Italian Hotspots
You don’t want to miss this museum founded by Pope Julius II.
the Vatican Museum
If you visit every room in the museum, you will walk nine miles, and you will see an extraordinary variety of art. The Bramante Staircase is one of the most photographed features of the museum, and its spiral is dizzying.
This is the term for using long stitches to hold material together temporarily.
baste
You want to use the fewest number of stitches to hold the material in place, minimizing needle holes in the fabric.
We moved from watching them in theaters and drive-ins to collecting them on VHS and DVD formats; now kids stream them on the internet.
movies
They’re available on various internet streaming channels such as Prime Video, the Roku Channel, and Netflix.
Using vinegar, water, and salt to preserve cucumbers is called this.
pickling
It’s not only used for preservation but also to add flavor to the pickles, which makes them a great addition or side dish to sandwiches. Or you can eat them right out of the bottle for a snack.
The Barbie doll was released in this decade.
1950s
The doll was released in 1959 and was the first mass-produced doll. Her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
This is Italy’s largest island.
Sicily
The island’s capital city is Palermo. Sicily has its own language, not a dialect of Italian. Sicily is home to the best-preserved Greek ruins outside of Greece and to Syracuse, the second-most important ancient Greek city.
In the store, it’s a length of fabric wound around a cardboard tube; in nature, it’s a unit of lightning
a bolt
Lengths of bolts vary widely based on manufacturer and fabric type, but many bolts contain between 30 and 100 yards of fabric.
This electronic communication device was once used strictly for audio communication between two parties; today, it’s a multifunction device.
phone
Today’s smartphones do everything for us but clean the house. They serve as clocks, flashlights, calendars, cameras, education centers, nutrition counselors, and more.
This fungus is classified nutritionally as a vegetable.
mushroom
Some are poisonous, but the ones sold in grocery stores are meant for human consumption. You would think fungi would be inexpensive, but one truffle was the costliest foodstuff on Earth. In 2014, it sold for $61,250 at a Sotheby’s auction.
Eight squared equals this.
64
A squared number is multiplied by itself. Eight times eight equals 64 and is written 8 X 8 = 64 or 8² = 64. The square root of 64 is eight, the number multiplied by itself.
This Italian city is the city of canals.
Venice
The city is comprised of 118 islands, all linked by the canals. When the high tide, known as acqua alta, comes in, the streets flood. Venice is built on approximately 120,000 wooden piles. Don’t miss out on a gondola ride while you’re there.
You’d be correct if you knew this term for the pretty side of the fabric that is seen when you wear the garment.
right side
The wrong side does not include the features of the right side and faces inward.
We were told one of these a day keeps the doctor away; now, it’s a top computer and smartphone brand.
Apple
Other major tech brands include Microsoft and Samsung.
MRE stands for this.
Meal, Ready-to-Eat
These are food rations for troops in the field as well as meals for civilian emergency use. They are designed to last five to 10 years, depending on storage temperature.
Ben Franklin used a kite and a key to experiment with this.
electricity
Franklin attached a wire to the top of a silk kite and connected a key to a hemp string, which was attached to a silk string and hung from the kite. Standing in a shed door, he held the silk string. Thankfully, the kite escaped a lightning strike. When he noticed the hemp string standing upright, he moved his hand near the key and felt a spark.
This city is the birthplace of the Renaissance.
Florence
In addition to its many museums, the city itself serves as an outdoor art gallery. You can see paintings, sculptures, and magnificent architecture. It was the home of da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Botticelli.
When you purchase a mercerized sewing necessity, you are buying this.
thread
Mercerized thread is a chemically treated cotton thread with enhanced strength and color durability.
This was once a time to party, club hop, and flock to the hottest new restaurant, but today many use it as a time to unwind and relax from a harried week.
weekend
Many people use the weekend to prepare for a busy week ahead by cooking entire meals for the coming week.
Our ancestors obtained animal meat and plant-based foods in the wild, which earned them this moniker.
hunter-gatherers
They hunted for animals and gathered plants to eat, storing what they could for later use during periods when food was less abundant.
The standard dinner fork and salad fork have this number of tines.
four
The salad fork is shorter than the dinner fork and is placed outside the dinner fork.
This lake area is a celebrity magnet, with George Clooney owning a vacation home there, and it has 100 miles (160 kilometers) of coastline.
Lake Como
The Romans built the first villas (what we call mansions) on the lake. You can travel between the lakeside cities by ferry to see the splendid architecture. You’ll spot artists along the streets, as the coastline has drawn writers, painters, musicians, and filmmakers for centuries.
A gusset is either a diamond or this shape of fabric.
triangle
A gusset is sewn into a tight-fitting area of clothing to relieve stress placed on the fabric; for example, into the upper arm area of some fitted dresses. The technique is rarely used today.
Transactions used to be completed using cash and credit or debit cards; this popular cryptocurrency is emerging as an alternative payment option.
Bitcoin
While most transactions still are completed using credit or debit cards, Bitcoin is gaining traction. Vendors such as Microsoft and AT&T are now accepting Bitcoin for payment.
Chefs use this term for adding salt and pepper when cooking.
seasoning
Chefs add these ingredients throughout the cooking process rather than all at once to ensure proper balance. Home cooks tend to take salt and pepper for granted rather than considering them as “seasoning,” but they are an integral part of getting the flavor just right.
“Sea cow” and “teddy bear of the sea” are nicknames for this marine animal.
manatee
“Sea cow” is the nickname for the animals in the order Sirenia, which includes manatees, dugongs, and the now-extinct Steller’s sea cows. Manatees are the largest marine herbivores and typically weigh between 800 and 1,200 pounds.