“Il primo novembre è il 305º giorno del calendario gregoriano (il 306º negli anni bisestili). Mancano 60 giorni alla fine dell’anno.” https://it.wikipedia.org/
O mio dio, only sixty more days until the end of the year?
But there’s so much to do!
Never mind though, today’s a public holiday in Italy – a religious one, common in Catholic countries: ‘Tutti i santi’.
Il giorno di tutti i Santi, noto popolarmente anche come Ognissanti, è una festa cristiana che celebra insieme la gloria e l’onore di tutti i santi, ivi comprendendo anche quelli non canonizzati. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutti_i_Santi
So time, then, to sit at the computer and start catching up!
That said, I’ll also be preparing lunch, washing the dishes, preparing dinner, washing the dishes again, and so on.
Tomorrow is not a public holiday, though it is a religious one.
‘La commemorazione dei defunti‘ is popularly known here in Italy as ‘i morti’.
It’s a day people visit the cemetery to remember the dead.
But also a good excuse to extend today’s public holiday towards the looming weekend.
Wednesday we’re closed, Thursday most people will stay at home and, hey, nothing much will happen on Friday, right?
Might as well take the whole five days!
So if you’re visiting Italy, but finding things quieter than you expected, now you know why.
Nov. 01st is also my younger daughter’s birthday.
Not the one I went to Texas with earlier in the year, the other one.
Yesterday she was out celebrating Halloween until goodness knows what time.
And as there’s no school today, she’s still fast asleep as I write this (at ten a.m.! Remember being able to sleep that late??)
Anyway, when it’s someone’s birthday, Italians say ‘Buon compleanno!’
Which is easy to remember, as it’s basically ‘Good complete the year!’
So there you are, your Italian lesson for the day:
Ognissanti, ‘i morti’ and ‘Buon compleanno’!
And if that’s not enough, head on over to the club website to find something useful to pass your morning with.
A venerdì!
P.S.
Just a quick reminder about this week’s new publication, Leonardo in riva all’Adda.
If you haven’t already done so, download the free sample chapter (.pdf) here or here.
As I mentioned on Monday, the free sample chapter has a link at the top of chapter 1 to the WHOLE STORY, which is available to listen to free online.
Leonardo in riva all’Adda is 25% off this week at just £5.99.
From Monday, it’ll sell for the usual easy reader price of £7.99.
Get it from our ‘new’ online store.
Other ‘easy readers’ in our ‘day in the life of a famous person from history’ series are here.
Or browse all ebooks for learning Italian.