Buondì. I quite often hear from club members that they’re not, or weren’t before they started hanging with us, ‘good at languages’. It’s common that people in Britain think this, though hardly surprising given that they live on an island and that if they mistakenly venture off it, their native tongue is used just about […]

Buondì. Here we are, the final week of August! And the hot weather is supposed to break today, at least in Bologna, where I live. We’re looking forward to a storm, plenty of rain, and a welcome drop in temperature – from the mid-thirties to the mid-twenties! The final week of August in Italy, besides […]

Buondì. You’ve probably never heard of Drunk William Chainmail Head (my translation) but, according to the writer of our FREE 30-part series of texts with audio on the middle ages in the Italian peninsula, he was an imaginative Genovese merchant who sought his fortune in the Crusades, and ended up capturing the Sarcen-held city of […]

Buondì. Episode 17 of our FREE 30-part Summer Series of articles with audio on the medieval period in the Italian peninsula is ready for you to read and listen to! Which should help pass the time if you’re locked down in New Zealand, or Australia. Here in Europe, it looks like we’re having a few […]

Buondì. Yet again I am confronted by the vast gaps in my knowledge of history (despite having half-heartedly studied the subject at college…) Name some famous vikings, can you? I came up with Erik the Red, and that was about it. Perhaps you’ll do better? If not, you can Google it, as I did, and […]

Buondì. With today’s episode in our FREE series on the Medieval period in the Italian peninsula, we’re halfway! And while it’s a long one, it’s very interesting, and as a fine example of historical ‘karma‘ as you might find! E poi, reading and listening practice is always useful, I say. Talking of listening, Edwin wrote […]

Buondì. Arguably, one of the most important reasons for the Catholic church’s wealth and power (reference the period from the end of the Roman Empire in 476 to circa 1100-1200 CE, so 600-700 years of largely undisputed dominance) was not that they controlled access to the afterlife, but that they were the only source of […]

Buondì. There’s lots of good stuff in today’s FREE episode! I won’t tell you exactly what it’s about, but if you’re interested in the origins of certain ‘Italian’ words, or like to know why typical ‘Italian’ crops are cultivated in particular areas, then you should definitely take a look. We’re in the eighth and ninth […]

Buondì. I’m writing this yesterday, so to speak, as this morning I have business in town, after which we’re off to the coast for a weekend of sun, sea, and hopefully relaxation! August is pretty dead in Italy, the only dependable thing being the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the ‘autostrade’ (= ‘car roads’, so ‘interstates’ for […]