25th April: Italy’s Festa della Liberazione

Last Saturday was “Liberation Day” here in Italy. Hand on heart, my knowledge of history and politics is shameful, but I’m 95% sure that I’m not the only British person to have had no idea of this celebration’s existence before moving here. Luckily (and I say this despite the many hours of him talking my ears off) I found an intelligent guy who is passionate about both history and politics, so have come to understand the huge cultural significance of this day, even I’m sure I will never be able to appreciate it as much as a native. But hopefully I can share at least part of the spirit with you.

The “Festa della Liberazione” or “Liberation Day” is a celebration of the liberation from nazifascist rule, and is commemorated on the 25th April as this was the day Milan and Turin, two of Italy’s most important cities, became free from such rule.

The after-effects of fascism in Italy hit me early on in my time here. Although in England we throw this word about, it’s often simply used as a synonym for facism or bigotry. On coming to Italy, I realised we could never really understand it in comparison to a country who truly experienced it and whose modern history is built on this experience; on the popularity of Mussolini, on the resistance against these ideals, and eventual overthrowing of it which was followed by shortly after by the abolition of the monarchy and forming of the Italian Republic. 

There are signs of it everywhere, even just within my local area. One of the main squares in Brescia city centre, Piazza Vittoria, was designed by a leading figure in fascist architecture, Marcello Piacentini, and on its inauguration in 1932 saw Mussolini himself at the ceremony. Not to mention that even closer to home, just a few kilometres north of me on Lake Garda, lies Salò: the headquarters of the Italian Social Republic, one of the last attempts to instill fascist doctrine in northern Italy – which was already seeing the Resistance forces of the Partigiani (more on them later) – and one of the last places to fall…sadly, also, one of the places still very much divided on “how bad was Mussolini, really?” 

This is always the part that shocks me most: that there are still several areas of Italy who believe il Duce ie the Duke Mussolini was actually good for the country, that the only mistake he made was siding with Hitler. He brought the regions together, he created jobs, he was making them a rich, proud nation. The Partigiani, or Partisans, a citizen made army who resisted the nazifascist doctrine, are even demonised as communists: although true that some members were communists, the party was actually made up of a mix of political sides, their opposition bringing them together. 

The Partigiani might ring a bell even to those who haven’t studied history, but have heard Bella Ciao, recently brought to international fame through Netflix’s Money Heist. Bella Ciao has been the anthem of anti-fascism since its adoption by the Partigiani in the Resistance between 1943-1945, and is rung out around the nation on 25th April each year in local parades and celebrations. I highly recommend taking a look at a translation of the lyrics, it’s impossible not to feel the sense of freedom fighting and pride.

  

My town’s programme for the day. Note the description: “a moment to remember the sacrifice of many young people who gave their lives to sustain the values of democracy, solidarity and freedom.”

This year of course there were no parades, but that won’t stop the Italian spirit: we got the notice from our local council that at 3pm on the 25th, Bella Ciao should be played from every balcony and through every open window. The same happened across the country, highlighting that while fascism might still be unnervingly alive, there are many willing to keep it down, even if for now that just means yelling “è questo il fiore del partigiano, morta per la libertà!” (“this is the flower of the partisan, who died for freedom”) once a year. This is exactly why “Festa della Liberazione” is so important. I’ve noted how nazifascism is ingrained in the Italian cultural memory, yet not always as the horror that it should be. Liberation Day is the certainty that once a year people will remember the Resistance, will remember what they fought and sacrificed for, and make sure it never comes to that again.

How to Eat a Meal Like an Italian

Anyone will know that Italians are very proud of their food culture. I can tell you that it is not just a stereotype. The other day I made mushroom risotto for the first time, with only a little interference from M. It was a big moment in our relationship, showing an incredible amount of trust from him, considering four years ago I wasn’t even allowed near the pasta water! 

Obviously, with food being so important, there’s also a certain protocol for mealtimes. I talked a little already about some of the basic codes for sitting at an Italian table, but I’d like to add three habits that will show you are no rookie when it comes to eating like an Italian.

Fare la scarpetta (do the little shoe)

There are no shoes involved, don’t worry. No one has actually been able to tell me how this expression evolved, but it is essentially using the soft inside of bread to soak up all the juices or leftovers of your meal. It has to be the soft part of the bread for full absorption: the best technique is to tear a fresh baguette in half, keep the crusty edge as a handle and use the soft bit to soak up whatever’s left on your plate. If you’re in close company it’s even better: dive right in for the cooking dishes too. For some meals, this is genuinely the bit I look forward to most. Think of roast dinners when there’s a layer of simmering butter and meat fat that otherwise just goes to waste. Yes, it is ridiculously calorific, but the taste is heavenly.

