Italian for kids: Colors (video)

My daughter Silvia, 6 has released a new episode of her podcast series 'Italian for Kids'. This video is about naming the colors in Italian. Don't miss her previous show Italy safety tips for kids. Enjoy!

- Can't see the video? Watch it from YouTube
- iPod version (MP4 - 5Mb)
- Zune version (WMV - 4Mb)

P.S. If you like this video, please leave her a comment here or on YouTube. She loves feedback!

Give your baby an Italian name

What are the most popular baby names in Italy? Here is a recent top 10 list reflecting the most popular boys & girls names in 2006:

BOYS
- Andrea
- Lorenzo
- Simone
- Paolo
- Marco
- Francesco
- Luca
- Tommaso
- Christian
- Alessandro

GIRLS
- Giulia
- Alessia
- Alice
- Chiara
- Gaia
- Ginevra
- Emma
- Ilaria
- Viola
- Ludovica

And here is the top 20 most widely used names among Italians of all ages. While certain names are still current, others have definitely fallen off the charts. One more thing to keep in mind during the stressful process of naming your baby :-)

Goodbye in Italian (video)

Every day, more than a hundred people visit our site to read this short post on How to say Goodbye in Italian. We decided it was time to take this information to the next level and we created this short video about how to greet somebody in Italy. Enjoy!

- Can't see the video? Watch it from YouTube
- iPod version (MP4 - 3Mb)
- Zune version (WMV - 2Mb)

P.S. If you like this video, please leave us a comment here or on YouTube. We love feedback!

Podcast #6 - Sicily

Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean sea and one of the twenty Italian regions. At the International Travel Expo, I met dr. Jerry Pilarski, an American professor who moved to the city of Trapani in Sicily more than two decades ago. In this interview, Jerry gives us a great summary of what Sicily has to offer to tourists.

Listen / Download this episode in MP3 format
(10Mb - 14:56 mins)

If you like our podcasts, feel free to send us a note and / or leave a review on iTunes.

Using Google MyMaps to link multimedia content about Italy

Google has just added a new interesting feature to their online mapping service called MyMaps. MyMaps allows anybody to create personalized maps with annotations including text, images, links, and share it with others.
We jumped on the opportunity to visually link the content of our blog, podcasts and videos to a customized Google MyMap of Italy. Please let us know what you think.
- View ItalyFromTheInside's Google MyMap

In January, we also did a video review of Google Maps and Microsoft Local Live Search.

How to make an Italian coffee (video)

Our podcast fan Roberta D. asked us if we could cover the topic of making coffee at home. So my wife Francesca and I decided to create this short fun 1 min video that explains how you can use a Moka pot to make a real Italian espresso on your own. Enjoy!

- Can't see the video? Watch it from YouTube
- iPod version (MP4 - 5Mb)
- Zune version (WMV - 4Mb)

P.S. If you like this video, please leave us a comment here or on YouTube. We love feedback!

Podcast #5 - Matera and Basilicata region

In this show, Enzo Montemurro of Culture Lucane talks about Matera and the region of Basilicata in southern Italy. Enzo was our private guide during a tour of I Sassi, the old part of the city where the houses were dug into the rock many centuries ago.
Watch some panoramic photos of I Sassi.


Listen / Download this episode in MP3 format
(6.3Mb - 8:56 mins)

We welcome your feedback and suggestions for future shows. Please write to paolo@tosolini.com.

The Sassi of Matera

Last summer, my wife and I visited Matera in the region of Basilicata in southern Italy. We were curious to learn why UNESCO inscribed Matera into its Heritage list. And it didn't take long for us to find an answer. The old part of the city, called Sassi di Matera, originate from a prehistoric settlement, and are suspected to be some of the first human settlements in Italy. The Sassi are houses dug into the rock, often with no windows.

Because of the resemblance of ancient sites in and around Jerusalem, director Mel Gibson chose Matera as the setting for his famous movie The Passion of the Christ.

We shot several panoramic photos of the Sassi and surroundings so you can enjoy this very particular city that is finally starting to get the attention from tourist searching for the unbeaten path.

Click on the images below to view the high resolution version of the pictures. Each high-res image is about ~500K.

New changes to our RSS feed (technical communication)

Just a quick technical note about our blog. Feel free to skip if it doesn't apply to you.
As we quickly grow the number of podcasts and videos posted on this site, we ran into the necessity of creating separate RSS feeds for our multimedia content consumable via iTunes and our normal blog postings.

Long story short. If you subscribed to our blog stories via an RSS reader, please update our feed as follows:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/ItalyFromTheInsideBlog

If you listen to our podcasts via iTunes, or receive our news alerts with FeedBlitz, no action is needed.
Apologies for this inconvenience.