… today (18th June, 2018) is International Picnic Day. The word “picnic” comes from the French language, and it became popular pastime in France after the Revolution (1789,) when royal parks became open to the public for the first time. The term derives from pique-nique, used to describe a group of people dining… Read More Life is no picnic, but….
Pantelleria, the largest volcanic satellite island of Sicily, was conquered by the Arabs in 700 AD: they named it “ بنت الرياح Bint al-Riyāḥ” or “the daughter of the winds”, due to the strong winds that arise off the north coast of Africa. The Arabs are attributed many of the most characteristic elements of its… Read More Pantelleria: what’s in a name?
Rientrata stanotte da uno stupendo viaggio in Uzbekistan, vi propongo una canzone
May 1st , also called May Day, or Labour Day, is a holiday, associated to the start of spring, and the celebration of the International Workers’ Day or Labour Day, which In Italy is called Festa dei Lavoratori and is a nationwide public holiday. The earliest May Day celebrations appeared with the festivals… Read More May, Maia, and the pig
In Italy, today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr. In the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries, this holiday is commonly known as Boxing Day, which takes its name from the practice of giving small gifts , Christmas “boxes”, to household servants , or to the poor,… Read More 26 December: Saint Stephen’s Day
WHITE CHRISTMAS I’m dreaming of a white Christmas Just like the ones I used to know Where the treetops glisten and children listen To hear sleigh bells in the snow I’m dreaming of a white Christmas With every Christmas card I write May your days be merry and bright And may all… Read More Songs for Christmas: ” White Christmas”
Since 1986, October 6 is marked as the “Mad Hatter Day”, a key character in Lewis Carroll’s classic “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. This holiday was created by a group of Colorado computer technicians, a bit bored with bits and bytes, who felt inspired by the Hatter and his silly tricks. Two years… Read More Mad Hatter Day
White nights in the Baltic Capitals and Helsinki I have just come back from the tour in four of the most Eastern countries in Europe: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland. Their capitals are highly individual in character and show an extraordinary wealth of historical buildings. Vilnius (Lithuania’s capital) is famous for the baroque architecture in… Read More White Nights in the Baltic Capitals and Helsinki
A WEEK IN SARDINIA Hello! I am back from the south-western part of Sardinia, where a Geomineral, Historical and Environmental park is situated, whose historic mines have recently been declared by UNESCO to be World Heritage Sites.
