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Cliff View of Ocean - Costa Di Amalfi (I)
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The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Moves Mountains
August 30th, 2022 – TCS # 783
Ciao, Buongiorno, and Buona Giornata,
My Readers!
Wow! Another Triple Greeting! This Triple Greeting, unlike Most of My Triple Greetings are Different Languages in One Greeting, but in This Case, This Triple Greeting is in The Same Language. Now, What is a Bit confusing is that These Greetings in This Language can be used Interchangeably. And, Even More, This Language, a Romance Language and The Thing about Romance Languages is One Thing....Generally, Romance Languages have a Thing about Formal and Informal, meaning that if You know Someone or Don’t know Someone, You could use certain Greetings for Each. To Me, Anyway, that is Confusing when Learning or Teaching a Language. For The Record, The Greetings I used can be Mixed in both Formal and Informal.
The Greetings mean The Following,
Ciao (Hello) - Kinda Informal;
Buongiorno (Good Morning) -
This One can be Used both Ways!
Recommended Greeting!; Buona Giornata (Good Day) -
This Greeting is The Best Greeting in All Cases, Especially if You may or may not know the Term for Good Evening or Afternoon.
It is a Safe Greeting and Appreciated Greeting. So, I Kinda of Spoiled The Country of Which We are going.
If You don’t care for Spoilers, like Most People. I will give You some Hints! This Country is One of Three Romance Languages. This Country has a Unique and Recognizable Shape of The Country. Okay, I understand that This Country is a Little Too Easy! Give Up?
I Present to You...The Nation of Italy!
Locally known as Italia (I).
A Country that Everyone dreams of Going to and Visiting.
A Country with A Lot of Ancestry ties to
My Home Country of The United States.
A Country that has One of the Most Recognizable Shapes in The World!
So, Considering that I written about My Fascination about Europe in Three Parts (Refer to “My Fascination with Europe” Newsletter)
and Then, Most Recently, I wrote about My Fascination about Switzerland, I figured Why Not write about My 2nd Dream Country that I am Fascinated with, Italy! Although, I Post a lot about Switzerland, Italy is also Equally has My Attention. I think that Switzerland takes My Heart with Its Nature and Mountains. Italy, meanwhile, takes My Stomach, along with My Heart as well. Okay, Maybe My Heart is Both Countries! Good Thing that Switzerland and Italy are Good Friends, and There is some Italian in Switzerland. Switzerland is like, Italy’s Calmer Sibling. Annnnyway, I Love You both as much as I Can!
Regardless, I have posted A Lot about Italy! Believe Me, If You were to see Pictures of Italy, You would be Fascinated too!
So, I am sure that You are Asking, Why is Italy so Fascinating?! Well, I am about to Tell You!
Let’s Jump In!
Why Am I Fascinated with Italy?
Ahh Italy (or Locally known as Italia)!
I can hear the Italian Hippty-Hop Music playing in My Head.
So, Let’s Start with Geography Lesson! Where is Italy (Italia)? You know when You look at a Map of Europe and You see, a Boot-Shaped Country in Southern Europe. Yeah, That is Italy! You literally can’t miss it!
Bordering with France (F) to The Northwest, Switzerland (CH) to The North,
Austria (A) to The Northeast,
and Finally, Slovenia (SLO) to The East.
It also has A Lot of Water surrounding It
on The West and East,
and Mediterranean Sea to The South.
Added Bonus, Italia has Two Islands!
The “Soccer Ball” Island below the Boot,
known as Sicily (or Sicilla, Locally known as)
and An Island Out West of It, that is sort of like
Italy’s Secret Paradise, Sardinia.
The Capitol is also One of The Most Recognizable and Most Romantic Cities in The World,
Rome (or Locally known as Roma).
And, Finally, The Currency is The Euro
(Because They are Part of “The Euro Zone” and The European Union)
It is a Country where Politically and Economically, The Country is Very Different in The North of Italy and The South of Italy. The North of Italy is a lot more advanced and Wealthier, while The South of Italy is Poorer but, The Same Time, has a lot more Flavour Culturally.
So, Why is Italy so Fascinating?
++ Well, The First Reason is The Shape of Italy,
It is The Most Uniquely Shaped Country (Boot),
That is How Everyone knows that It is Italy. To Describe It, It looks like The Country is playing Soccer (or “Futbol”) with Cowboy Boots on, The Biggest and Very Rich in Culture, Sicily (Sicilla) like The Soccer Ball that It is about Kick. Meanwhile, The Surrounding Countries are watching. I am sure that Sardinia and Corsica (Part of France) are like The Soccer (ahem...Football) Fans watching it all happens. Honestly, At The Same Time, It would be Cool to say that You are on The “Foot of Italy” or “The Shin of Italy”!
