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Remember that song 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover? If you don’t, good for you! That song has nothing to do with Bergamo, but we are at episode 50 of our Street Sign Language Lesson series. Phew.
Can I just say (1/2 of Travelmarx team) that I hate Roman numerals? They make no sense to me, like 49 is XLIX and 50 is just L. I think the sack of Rome was due to their number system. You just wait, it will be discovered in some Visigoth writings that's why they were upset. (Hey if some of our current political leaders can be free-wheeling with history, why can't I? Quod licet Iovi, non licet bovi?)
Cave canem
“Beware of dog”
Speaking of the Romans, this Latin phrase is used a lot in Italy around the entrance to private areas indicating that a dangerous dog (may) be within. Often, the phrase is purely decorative but why risk jumping the fence?
In Italian, it means stai attento al cane.
Theodore Frizzoni Filantropo
“Theodore Frizzoni, Philanthropist”
Theodore Frizzoni was an Italian art critic and historian, born in Bergamo in 1838 and passed away in 1931. He was part of the Frizzoni family, which was originally from the Canton Grigioni in Switzerland and later settled in Bergamo. Theodore, along with his brother Gustavo Frizzoni, made significant contributions to the fields of art and literature. He was a philanthropist, or filantropo.
Today, Via Frizzoni is one of the major throughfares of the lower city. It runs along where the medieval defensive walls ran (1430s), different from the UNESCO Città Alta walls, constructed later.
La fugassa ligure senza lievito con la crescenza
“Ligurian fugassa without yeast and with crescenza”
A Ligurian fugassa, also known as focaccia genovese, is a flatbread from the Liguria region of Italy, particularly Genoa. Before baking, the dough is soaked in saltwater brine giving its salty crunch. We usually get it at Forno Fassi in Bergamo Città Alta. (This episode of Street Sign Language Lesson is turning out to be a plug for all the places we go to eat!)
Peperoncino frantumato bustina
“Crushed red pepper packet”
Frantumare is to shatter, smash, crush or crumble. The past participle / adjective is frantumato.
Do not make this mistake: once in a pizzeria in Italy with some American friends, one leaned over and asked me if peperoncino meant there was pepperoni on the pizza. I said yes. (Oops, sorry Kathy.) Instead of pepperoni (salame piccante), she got peppers (peperone). Peperoncino is chili pepper.
Pranzo di lavoro
“Working lunch”
I can’t believe we have not talked about this before. It’s one of the most common signs you see in restaurants around lunch time. This menu was seen at Trattoria Lozza - a trattoria near Astino with geese out front.
"Pranzo di lavoro" goes beyond just a business lunch or discussing business. It's a concept that caters to a broader audience, including blue-collar workers. The idea is to offer a meal that's convenient for people who need a quick, substantial lunch, at a reasonable price. Often, it is a single plate with several different things on it.
Primo Comandamento - Il Lime non è una decorazione - spremilo!
“First commandment – Lime is not a decoration – squeeze it!”
This sign was seen at El Boss del Taco in Bergamo, our little piece of Mexico in our hood. We love Italian food, but some good tacos are always appreciated.
Lime in Italian is just lime, pronounced the same as in English. We always try to make the ending E sound like an Italian E (i.e., like an A) and get weird looks. And usually loan words are masculine so “il”. Spremilo is imperative form of spremere – to squeeze – with the direct object pronoun lo or “it” added to the end.
Secondo Comandamento - Chiamatemi Tortilla non piadina!
“Second commandment – Call me tortilla not piadina!”
Where there is one commandment, there must be a second, right? Also found at El Boss del Taco, this commandment says not to confuse a tortilla with a piadina, as Italians might do. A piadina is an Italian flatbread originating from the Emilia-Romagna region. It's made from a simple dough of flour, water, lard or olive oil, and a pinch of salt. The dough is rolled out thin and cooked on a hot griddle or flat pan until it's golden and slightly crispy.
Just up the street from El Boss del Taco is the excellent Squacquerone & Rucola for a great piadina, which we frequent as well.
Cave canem
“Beware of dog”
Speaking of the Romans, this Latin phrase is used a lot in Italy around the entrance to private areas indicating that a dangerous dog (may) be within. Often, the phrase is purely decorative but why risk jumping the fence?
In Italian, it means stai attento al cane.
Theodore Frizzoni Filantropo
“Theodore Frizzoni, Philanthropist”
Theodore Frizzoni was an Italian art critic and historian, born in Bergamo in 1838 and passed away in 1931. He was part of the Frizzoni family, which was originally from the Canton Grigioni in Switzerland and later settled in Bergamo. Theodore, along with his brother Gustavo Frizzoni, made significant contributions to the fields of art and literature. He was a philanthropist, or filantropo.
