fallimento (failure)
Chi sa (Who knows)
scenda prossima (get off next) a woman on the train was asking if I’m getting off the train next. She needed to move toward the exit door. I understood!
borsa (bag) The cashier asked if I want one.
niente (nothing) I was just looking at the bakery and the guy behind the counter was surprised I didn’t want anything. He didn’t know I bought THREE packs of bugie in the front of the store to bring home.
due (two) It’s been just the two of us for 3 weeks. It’s been great to become a team. He is the one with a sense of direction. I am the organizer. We have learned to trust each other more.
ridere (laugh) We’ve laughed a lot more together being in Rome. We both just feel more relaxed.
—4 febbraio, 2026
fa caldo! (it’s warm) We expected cold weather and rain today. We had to leave at 6:45am for the temple, but it was already 11C, or 52F. Monday was clear skies and FREEZING, so we were pleased it was so tolerable today. It actually got a little warm for us with the extra layers we put on.
linea (line) we had tickets to the Vatican but had to lineup for our specified entry time and enter through a corridoio (entry passage).
fumare (to smoke) everyone smokes here! Okay it’s actually only 22% of the population but it fills 100% of the air. Somehow their life expectancy still far exceeds the U.S., probably because they walk so much.
bugie (the best pastry ever) it’s like a poptart, but good.
borsa (bag) the man at the store asked if I wanted a borsa. I understood enough to say no.
sono persi (I’m lost) in the freaking Vatican. The map was useless and it went on and on and on and on. Worse than IKEA!
L’acqua fizzante (sparking water) there was a booth outside the Vatican where we were waiting to go in that dispensed free water. You could choose “naturale” or “fizzante.” Henry and I dumped out one of our bottles to fill with the fizzante.
—3 febbraio, 2026
fa freddo (it’s cold) Brrr. We were colder than ever today walking to the Pantheon. If you know anything about the Pantheon, you know it was cold inside too. The Pantheon looks like a black and white movie in a color world!
prossima fermata (next stop) The busses always announce the next location.
in punto (sharp on time) it was so refreshing to have trains and busses that arrive at the stated time! We hardly spent any time waiting for busses. The trains move quickly. They only open the doors for 10 seconds at each fermata (stop) so you better get on quick!
fare una passeggiata (take a walk) Even with such efficient transport, we walked over 20,000 steps today! We saw the pantheon, the acqueducts, and the colosseum. We also wandered around looking for panani (could only find gelato) and later gelato (could only find panani).
eseguita (executed) this was an important word. I tried to buy a Metro Pass (unlimited pass good for 3 days). The kiosk wasn’t working but it took my payment and gave me a receipt. The fellow at “the box” told me the receipt stated it had been cancelled. “Executed” in English might mean it actually was performed. But in Italian it means cancelled? My credit card statement says it was “pending,” so the life of my money still hangs in the balance.
—2 febbraio, 2026
We are leaving Florence today. The busses are sometimes unreliable so we left 2 hours early. We had 90 minuti to spare and watch the screens for informazione.
Presto (quick) You have to wait for your train binario (track/platform) to be announced about 15 minutes before partenza (departure). Everyone lines up according to which car your seats are in. The train comes in. People get off. People get on.
Andiamo! (we go!)
Buon viaggio (have a good trip) We did. We were on time. The train was on time, we arrived without trouble.
Giallo (yellow) this apartment has yellow walls. Not the right kind of yellow.
—1 febbraio, 2026
che successo? (what happened?) what the bishop said when the ping pong table fell while the boys were playing. I knew what it meant when I heard it!
banconota (bill) paid cash for some things today. Got a cute little 2 cent penny and some smaller denominations of euros.
moneta (coin) Henry also found an American half dollar under the bed. Probably a sign we should head home.
giocchare (to play) gioco (I play) It is pronounced “JOE-co.” The YM played games tonight. Video games and ping pong.
persi (lost) I think I already did this one but man, does it apply again. Spend 90 minutes on what was supposed to be a 45 minute bus trip. Ended up 24 minutes away from intended destination. The bishop rescued us.
—31 genaio, 2026
esercizio (exercise) Every morning Henry and I do a short round of strength exercises, and we rely on all the walking and biking to provide the endurance training.
parcheggio (parking lot) Very cool to find an underground parking garage just for bikes!
giardino (garden) We went to the Boboli Gardens today. They are enormous! It probably would take only 10 minutes to briskly walk the span of the historic center of the city. It would also take about that long to walk across this garden. In both directions! The wealthy elite 500 hundred years ago didn't roam around the city. So they wanted plenty of beautiful space to roam and a place for their children to play. I imagined it would be a magical place to play as a child.