Although not the most elegant display, apparently it’s also a compliment to the chef, since you loved the meal so much you don’t want to leave a single crumb or drop.

No knives needed: use bread or crackers.

I’m still in the habit of laying the table with knives and forks for every meal, only to put M’s knife back in the draw at the end. Unless needed for cutting, it’s rare to see an Italian handling a knife to assist in eating. I was raised to use it for helping the fork in “scooping” purposes, but I’ve discovered that Italians have the wiser idea of using bread or (if they’re better and more health-conscious than me and M) plain crackers to do this job. Just bring out the knives for the cheese course.

Use your napkin, even at casual meals.

M often jokes with me about my English “barbarianism”, but I’m starting to see the impact. Although we were taught to use napkins at formal dinners or with guests, at the everyday family meal they rarely made an appearance. In Italy, despite the last two points maybe suggesting otherwise, there is a pretty civilised way of dining and napkins are essential for this, no matter the occasion. I appreciate the fact that they actually use them for practicality, rather than for a show of elegance as they seem to be in England; there’s none of the anxiety at realising you forgot to put it on your lap at the start of the meal, just use it to keep your fingers and face clean! 

5 English Words That Don’t Mean What You Think They Mean

Any tourist will have noticed that, even in the un-touristic areas of Italy, you can find English words spattered between the Italian on billboards, graffiti, and even company names. It’s not just in written language either. In the majority of Italian conversations you will find a few English words dropped in, taking you off guard with their Italian pronunciation. For some reason, English seems to be the “fashionable” language here. Perhaps it’s due to American TV shows and films that young people want to imitate, or maybe from a business view the fact that English is the “world language” so can make them seem more international. Whatever the reason, it can help language-learners knowing that for some words they won’t need a translation. 

That said…it also leads to some confusion. Somewhere along the way Italian has adopted some English words that we don’t actually use in that way, confusing the heck out of my language students…and me, originally. Luckily I’ve come to understand the most common examples, but on first hearing them both parties were completely lost, since from the Italian’s point of view it was an English word, how could I not understand it? 

From a completely nerdy linguistic perspective it fascinates me how these words have probably been adopted for a particular meaning which has somehow been twisted, but I’ll resist my rant on that for your sakes. Let’s get on to some examples instead!

 

For Italian readers: here’s some words that don’t mean what you think they mean!

For English readers: some insight into the Italian language!

 

Spot

E.g. “Remember that classic 90s spot?” I only discovered the real meaning of this after a very confusing few minutes with a student, the main problem being that she assumed I understood the word spot. When I started asking her to describe the place, and she couldn’t understand why that was important, we realised we were both missing something! It only got worse when I started directing to the pimples on my face. Honestly I don’t know how this word got adapted into this meaning, but the “translation” is ad, generally a TV ad. 

English word used: spot

What this means in Italian: brufolo / posto

Actual English translation: advert (or just ad)

 

Stage

E.g. “Most people do a stage in their last year of high school.” It took me a while to get this one when I first heard it. My immediate reaction was that they were missing some key word. Teenagers have lots of “stages”, as in phases, they go through. Drinking, playing video games, rebelling? When these suggestions were dismissed, and the student suggested it was related to work, I went to thinking most teenagers have to go to some kind of acting school. Wow, pressure much. But no, not this either. It’s actually the equivalent of a work placement, or even internship if done after high school.

English word used: stage

What this means in Italian: fase / palco

Actual English translation: work placement

 

Toast

This is one for all the English tourists on their trips to cafes. I remember being super excited to see toast on the menu, thinking about a classic British comfort meal of buttery toast and a cup of tea. What I actually got wasn’t bad either though: a ham and cheese toastie. It might not work so well the other way though. I can imagine the disappointment in offering an Italian a toast and them getting just a piece of bread. 

English word used: toast

What this means in Italian: pane tostato

Actual English translation: toasted ham and cheese sandwich (or sometimes ham and cheese toasty)

 

Box

Imagine my confusion when searching for local apartments, and finding that a few of them were proudly announcing they had a “box”. I had boxes too – all the leftover ones from Christmas decorations – but I didn’t think it would be something worth advertising. My boxes weren’t quite the size they were thinking of though, since theirs can contain cars. Garage is the word you’re looking for. The weirdest thing here? “Garage” also exists in Italian…they just don’t use it. 

