. freddo – cold

Pronouns

1. Lei – You (formal)
2. lei – she
3. lui – he
4. io – I
5. noi – we
6. voi – You (Formal)
7. loro – they

That’s 204 words!

Filed under: Italian, Language

Cosa fa Casey il lunedì? Il lunedì faccio il compito.

Mi chiamo Casey. Sono inglese di Essex ma adesso abito a Coventry.
Lavoro all’università di Warwick in l’officina di publicità.

Studio
italiano, il lunedì seguo un corso di italiano all’università. Anch’io
parlo il francese e il russo. Vorrei passare le vacanze in Italia, in
la città di Firenze.

Quando non lavoro mi piace preparare gli piatti italiani, amo molto la cucina italiana.

Il sabato spesso visito i negozi. Mi piacciono le scarpe con il tacchi alti.

And here’s what I think I’ve said:

My
name is Casey. I am English, from Essex, but now I live in Coventry. I
work at the University of Warwick in the Publicity Office.

I
am studying Italian, on Mondays I take an Italian class at the
University. I also speak French and Russian. I want to go on holiday to
Italy – to Florence.

When I am not working I love cooking Italian dishes – I really like Italian cusine.

On Saturdays I often go shopping. I love high-heeled shoes.^*

^{*Things are tough with a limited vocabulary – hence the bizarre last sentences!}

Filed under: Homework, Italian, Language

Beaux Gestes

Writing about web page http://www.ccsf.edu/Departments/Language_Lab/gesti/00Gesti.htm

Last night we talked about learning Italian gestures – apparently an integral part of learning Italian!

I found this great set of videos on the City College of San Francisco website – my favourite set of course is Minacce (Threats).

Truely a great example of e-learning.

This hand gestures index on About is quite good too.

Another
small thing I love – when you answer the phone in Italy you don’t say
Hello, you say Pronto (literally ‘ready’), the other person then says
Pronto in reply. And then you have established that you are both ready
to speak.

But I do need to practice my Italian Rs – a French R is no problem, but an Italian RRRR is at the front of your mouth not the back of your throat.

Filed under: Italian, Language

Here Come the Cat Stepper

Murderer.

And she is no kind of lyrical gangster.

But
she did decide to register her displeasure at our late arrival home
last night by dismembering a mouse and dragging it round the house.

It’s not as if she was even hungry – she hadn’t finished her breakfast.

The
reason for her displeasure was that Himself had been at college and I
had been at the Language Centre for my first Italian lesson.

Buonasera gatto. Piacera.

I
can’t be too cross with her at the moment though – we are still feeling
too guilty. We went to change her collar recently and it/she had been
irritating her neck so much that she had no fur left.

She
is currently collarless (though chipped) and I am paranoid that she is
going to get lost/wander off and that in her collarless state we’ll
never see her again.

Filed under: Cat, Italian, Language, Sprackle