—28 genaio, 2026
misericordia (mercy) This is the word on their ambulance. I was intrigued about the similarity to “misery” so I looked up the etymology. “Mercy” is the combination of “misery” (suffering) and “cordis” (heart). So it means to bring your heart to their suffering. It’s beautiful.
pane (bread) We went to several bakeries and stores to see what variety of pastries we could find. This cute bakery wrapped my frittelle so cutely.
filato (yarn) I went to a yarn shop yesterday that sells only yarn made in Italy. It was super hard to find because it was not on the street address, it was underground at the feet of San Lorenzo’s Basilica (originally built in 394, and rebuilt by the Medici in 1418. It is SO OLD looking because the facade designed by Michelangelo was never put on.
—27 genaio, 2026
coraggio (brave) Something I don't feel when getting on a train and going so far from homebase. I don't know anyone in Pisa and I worry my phone will run out of batteries or I'll get on the wrong train. Turns out I missed the first train, got on the wrong bus in Pisa (only for a few seconds), and accidentally got off the train at the wrong station on the way back. Figured it out just in time to get back on before it left us in the wrong city! The mental load of navigating strange territory is weighing on me.
tempo (time) something we didn't not have enough of for 1) getting to the train, 2) getting something to eat for lunch. Then we had too much of it in Pisa so we got on a train 1 hour early to return.
correre (run) Again, we left in plenty of time to catch our train, but the app did me wrong again. We had to sprint to catch a train in a station we'd never seen before. Ended up on the *next* train. Good thing they come often.
pendente (leaning)
muro (wall) we climbed on top of the wall surround the campo dei miracoli (campus or field of miracles, what the cathedral grounds are called in Pisa). It's still very much in tact. We walked 1 of only 3.6km of it (and back). We ended up with 20,000 steps today!
pizza rosso (pizza with only sauce and tomatoes, no cheese) I had a piece of pizza at the Tower of Pisa! It was the pizza I've had since I've been here. Most of the pizza is very tough and hard to bit and chew. This was a light and crisp crust. Era perfetto!
I said two whole sentences in italiano today and the woman answered me in italiano! I asked another person where the bathrooms were in italian and he said, "to the right at the end of the building." Why do I feel so insulted when they answer in English?
—26 genaio, 2026
confusa - me trying to follow Apple maps with the bus system here. Sunday we left in plenty of time to catch the bus to church. The app sent me to a non-existent stop, then I had to find another route. I got off to transfer to another bus, but should have stayed on the first. We ended up doing a lot of extra walking and waiting in the rain.
zucchero (sugar) - the teacher in our meeting today made treats for everyone. They were sweet balls made of frutta secca (dried fruit) and nice (nuts). I heard her say they were senza zucchero (without sugar). They were very good!
biscotti (cookies) we planned ahead to make cookies today. We bought flour and a chocolate bar to chop up. I had to use a kitchen scale to measure ingredients because there are no measuring cups in this apartment. It's not a digital scale so there was a large margin of error. But they turned out perfectly!
riposo (rest) Today we needed to do nothing. But the sun came out! I took my bike for a ride to see a porta
or large ancient door that used to be part of the city walls. I found myself at the top of the hill nearby looking out over the entire city.
—25 genaio, 2026
pietra - (stone) It's everywhere in this city. Stone walls, roads, buildings.
sentiero (path)
calcio (soccer)
parco (park) We found a park while we walked in the rain. It had lots of wandering pathways to explore. Some paved, some lined with moss covered stone, some dirt. On one far end we found people playing soccer in the miserable cold wet rain. They didn't seem to mind. At the end we found a surprise lookout view over the city! Most importantly, there were no more frescoes. Henry has seen enough!
sfogliatella - a truly mean trick the bakeries play on Americans. Google it. It looks like a croissant. Turns out it's rock hard and if you manage to get a bite, 75% of it shatters and lands all over your clothes. Italians are passive-aggressive, no? The good news is I had a conversation with the shopkeeper tutti in italiano. Di solito (usually) I try to speak Italian and they answer me in English. This was a great accomplishment!
