Steam train lake district

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUxhbQXJJ-E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUxhbQXJJ-E

For Italy

When I was studying in the Soviet Union during the '80s, foreign music (apart from English) was generally very popular. Among the European genre, many of us liked the Italian and Spanish songs; they were often played in discos and bars around Moscow. Record disks produced in the USSR were available to buy. Famous Italian singers included Adriano Celentano, Ricci, Poveri, and Toto Cutugno (a personal favourite).

We visited Italy in 2015; the people were very friendly and we have always loved Italian food. We ate many different pasta dishes, and enjoyed large thin pizzas in local Venetian restaurants. We tried foods like bottarga, lasagna, ribollita, carbonara, etc, and all were delicious. When the kids didn't know what they wanted to eat, pizza or spaghetti always worked.

In Italy, it is not only the food that makes it remarkable. Their rich history combined with the charming cities of Verona, Venice and Pisa; the famous Vatican; the story of Pinocchio and the beautiful ladies with long black hair is what will always bind us to Italy.

Right now, Italy is going through a difficult period alongside the rest of Europe. However, we can see that the number of deaths from Covid-19 are reducing and the curve of its graph is starting to bend downwards. I sincerely hope Italy has now passed its peak, and that this beautiful country will soon get back on its feet.

For me, Toto Cutugno's song "L'italiano" epitomises the Italian spirit.

Viva Italia 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYtdYslLY9I

The Italian

Let me sing

with a guitar in my hand

Let me sing

I am Italian.

 

Good Morning Italy with your spaghetti

and your partisan for President

with my hand on the radio

and a canary on the window

 

Good Morning Italy with your artists

with your many American posters

with your songs of love

with kind hearts

with more women still less nuns (more women not becoming nuns?)

 

Good Morning Italy

Good Morning Mother Mary

with eyes full of sadness

Good Morning God

I know you know I am here.

 

Let me sing

with a guitar in hand

Let me sing

a song, slowly, slowly

Let me sing

because I am proud

I am an Italian

A genuine/real Italian.

 

Good Morning Italy who doesn't scare

with peppermint flavored toothpaste

with a pinstripe blue suit

with slow moving Sundays on TV

Good Morning Italy with extra-strong espresso coffee

the new sock from the drawer

with the clean flag (flag that switched sides/flag that was clean)

a 600 (type of car I can't think of)

 

Good Morning Italy

Good Morning Mother Mary

with eyes full of sadness

Good Morning God

I know you know I'm here.

 

Let me sing

with a guitar in my hand

Let me sing

a song, slowly, slowly

Let me sing

because I am proud

I am Italian

A genuine/real Italian.

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/l%E2%80%99italiano-italian.html-0

To the Unknown

In our little garden 

Cherry flowers 

blooming again,

small little white flowerlings

nature does not stop

nurturing the life around,

on any other day 

would fill my heart with joy

but today, on Good Friday

Six thousand and many hundreds 

of unknown souls 

left the land of living

without loved ones beside them

life and death

is all we have  

in a fleeting moment

called living

All I can do is

to dedicate the April flowers

of a small cherry tree

to the departed unknown You

--Ajith