La Primavera
Spring
No season may be sweeter or more welcome than Spring. While surfing google.it, I came across some essays Italian students wrote on the reasons why, including:
* Il sole esce dal suo letargo invernale e splende radioso nel cielo. (The sun comes out from its winter hibernation and shines bright in the sky.)
* Si può uscire di casa per fare lunghe escursioni in bicicletta. (You can leave the house for long bike trips) and andarsene a zonzo e assaporare i primi gelati (hang out and taste the first Italian ice creams.)
* Si può giocare all’aperto a calcio, a pallavolo o a basket. (You can play soccer, volleyball or basketball outdoors.)
* Correre, sudare, sporcarsi di erba e fango. (Running, sweating, getting dirty in the grass and mud.)
* Trovarsi nelle piazze con gli amici per interminabili conversazioni. (Meeting your friends in the piazza for endless conversations.)
* Nessuno sembra più aver voglia di starsene rintanato nel salotto di casa a guardare la televisione o a ubriacarsi di playstation. (Nobody seems anymore to want to stay holed up in the living room watching TV or overdosing on playstation.)
* Si ha poca voglia persino di starsene attaccati a Facebook. (You have little desire to be glued to Facebook.)
* Gli alberi fioriti (blossoming trees) that sprout brightly colored, fragrant flowers.
* L’erba sui prati (the grass on the lawns) that thickens and shines un verde intenso (a bright green).
* Le giornate più lunghe (the longer days) with la luce più intensa (the more intense light).
* La voglia di vivere (the love of life ) takes precedence sui doveri (over duties).
* E le ragazze, nei loro abiti leggeri, sembrano ancora più belle. (And the girls, in their light dresses, seem even more beautiful.)
Whatever you love best about this lovely season (bella stagione), I hope you enjoy it -- and every Spring day (giorno primaverile) -- to the fullest.
Buona primavera!
Words and Expressions
primaverile –- of Spring, Springlike
pulizie di primavera –- Spring cleaning
un pulcino -– a Spring chicken
Qui è un’eterna primavera –- Here it’s always Spring (the climate is mild and beautiful all year round)
Dianne Hales is the author of LA BELLA LINGUA: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language.
Click below to hear Vivaldi's joyous ode to Spring:
In response to Joan Pearson, the first day of Spring in the south of Italy was really ugly, and I had many words for that! It was windy, raining, and there were clouds everywhere :-/ Regardless, is it true that the tradition of spring cleaning exists in Italy?
Posted by: jessica venture | March 23, 2013 at 09:49 AM
- except that primavera and such like are widely found in other languages - such as Portuguese - which, arguably, are just as joyful...
Posted by: Cicero Ril | March 22, 2013 at 06:36 PM
Reading this post makes me really want to live in Italy...okay, maybe not live, but definitely take a trip sometime. Biagio Antonacci latest single on his new album out, "Sapessi Dire No"...maybe you'll enjoy it too? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWP8jHB_pHg
Posted by: sasha lame | March 21, 2013 at 11:07 PM
Always love it. Colorful Flowers everywhere. Sounds more sweet with the whisper in Italian language. Seems so romantic.
Posted by: Jason @ Progress Lighting | March 21, 2013 at 06:35 PM
Even in Venice, if this year 's spring came
Posted by: Milano events | March 20, 2013 at 12:26 PM
Living in Roma. On the first day of spring. There ARE no words. . . .
Posted by: Joan Pearson | March 21, 2012 at 09:19 AM