Moving abroad is one thing. Learning a new language is another. The fact that Italians are true language artists whom I seriously suspect of constantly inventing new words does not really make things easier. Not easier, perhaps, but definitely more fun. Because no matter what we talk about, and no matter what I say, in …
Last Friday, when I got off the tram on this sun-drenched morning, I saw them right away. Two large posters on a billboard across the street showing a photo of a charismatic, broadly smiling elderly man with beautiful shiny white hair. Beneath his photo there were only two words that unfortunately still said so much: Ci …
Tanti auguri a…me! It’s really true, this week my blog is celebrating its first birthday. It was 11 November last year (11/11, and 22 is my favourite number. Is that a coincidence or what?) when I hit the publishing button with trembling hands sending my story into the wide world. My heart was hammering in my …
When you have just arrived in Rome, there is one thing you’ll learn very quickly. Because if you decide to wait every time the traffic light turns orange, it will take you forever before arriving at your destination. A Roman traffic light only stays green for less than five seconds to then quickly turn orange …
I’ve been back in Rome for exactly one week now after a break of almost six weeks in my Italian life. I can’t say anything else than that the situation has changed at a rapid pace. In just a few days, we have gone from minimal restrictions (read: wearing a facemask everywhere) to a curfew, …
The very kind pharmacist’s son, whom I met in August after the brutal street robbery, texted me a few days ago whether I’m almost returning. “Si si si si”, I wrote back, provided I’ll be testing negative at my corona test that is. Now that the infections are increasing dramatically in the Netherlands, the Italian government …
Last Thursday was International Coffee Day, a day which I could not let pass unnoticed of course. After all, anyone who has ever been to Italy knows that a coffee at home will never be the same again now you have discovered what coffee can taste like. Then, everyone who has ever been to Naples …
Fantastic news! Last Saturday, on the nineteenth of September, the blood of San Gennaro liquefied again. An event which was closely followed by the Neapolitans, and also millions of Italians, who collectively held their breath. San Gennaro is the patron saint of the city of Naples, and after he was beheaded in the year 305, …
The elderly man sitting in front of me at the dinner table squeezes his eyes a little as he looks at me. We have been chatting for some hours already while enjoying the most delicious pasta and for the last couple of minutes I realise that he is trying to fathom me, the seemingly so …
The time has come again! This week I will pack up my things and close another door behind me. I have lost count of how many times I have done this over the past few years and the fact that I lived in no less than three places in Naples during last year’s summer has …