Book of Sonnino postcards

This is a great book of Sonnino postcards that my cousins sent me a few months ago. There are some wonderful classic pictures of Sonnino. If people are interested I can try to find out where the book can be purchased. They sent along a few other books that I'll best posting about.

Sonninese word: Alluccare

I found this very interested. We often hear about the Latin roots of english word, not the other way around. My cousin Maurizia told me that the Sonninese word "Aluccare" comes from an adaptation of the english "to look". She said that this started being used when Americans were in Sonnino during WWI. Click on the button to listen to the pronunciation.

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Video of religious procession (the Madonna) in Sonnino

I found this video in a Google search. It's a nice little montage and has some good pictures of Sonnino. Click on the link to view the video.

Ogni sette anni - la processione della madonna delle grazie di Sonnino

ogni sette anni - la processione della madonna delle grazie di sonnino

Alley in old Sonnino

I took this video so that people could get a real-time experience of what it's like walking through the historical section of Sonnino. This is one of the longer alleys...it was tricky trying to video and walk down the the smooth cobblestone steps at the same time!

Sonnino's on Priceline.com

Who knew. I recently typed in "Sonnnino, Italy" into Google and saw that about 7 links down there was a link for "Hotels near Sonnino". If you click on the link Priceline does indeed provide a list of hotels near Sonnino...I've even stayed a few of them. Give it a try.

NMR and statistical study of olive oils from Lazio: A geographical, ecological and agronomic characterization

If you have some time it's about olive oil from the region Sonnino is in.

ScienceDirect - Food Chemistry : NMR and statistical study of olive oils from Lazio: A geographical, ecological and agronomic characterization

Market day in Sonnino

Yummy picture from Jim Epolito

Jim recently visited Sonnino and had lunch with his relatives. According to Jim, this is a picture of the best lasagna ever, made at Teodoro Ippoliti's home. I can't vouch that it's the best lasagna ever but I will try to find out the next time I'm in Sonnino!

Sonninese Expression of the Week

I made good use of my digital recorder on my last trip to Sonnino. Here is recording I made of an expression I heard many youngish people using. They said it's Romano. I magine it's spelled something like "A-ou" and it's used to get a person's attention. Have a listen:

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Sonninese recipes from Candido's website

I recently noticed that on Candido Paglia's Sonnino website their is a hard to find section that has local recipes. This is something I've wanted to compile and put on the blog for a long time. He's done a fantastic job so please click on the link and check it out. And as always, please send me any Sonninese recipes that your family might make...I'd love to post them on the blog.


www.sonnino.info/ricette/past_mandorle.php

Sonninese Sign Language: Part 1

I asked my Zio Nicola to demonstrate some of what I call "Sonninese sign language". These are the hand gestures you see all throughout Sonnino. This first one is a classic and maybe the most common. This is the gesture one uses when you like what you've just eaten. If somebody asks, "do you like the carchofi (artichokes)", this is how you respond.

Cannateglio -nod off

This is a very usefull work to know. With all the eating I do in Sonnino...this has word has come in handy. Click to listen.

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Nommera (nicknames) in Sonnino

In Sonnino it seems that everyone has a nickname. Somtimes the nicknames are for an individual and other times they are for a whole family. With the number of Antonio's and Giacamo's in Sonnino, this makes sense.

My family is known as "the butcher". Place that at the end of any first name and you have a "nommera". Other people I meet had nicknames based on family history or family attributes. Do any Sonninese out there care to share what their "nomerra" or family nomerra is?

I'm hoping to get some more examples from my family that I can post.

The newest Sonniese bambino

On September 7th, my wife Margie and I welcomed Rafael Corcoran into our lives. He is happy, healthy, and looks like a nice little Italian boy! Zia Annunziainta even made him a beautiful "Buona Notte" blanket. Pretty soon, his Italian will be better than mine!

Sonninese song...played on the accordian

When I was in Sonnino in May I was at the grandmother of a friends. We went outside and heard an accordion playing. It turns out their neighbor is well know around Sonnino for his accordion playing. He played us a Sonninese song and we did a little waltz. I recorded him playing on my digital recorder. Have a listen

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Sonninese Proverb

In my visits to Sonnino I've heard many Sonninese proverbs. Unfortunalty, I never write them down. Hopefully this will change. Fortunately I did write one down at a meal we had with some older relatives.

We were having dinner and talking about Le Torce the next day when the homemade wine made it to me. I was told "You should drink some...wine becomes blood". The Sonninese say that wine (not to much) fortifies the blood and gives you strength.

The Lepini people

I took this picture on the grounds of the Fossanova Abbey, which is in Sonnino scalo. I've been seeing these signs around the Sonnino area for the past few years. I asked my cousins about about the structure on the sign.

The area around Sonnino is called the "Lepini Plain". The Lipini are the ancient people of the Sonnino area. This structure is a rendering of what their dwellings looked like. My cousins also mentioned that in the hills right behind Sonnino there are still ruins of ancient Lepini homes. Has anybody seen them?

The giving of the torches

This is a video I took in the church after the priest had blessed the torches for "Le Torce" and sprinkled them with holy water. They were then given to the four leaders of Le Torce to carry.

Song: Sonnino Bello

I was having dinner with some family in Sonnino in May and we began to talk about some songs I had heard people singing. Zia Lydia and my cousin Antonio were kind enough to lend their beautiful voices and sing me a few. They said this one is very old and is called "Sonnino Bello". Zia Lydia is in this photo on the bottom-right. Here are the words and the recording. Bonus points if you can translate it!:

"Sonnino e bello, Sonnino
e fatto a ferro, di cavallo
non te ne incarica.
Di cavallo cesta la giovenio col sangue bello, non tene
incarea."

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Friends from Sonnino

This is a picture of some friends from Sonnino. They took me on a fantastic trip to a little called Serrmoneta. It has a beautiful castle which I'll write more about in future posts. From left to right (Eliza, me, Roberto, Luca, Milcho(sp?). This is also a great way to get them to read the blog!