Bergamo – Street Sign Language Lesson V

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Attenzione vi ricordiamo che quello che avete in mano non è un idrante e per terra non c'è un incendio. -“Attention, we remind you that what you have in hand is not a fire hydrant and there isn’t a fire on the ground.”
Some of the most interesting signs seem to be in bathrooms. Or maybe, that’s when we stop and our attention is focused. We saw this in the bathroom of the Dispensa di Arlecchino suggesting that men should aim well. The Arlecchino is good for a simple lunch buffet. I know, you rarely catch us at buffet, but, when we have some serious studying to do at the nearby Angelo Mai Library, it’s quick and easy to pop in here for lunch.


Avviso. L'arruolamento volontario è sempre aperto nel locale delle Scuole Pubbliche in Bergamo. Ciò per norma di quelli che fossero desiderevoli di prender parte alla Guerra dell’Indipendenza, seguendo l’esempio dei tanti che già impugnarono le armi. Bergamo, 5 Luglio 1859 - “Notice. The voluntary recruitment is always open at local Public Schools in Bergamo. This by regulation is for those who would like to take part in the Independence War, following the examples of the many that already took up arms. Bergamo, 5^th of July, 1859.”
Gabriele Camozzi is the requestor this call to arms in the museum of Museo Storico – Ottocento, also called La Rocca. The museum deals with the history in Bergamo from 1796 to 1870, which includes the revolutions around Italy that eventually led to independence. Desiderevoli means desiderabile, desirable. Note use of subjunctive fossero (essere) and the verb impugnare, to grasp or hold, or in this case take up arms.


Il tuo orto per negati - “Vegetable gardens for dummies”
I could only tell what this book was by the series trademark yellow and black cover. I would not have thought of using negato for dummy in the title.


Scegliamo i caffè che più ci piacciono e li tostiamo qui, dove Voi li bevete! Scegliete il vostro caffè -“We select coffees that we like the most and roast them here, where you drink them. Select your coffee”
A sign in l’Art Caffè. Can you tell we like this place? Great place to hang out for a few hours and nurse a coffee.


Il dormiglione - “Sleeper” the movie by Woody Allen.
Dormiglione literally translates aa sleepyhead.


Domani, smetto! - “Tomorrow, I quit!”
A cigarette lighter that says that you’ll quit tomorrow using the verb smettere. While on the subject of smoking: I have no supporting facts, but it seems like a lot more people smoke in Bergamo than in other areas we’ve visited like parts of Piemonte or Padova, for example. Even, when we spent nine months in Florence in 2007-2008, I don’t remember this many smokers. Even more annoying is the fact that smokers stand right outside the front door of buildings and class rooms so that smoke drifts in. It’s like no one thought to say go smoke 25 feet away from entrances. The upside is this: if you are looking for the main entrance or the easiest way into a building, look for the smokers.


On the subject of smoking, I chuckled a bit when I read this bit of news about cigarette butts (mozziconi): Mozziconi gettati a terra? Anche a Bergamo scatterà la multa: throwing cigarette butts on the ground could get you a fine. Yeah, right. If I see someone getting a fine for doing this, I’ll print this page out and smoke it.

Paglia e fieno - “Straw and hay.”
This is for a package of pasta, yellow and green, that looks like straw and hay. You can learn a lot of interesting words in the pasta aisle of an Esselunga.


Snackiamo, turistiamo - “Let’s snack, let’s be tourists”
I’m not sure what the rules are for creating verbs like this, but it seems like we shouldn’t use this in the writing part of our final exams coming up May. Basically, you take an English word and tack on “iamo”, the present tense ending for first person plural. Yes, there is a Gelatiamo in Seattle and elsewhere (I think we saw one in Lisbon, different owner). We use the word boogie as in “hurry up, let’s boogie” and render it as booghiamo. (You should add the “h” to keep the correct g-sound. See for example the verb pagare.)

Padua (Padova) Street Art

We set out from Bergamo early Saturday morning for Padua (Padova) and returned Sunday night. We were only Padua for a day and a half, so this is hardly a thorough sampling of all the street art there. However, we were impressed with what we saw. Padua is a city of porticoes, and perhaps, the porticoes being a natural choice for a canvas of only of a certain size, lead to more intimate pieces that viewers can get close to.