Today, Via Frizzoni is one of the major throughfares of the lower city. It runs along where the medieval defensive walls ran (1430s), different from the UNESCO Città Alta walls, constructed later.
La fugassa ligure senza lievito con la crescenza
“Ligurian fugassa without yeast and with crescenza”
A Ligurian fugassa, also known as focaccia genovese, is a flatbread from the Liguria region of Italy, particularly Genoa. Before baking, the dough is soaked in saltwater brine giving its salty crunch. We usually get it at Forno Fassi in Bergamo Città Alta. (This episode of Street Sign Language Lesson is turning out to be a plug for all the places we go to eat!)
Peperoncino frantumato bustina
“Crushed red pepper packet”
Frantumare is to shatter, smash, crush or crumble. The past participle / adjective is frantumato.
Do not make this mistake: once in a pizzeria in Italy with some American friends, one leaned over and asked me if peperoncino meant there was pepperoni on the pizza. I said yes. (Oops, sorry Kathy.) Instead of pepperoni (salame piccante), she got peppers (peperone). Peperoncino is chili pepper.
Pranzo di lavoro
“Working lunch”
I can’t believe we have not talked about this before. It’s one of the most common signs you see in restaurants around lunch time. This menu was seen at Trattoria Lozza - a trattoria near Astino with geese out front.
"Pranzo di lavoro" goes beyond just a business lunch or discussing business. It's a concept that caters to a broader audience, including blue-collar workers. The idea is to offer a meal that's convenient for people who need a quick, substantial lunch, at a reasonable price. Often, it is a single plate with several different things on it.
Primo Comandamento - Il Lime non è una decorazione - spremilo!
“First commandment – Lime is not a decoration – squeeze it!”
This sign was seen at El Boss del Taco in Bergamo, our little piece of Mexico in our hood. We love Italian food, but some good tacos are always appreciated.
Lime in Italian is just lime, pronounced the same as in English. We always try to make the ending E sound like an Italian E (i.e., like an A) and get weird looks. And usually loan words are masculine so “il”. Spremilo is imperative form of spremere – to squeeze – with the direct object pronoun lo or “it” added to the end.
Secondo Comandamento - Chiamatemi Tortilla non piadina!
“Second commandment – Call me tortilla not piadina!”
Where there is one commandment, there must be a second, right? Also found at El Boss del Taco, this commandment says not to confuse a tortilla with a piadina, as Italians might do. A piadina is an Italian flatbread originating from the Emilia-Romagna region. It's made from a simple dough of flour, water, lard or olive oil, and a pinch of salt. The dough is rolled out thin and cooked on a hot griddle or flat pan until it's golden and slightly crispy.
Just up the street from El Boss del Taco is the excellent Squacquerone & Rucola for a great piadina, which we frequent as well.
Grammar question: why in the second commandment they use chiamatemi as in "you all (plural) can call me" and the first commandment they use spremilo as in "you (singular) squeeze it". Is squeezing a lime more a personal, singular activity?
Rivolgersi al personale
“Contact/ask the staff”
This was written on a menu at Rifugio Lecco in Piani di Bobbio. We went for a ski day at this small ski area about 1-hour away from Bergamo. We entered the ski area from Valtorta side (in Val Brembana). The main access point is in Barzio (near Lecco).
This menu was on the wall. We had the stinco and tripe soup (not written on the menu). Both were quite good.
Vetrina in allestimento
“Display in progress”
There are just some things in Italy maybe I’ll never understand like this sign. It indicates the shop window is being dressed so to speak. But I also see it in windows that seem complete or already dressed, as in this photo. Is it because the mannequin is missing shoes that the window isn’t complete? Or does this sign mean something more subtle and acts like a cue to window-shoppers that the window has just changed?
Rivolgersi al personale
“Contact/ask the staff”
This was written on a menu at Rifugio Lecco in Piani di Bobbio. We went for a ski day at this small ski area about 1-hour away from Bergamo. We entered the ski area from Valtorta side (in Val Brembana). The main access point is in Barzio (near Lecco).
This menu was on the wall. We had the stinco and tripe soup (not written on the menu). Both were quite good.
Vetrina in allestimento
“Display in progress”
There are just some things in Italy maybe I’ll never understand like this sign. It indicates the shop window is being dressed so to speak. But I also see it in windows that seem complete or already dressed, as in this photo. Is it because the mannequin is missing shoes that the window isn’t complete? Or does this sign mean something more subtle and acts like a cue to window-shoppers that the window has just changed?