English word used: box

What this means in Italian: scatola

Actual English translation: garage

 

Smoking

(When brainstorming vocabulary for clothes, and talking about formal outfits). “If I go to a formal event, I might wear a smoking.” At first, I thought the student had managed to pick up “smoking” as in attractive (smoking hot), and was ready to compliment him on his vocab range, his confidence, and correct him on the form. But a little clarifying made me realise what he actually meant was “suit” or “tuxedo”: as in the traditional gentleman’s smoking suit. So this one actually makes sense, they just took the wrong part of the word. 

English word used: smoking

What this means in Italian: fumante

Actual English translation: suit

Hi again!

Bit of a gap in posting here isn’t there? Sorry about that. I would love to give some perfectly valid excuse but unfortunately all I can blame it on is life! Things have changed quite a lot since my last post two years ago. I finished the CELTA course, got a job in a private English school, stopped most other jobs in order to dedicate my hours to the school, and kept just a few babysitting hours for my old aupair host family (because I can never let them go). I also discovered the downside of living in a beautiful, quiet village: you have to commute to work. Hello hours on the bus, waiting for the bus, getting frustrated because the bus isn’t arriving and the timetable never matches my work timetable. 

That said, everything became different in the last few weeks, as you probably know and are quite possibly tired of hearing. Let’s welcome coronavirus to the stage. I’ll try to avoid getting into a rant about how ignorant people are (that might come out in a later post), and focus on the positive of all this: I have so much time to write now. No excuses. I’m still doing a little teaching online but a lot of students are opting just to wait for this whole thing to pass…whenever that will be…and so I’ve spent most of the last 3 weeks of quarantine thinking a lot about how I must start writing again, looking at paper, not writing anything, reading, starting to write, not liking it, etc, etc, etc. Sooo applause to the fact that I’m finally writing this? 

Anyway. I have a lot of ideas for future posts, I just need to get back in the swing of things. I would love to get back into the read-in-tranquility, but for obvious reasons this will have to wait a little (I don’t think you need a review of my porch or my living room). So in the meantime I’ll start to work on noting some interesting cultural and language differences, and if you’re not too sick of it I can give a few updates on the covid situation in Lombardy. I’m also working on some book reviews which you’ll hopefully find on my unwrittenshades site in the near future…if you don’t, hold me fully accountable and send me angry messages.

Oh hi there!

First of all, thank you to all the new followers! Considering my severe lack of posting recently, I was surprised to see how many people found me AND hit that follow button. A big thank you: my two blogs have been mainly about be trying to improve my writing skills (as well as generally purging certain thoughts) so its always a boost to see that some people have appreciated what they read!

Secondly, an apology for previously noted lack of posting. I wish I could say there’ll be a big improvement soon, but you might have to hold out just a little longer. For the last few months, I’ve been doing the adult thing of sacrificing all of my free time in order to afford everyday life and hopefully make a better life for the future…yes, adult things suck. Between a full-time aupair job, another babysitting job, teaching two evening courses, a high school afternoon course and five private lessons, and attending a part-time CELTA course, I’m finding that my previous writing time is taken up by lesson planning, the build-up of housework or passing out. But all is not lost! Summer is finally approaching (as the sudden mass of tourists here on Lake Garda have highlighted), which means in a couple of months my students will want a break, my CELTA course will have finished, and I’ll have all the time in the world to freak out about future job prospects … and, hopefully, to write!

So hang in there followers. I’ll have a huge list of Italian quirks and beautiful places to catch you up on soon.

My Favourite Italian City

Thanks again to Kelly, Jasmine, and Kristie for organising the #dolcevitabloggers: last month saw so many other Italian connections out there, it feels great knowing there’s a whole community of us! This month’s theme is our favourite Italian city.

From a purely aesthetic point of view, this topic would be nigh impossible. As anyone who has ever travelled here knows, Italy is brimming with incredible beauty in every quaint village, provincial town and major city. Rome and Florence would be the obvious choices, with their beauty having the arguably greatest expanse. Unfortunately, their expanse means I haven’t had the time to be as acquainted with them as I’d like. Then there’s the other smaller yet equally architecturally impressive cities that I’ve been lucky to pass a day or two in: Mantova, Padova, Bologna, Vicenza, Ferrara, Bergamo, and of course the complete uniqueness of Venice. But again, time didn’t allow me the understanding of them that makes them stand out (and I would not be able to choice Bergamo in any case, for fear of my fellow Bresciani disowning me; it is their rival city). I realised my favourite city must hold not just physical beauty, but an emotional one that creates a personal tie. And for that, there was one city that stood out above all others.