Alessio-B: Peace and boy with watering can.


Kenny Random: Boy sitting and silhouette of a man.


A creature holding it’s head and a ballerina.


Ball of confusion and Euro/Heart.


Profile of a man and a masked girl with a club.

Bergamo Street Art - More Faces on Walls

Left: A collage of different faces seen on walls around Bergamo in February 2016. Right: An embracing couple stenciled on via Astino, quite unexpected in that part of town (street view).


Odd faces around Bergamo.



João Samina's murals at Edonè are impressive.


Left: If you take the TEB (tram from Bergamo to Albino) or just walk along the tracks, you’ll see a lot of graffiti and street art. Right: An interesting piece on via Evaristo Baschenis (street view).

Bergamo Street Art Stencils II

Collage of 13 stencils found around Bergamo city center.

The post Bergamo Street Art Stencils features nine stencils found around the city center. Here are 13 more. These (mostly) political-themed stencils seem to pop up overnight. Some are legible, others are difficult to read because we don’t understand the context.

Are we just spreading the message by publishing these photos? Maybe. I'm curious about the people who create these, their message, and the chosen medium of walls.


Ciao Carlos, Dove vado, evado (“Where I go, I escape”), Fuck authority, Tumbling house.


Let me smoke, Lotta … (“Fight….”), Pregare … lavoro (“Pray … work”), Sopra la gente, lo stato campa, sotto lo stato, la gente crepa (“Over the people, the state stays alive. Under the state, the people die.”)


No al debito (“No to debit”). No austerity.


No alla guerra (“No to war”). [Fancy horned animal]. Senza casa non ci sto! (“Homeless, I can’t take this!”)

Bergamo – Street Sign Language Lesson IV

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We started classes this week at the University of Bergamo CIS – Italian for Foreigners and were immediately humbled by how good the other students are. We are going to have buckle down and get serious! With that in the back of our minds, we wandered down to Piazza La Carrara looking to kill a few hours before our next class. We popped back into the Accademia La Carrara and used the opportunity to work on our language skills reading the information for different works of art. (You might ask: how economical is it to go into a museum to practice reading? We have the Abbonamento Musei Lombardia Milano, which provides for free entry into most museums in Lombardy, 14 in Bergamo and the surrounding province, including La Carrara.) So this installment of street sign language lessons takes place inside La Carrara and concerns five paintings.

Le ultime ore di Gaetano Donizetti – “The last hours of Gaetano Donizetti”
Donizetti sits in the chair descending into madness caused by syphilis.The information for this odd painting by Ponziano Loverini [1891] translates the title as “The last moments of Gaetano Donizetti’s life” as if to imply he wasn't in this state for very long. The terms of interest in this sad scene are abbandonarsi (“collapsed”), sguardo (“gaze”), follia (“madness”), and agonia (“agony). Not a pretty ending.


Ritratto dell contessa Anastasia Spini – “Portrait of Countess Anastasia Spini” (more info)
This portrait by Piccio (Giovanni Carnovali) [circa 1840] shows the countess sitting on a poltroncina (“armchair”) and holding tobacco da fiuto (“snuff”). She also sports a sguardo (gaze), but perhaps a little different from Donizetti’s.


Strumenti musicali – “Musical instruments” (more info)
It would be fun to write descriptions for works of art. Take this painting by Evaristo Baschenis [1660 – 1670] where the following words are used: lo scorrere (“passage” as in time), ineluttabile (“inescapable”), and scandito (time is "marked by” the settling of dust on the instruments).


Ritratto di giovane – “Potrait of a young man” (more info)
The description of Lorenzo Lotto’s [circa 1500] portrait of a young man uses volto (“face”) and the fun phrase riccioli color rame (“coppery-colored curls”). Why not colore rame? Colore is masculine and with masculine nouns and infinitives you can drop the final e.  Note that giovane refers to a young man. To refer to a young woman, it would be giovane donna.


David con la testa di Golia – “David with Goliath’s head” (more info)
The description of this painting by Antonio Balestra [circa 1718 – 1720] features the interesting words accavallate (“crossed” legs of David), insanguinato (“bloody”), fanciulle (“young girls”), and our old friend sguardo but this time qualified by languido (“languid”).