—24 genaio, 2026
piove - (rain) Today it rained. It was a very soft rain with very small droplets. When we tried to duck into a tall narrow alley to get protection, we found that the rain was falling exactly vertical, as there was no wind to blow it sideways.
caro (expensive) We went to a scuola where artisans learn to make leather goods. If you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it. Jackets and purses were in the €500 range, but bookmarks were €6.
in retardo (late). Henry is sick of looking at frescoes. We decided to take a bus to a bike shop. The first directions led us to a bar, the guy at the bar was super helpful and got us on a better path. But again, we eneded up about 5 blocks away from the true destination. More walking to go back. Finally made it. Didn't buy anything, but he loves being in a bike shop. We were so ready to stop walking and waiting on busses and go home. The bus on the final leg of our trip was very late. In the piove.
in punto (on time) Most of the time busses come within 5 minutes of us arriving to wait. We can get anywhere we need without a lot of walking in between.
—23 genaio, 2026
piano (floor) We got lost in the art museum. I gave up and let Henry lead the way. We ended up using the ascensore (elevator) to say better oriented.
scultura (sculpture) We almost missed the Pietà! Many Italian words lack some of the consonant blends we have in English. Like, perfetto. English took these words from Latin roots so I wonder why we complicated them.
destra (right)
sinistra (left)
We rode our bikes in the hills near our apartment and had to make a lot of decisions about which path to explore.
vista (view) Today’s view was bella vista!
—22 genaio, 2026
biglette (tickets) We had tickets to see Brunelleschi’s dome today! We also saw Giotto’s Bell Tower right next to it which gave a marvelous view of the dome! It was unreal to see how they built something so magnificent with just hand forged tools and wood machinery. Truly a marvel. The bell tower took 200 years to build, and as we ascended the steps, it did older on the bottom than it did on the top levels.
torre (tower) At our high vantage point, we could see bell towers all over the city. The people from hundreds of years ago put all their energy into their churches, and bell towers were used to call people to prayer.
fermata - (busstop) I missed ours today because I was paying attention to the cute children in the back speaking italiano.
rimanci vicino (remain close) A man on the bus thought I wasn't staying close enough to Henry. I wasn't offended. I was alarmed about what danger he knew of that I didn't.
stanco (tired) I was so tired I feel asleep standing up tonight leaned against the radiator trying to stay warm. My knees buckled and I caught myself.
—(21 genaio, 2026)
arancino - (my lunch today) A rice ball with a little cheese and sauce, rolled in bread crumbs and fried. It was delicious and easy to eat on the go.
l’angolo (the corner) As we walked to the cafe, we saw a shop Tabacchi del angolo - "tobacco on the corner." As we rode the distance to the new apartment, Henry was wondering how much longer. I told him proprio dietro l’angolo - just around the corner.
rotta (broken)
catena - (chain) We should have inspected the bike we got for Henry better. He notice the chain had a link that was separated. It broke on the way to the new apartment. The man we bought it from walked with us to the bike shop and offered to split the cost of the repair.
scala - (stairs) something our new place does NOT have. Getting the bikes up and down to protect from prevalent bike theft was a major deterrent to riding them. And it was scary bringing them back down! The scala nel nostro apartamento è molto STEEP (ripido). The building is from the 1500s, which makes those steps almost 600 years old. I wonder what people have climbed those stairs and what their stories are.
—(20 genaio, 2026)
zucchero - (sugar) Henry likes Coke Zero because it is senza zuccchero (without sugar). The side of the can says "Zero Zuccheri, because the "i" on the end makes it plural, talking about more than *one* sugar.
riciclami - (recycle me) on the can of Coke.
vorrei - (I would like) Henry ordered his spaghetti tonight by himself! Not hard. "Vorrei spaghetti."
bicicleta - (bicycle) We got a bike for Henry today!
voui provarla? - (do you want to try it?) The old man that we bought Henry's bike from doesn't speak English. He got the bike out for Henry and asked if he wanted to ride it. This was a great phrase for me because it's two words, and even a combined form word with provare (to try) + la (it) and I was glad I understood it!
—(19 genaio, 2026)
stanco (tired) Henry is tired and overwhelmed, but after some food and rest, he said, "thanks for this trip."
Attenta! (pay attention!) The taxi driver warned us about pick pockets at the piazza near our apartment.
chieva (key) the apartment uses an actual key, not a door code. I'm so worried I'll get locked out, but my cross body bag has a key carabiner.
siamo arrivati —(we arrived)
messagio (message) something I could not do because of the tall buildings in the narrow alleyway to tell the host siamo arrivati, so we stood outside waiting for her to figure it out for 20 minutes.
negozio (store) Henry's mood was spiraling, so I needed to get him some food fast. I walked to a nearby store and got some pasta, bread, and gelato.
—17 genaio, 2026
Comments
Post a Comment