++ Outside of Geography (Sort of),
Comes Perhaps The Best Reason of Why Italy is Fascinating!
Italy is a Very Diverse Country
(Mountains and Beach).
In The North Part of The Country, like North of Torino and Milano (Turin and Milan. They are Better in Italian!), There are Mountains that Dare I say, Rival Switzerland, with a Little Italian Flair to It! If You were to go South toward to Venecia (Venice) or Bolonga, It gets More Flat with Farmland, and then, If You go South toward Roma, You have The Beach. And, then, Down South of Napoli (Naples) There is more Mountains and Even more Beautiful Coastline, often Referred as “The Amalfi Coast” or Costa Di Amalfi. If You want to see the Perfect Mix of Mountains and Ocean, Definitely go There! Mountain Cliffs overlooking The Ocean!
++ Speaking of Places, The Next Italian Fascination!
Italian Locations
(Mountains, Toscana, Roma, and Costa Di Amalfi).
Italy is One of Those Countries that has So Much Romance and Noteworthy Places to See, It would take A Month (or Longer) to see it All. To Name a Few, The Capitol, Roma has Many Piazzas (or Squares), Each with Its Own Story. Toscana (Tuscany) is a Romance / Wine Lovers Dream! Tons of Vineyards and Rolling Hills with that Classic Italian Architecture. I mean, A Woman once Daringly Bought a House in Toscana and Later, Wrote a Book on It because She loved it so Much. If There is One Thing that Italy does Very Well, is It’s Romantic Architecture! Of Course, with Architecture comes Stories.
++ With Stories, comes The Next Reason of Fascination, History & Language and Boy, Does Italy have that! One Walk in Roma and You would see Mix of Modern Roma with Its Buildings, and then You would also run into Sites of Old Roma, The Ancient Roma! It really is amazing how People could build Tall Structures like The Famous Roman Coliseum. Of Course, History can have It’s Ugly Parts too, The Blowing of Mt. Vesuvius burying an Entire City. The Stories told are not for The Faint of Heart, so I have been told. Today, The Volcano stands over The Suburbs of Napoli! That is Crazy! Another Sub-Section to This is The Italian Language! The Italian Language, I have been told, is not something You speak, You gesture! But, I love The Way Italian sounds, then We are Talking about The Foundation of Romance Languages. To Hear It Come out in a Romantic Way, Which You will hear it so, Sounds Very Heart-soothing. Of Course, You don’t want to know What it would feel like to hear Someone yell in Italian!
++ Now, Let’s Move into The Reason Why Most People go to Italy! The Next Reason of Fascination, The Food! Throughout My Life, I have always been a Sucker for Italian Food!
I Loved Pasta and I still do Love Pasta! In My Opinion, This is The Best Thing that Italy does. They have Many Different Types of Pasta, Many Types of Sauces, and Many Types of Cheeses. Sadly, (Spoiler Alert!) Fettucine Alfredo is NOT Italian! It broke My Heart to Learn that, but It is True! But, If You want to Try Real Italian Dishes like Cacio e Pepe (Famous Roman Dish), Carbonara, Pesto Pastas, and More...Italia is The Place!
++ Now, It would be a Fascination Newsletter about a Country without Talking about The People! Leading to The Final Fascination about Italy, Italian Grandmas!
Now, If You want a Real Honest-to-God Italian Experience, You must befriend an Italian Local, who wants to Learn English (Perhaps anyway!) and Let them take you to Their House, Meet Their Italian Grandma, and have them Cook you a Grand Italian Meal. You will hear some Many Stories, Learn about The Country, Perhaps Why We love Their County, and A Really Good Fresh Authentic Italian Meal. Complete with Meat, Pasta, and Of Course, A Little Aperitivo (A Little Snack) before or after The Meal. Also, Maybe They can teach some Italian while You are Teaching them English. Of Course, with The Gestures added. But, Word of Warning, Make Sure not to do The Wrong Gesture because Each Gesture means Something! All in all, as You can see Italy is Very Fascinating Country, Rich with Culture, History, Nature, Food, and Amazing People!
Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Life is like A Plate of Pasta! Sometimes with Red Sauce, White Sauce, or Garlic!
