Practice Your Italian on FreeRice.com

If you're looking for a diversion at work or on a rainy day and want to do some good while you practice your Italian, go to FreeRice.com. For every Italian vocabulary word that you define correctly, 20 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations World Food Program to help end world hunger. Buona Fortuna!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Augustus" by Anthony Everitt

Image
The emperor Augustus has always been enigmatic. Anthony Everitt attempts to shed light on Augustus the man-his motivations, his relationships, his desires. Alas, even though we have many contemporary accounts of Augustus' life, the dearth of sources who were on intimate terms with the emperor keeps him in the shadows. If you are at all interested in the fall of Republican Rome, then Anthony Everitt's attention to detail will intrigue you. You will find many references to famous Roman writers and even to Augustus' own (impersonal) autobiography, the Res Gestae. My only complaint is the lack of footnotes and citation within the text directing the reader to those ancient authors to learn more. The end of the book does include a source list by chapter for reference. Augustus
Read more

Rome Builds a New Subway Line

Image
As you can imagine, building a subway line through one of the world's most archaeologically crowded cities is not easy. The new Metro Linea C which began construction last year is expected to be completed in 2015 after years of careful research, excavation and construction. Each time they break ground, new discoveries will be made, new routes will have to be chosen, and history could potentially be rewritten. The construction of the new subway, while unfortunately resulting in quite a bit of destruction, will enable archaeologists to see what lies beneath the Medieval and Renaissance city. Read the article in April's Travel and Leisure and stay tuned for what are certain to be exciting revelations!
Read more

"Blue Guide Rome": All You'll Ever Need to Know about Art, Art History and Archaeology

Image
The Blue Guide Rome is a classic. You will not find extensive information about hotels, restaurants and shopping. But you will find everything there is to know about the sights you are seeing. This book is not for throwing into your knapsack and quickly thumbing through to get around. You will use this book to research the sites and sights you want to visit before you get to Rome, during your visit (e.g. while you are visiting the the Basilica of San Clemente and you want to know about the mosaics and excavations in the catacombs, but you don't have a tour guide), and after your visit- to savor the experience. The Blue Guide also provides over 25 suggested walks, with detailed narrative and must-see stops, that could each take up to half a day. This is a book you will want to keep forever, long after your trip is over.
Read more