Verona was the first city I ever explored entirely alone. Being only a short train ride away from my Garda lake home, with its station just a fifteen minute walk from the centre, it was deemed secure enough for me not to get too lost (though I still had my phone GPS constantly to hand: my sense of direction is truly disastrous), and near enough that if everything went horribly wrong I could call for a lift back.

 

Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened. I spent an incredible day trying to take in every detailed mural in Piazza delle Erbe, still so intricate in their design even with the centuries of wear; standing on Ponte Scaligero at the Castello Vecchio, climbing its turrets to see the incredible view of the city and mountains expanding outwards from the River Adige; and of course getting lost in side streets, to be rewarded with finding tiny, unspoilt-by-tourist-chatter churches.

This was my greatest fascination with Verona: it doesn’t lock its beauty in the centre. The pinnacle is probably in Piazza Bra, yet the artistry seeps out for kilometres throughout the surrounding area, so even when you are off the overpriced tourist maps, you still feel like you’re in Verona.

Of course, most people (myself included) are attracted by the Shakespearian link, with Juliet’s balcony on any guide’s must-see list. Even with my Italian friends’ warnings, I was insistent on going…but I soon found their lack of enthusiasm entirely justified. I could see the fun in it, but it was the epitome of a tourist trap, complete with a constantly crowded gift shop whose products are even more exaggerated than those you’d find on Valentine’s day. The balcony itself is aesthetically okay, but certainly not the grandest in Verona, and you will have to settle for the rushed snap of you touching Juliet’s breast in the piazza unless you want to be exploited just for the chance to stand on the balcony for a few seconds. Sorry Shakespeare, but this certainly didn’t feel like the place of blossoming romance.

Although romance can’t be round at Juliet’s balcony, it’s present in all the other tourist guide destinations. My personal favourite is the Roman arena. The entrance fee is well worth it, if only to allow you to live out your gladiator fantasy, and if heights don’t bother you the top section gives an incredible view of Piazza Bra and the surrounding architecture. Don’t be embarrassed to ask if they are preparing for a show: as brilliant as it is that this centuries old arena is still in use, the metal frames and fences used for modern health and safety really take away from the historic atmosphere, and sometimes even block off certain sections. It’s no fun if you can’t stand in the head box and oversee the entire stone structure.

I have lost count of how many times I’ve visited this fascinating city, but where in crowded Christmas markets, with shouting summer tourists, and or on eerily empty winter weekdays, it has never failed to hold my heart. As well as being packed with art and history, the main piazzas are home to several reasonably priced restaurants offering a range of class Italian dishes. With the money left over from your meal, head through the elegant marble floored high streets, packed with gelato bars and a mix of high end and inexpensive stores, all housed in intricately designed buildings that off-set the modern lights of the shops below. There is honestly so much more I could write: I haven’t even touched on the Roman ruins, the theatre, the cathedral or the markets, because if I do we will be here for ever, and I will spoil it all for you. Just follow the crowds through the 14^th century Portini della Bra that lead to the hub of this unique city, and be absorbed into the it’s historic fairytale.

Trento Christmas Markets

Any Italian will tell you that if you want to see real Christmas markets, you should head north to the mountainous region of Trentino Alto Adige. Having been under Austrian rule until 1919, this area is characterised by its Austrian and German influence, and in the most northern parts especially the population regard themselves as Austrian rather than Italian. This makes its claim to “German markets” far more authentic than those you find in the UK.

The Italian Connection

Thanks to my terrible procrastination from lesson planning, I’ve recently come across a few other (much more professional) fellow English speaking expats blogging about Italy.

Polenta: the Brescian Staple

I recently made un’altro passo (another step) into the vita italiana…or perhaps more specifically, in this case, la vita bresciana (from Brescia, my region of Italy). At my first full family meal here in Italy I was presented with horse and donkey meat, as well as an unknown, slightly stodgy yellowish substance – sound appetising yet?

Things your expat friend wants you to know

In the modern age of travel, with the huge trend in gap years and discovering one’s self abroad, most groups of friends will have at least one expat friend. Perhaps they spend just a few months away and return even more hipster than before, or perhaps they consistently jet off, reappearing with new tales, particular tastes in food, and an increasingly odd fashion sense.