There are different ways to travel. It can be for pleasure or work, it can be for multiple days, weeks, or months, or it can be a day trip or an overnight, an excursion.

So, let's look at an interesting alternative to the true cognate, escursione (that works just fine, too):

la gita, una gita, andare in gita.

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So the noun is la gita. But where does it come from? It originally comes from the verb ire (to go). People don't use this verb much at all, in fact we could say they never use it in converstion, as it is literary (we mostly use andare), but those of you who know Latin, Spanish, or other Romance languages, will most likely recognize it. 

A dialectical version of ire has a g sound in front of it, turning it into gire. We can trace it to the feminine past participle: andata — ita — gita. You don't need to know this, but some of us enjoy knowing where words come from.

La gita in practical terms

In practical terms, una gita implies traveling somewhere, not necessarily sleeping over, but maybe. 

For example, kids in school might go on una gita scolastica (a class trip).

E perché? -Partono, per la gita scolastica!

And, why? -They're leaving on a school trip!

Fuori di casa due giorni da soli.

Away from home for two days, all alone.

-Mamma, siamo in trentadue!

-Mom, there are thirty-two of us!

E quattro insegnanti.

And four teachers.

Captions 5-8, Acqua in bocca - Allarme gita

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Erica works at the tourist office of Palaia in Tuscany. She's talking about her job.

E quindi è un po' il punto di arrivo,

And so it's kind of the point of arrival

eh, di tutte quelle persone che vengono qua in vacanza,

uh, for all those people who come here on vacation,

o anche semplicemente per fare u', una gita o una, una breve sosta

or even just to make a, a day trip, or a quick stop

qui, in questo territorio, che è la Valdera.

here, in this area, which is the Valdera.

Captions 14-17, Professioni e mestieri - Erica - archeologa

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Check out this Yabla mini-series about a girl who goes on an outing — Una gita al lago  (a day trip to the lake).

Girare

The verb gire sounds kind of like the verb girare, which means "to go around." Girare and gire don't have the same root, but they are related through one definition of girare:

andare qua e là, andare in giro, vagare, con o senza uno scopo determinato
(to go here and there, to go about, with or without a specific purpose).

Firenze è una città piccola, si può girare benissimo a piedi.

Florence is a small city, you can go around very easily on foot.

Caption 9, In giro per l'Italia - Firenze

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The noun form is il giro. Un giro can be a bike ride, a walk, a ride in a car... anything really, even a swing, or one of the machines at a gym.

Continuando il mio giro in bicicletta sulle mura di Lucca,

Continuing my bike ride around the Lucca walls,

mi sono fermata davanti a questo bellissimo palazzo.

I stopped in front of this very beautiful villa.

Captions 1-2, In giro per l'Italia - Lucca

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Fare un giro can mean "to take a turn."

Let's say I am on the treadmill at the gym, and there is someone waiting. I can ask, ci vuoi fare un giro (do you want to take a turn on it, do you want to have a go)?

Italians love diminutives, so we also have un giretto, or un girettino (or some say una girata or giratina) more like a brief stroll, synonymous with passeggiata, or passeggiatina. 

E nonna, ho fatto un bel giretto nel bosco.

Well Grandma, I had a nice walk around the woods.

Caption 5, Anna e Marika - in Cappuccetto Rosso e la nonnina

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Gramatically speaking...

Note that we use the verb fare (to make, to do) with the noun una gita, — fare una gita or the noun un giro — fare un giro. Or we use the verb andare (to go) and the preposition in (on a) before gita or giro. Andare in gita, andare in giro. Tuscans often say andare a giro. It means the same thing.

Sono sicura che passeremo una bellissima giornata in giro per la città.

I'm sure we'll have a great day going around the city.

Caption 6, In giro per l'Italia - Firenze

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There is plenty more to say about in giro, but that will be for another lesson. Meanwhile, let's try to assimilate the meanings we have talked about here by looking at some questions and some possible answers. Feel free to write to us with your attempts. Mistakes are welcome. That's how we learn.

Practice and examples

E tu? Che fai oggi? Vai in gita? Fai un giro? Fai una passeggiata? Vai in giro?
And you? What are you doing today? Are you going on an excursion? Are you going to go out and about? Are you going to take a walk? Are you going to cruise around the area?

Here are some possible answers:

Facciamo una gita turistica. Viviamo a Pisa, e andremo a visitare Siena. 
We're going on a day trip. We live in Pisa and we're going to go and see Siena.

 

Andiamo in gita, che bello!
We're going on an outing, how great!

 

Facciamo il giro dell'isolotto.
We're going to walk around the block.

 

Facciamo un giro.
Let's go and have a look around.

 

Facciamo un giro in bici.
We're going on a bike ride.

 

Ho fatto una passeggiata vicino a casa.
I took a walk close to home.

 

Siamo andati in giro per la toscana.
We went for a ride around Tuscany.

Feel free to send us some of your own examples. If they work, we'll add them to this list. write to us at newsletter@yabla.com.