Italians are known for opening home and hearts to visitors and at the end of May, wine cellars all over Italy throw open cantina doors to welcome visitors into their cellars and vineyards, uncorking bottles of crisp whites and robust reds for the thousands joining in on the festival, Cantine Aperte (“Open Cellars”). Launched in…
Fried foods might not be prevalent in the Mediterranean diet, but they’re definitely present… and you’ll find “il fritto” (or derivatives) in a few Italian idiomatic expressions, too: – “siamo fritti”, “we’re fried” means “we’re in trouble” – “mandare a farsi friggere” is best translated as “send someone off to fry themselves” i.e., ” tell…
This May in Assisi, La Parte de Sotto (“Lower Assisi”) won our four-day medieval festival, Calendimaggio, in a smashing tripletta victory over La Parte de Sopra (“Upper Assisi”: Sopra took home il Palio (the victory banner) for the third year in a row. And this May, I conquered my own “tripletta”: in late May, I…
I could never be anywhere but Gubbio on May 15th for the glorious Corsa dei Ceri – but May 16th has its own magic. The euphoria of the day before has melted into a gentle calm. Streets are nearly empty, exhausted ceraioli (“those who carry the Ceri“) home resting after their run up the mountain…
Since every flower imaginable figures in Bucchianico’s astounding late May floral procession, la Ciammaichella, passion flowers must be there, too. We saw spindly branches of wild yellow broom, dangling wisteria, intertwining roses, delicate lilies, towering gardenia bushes, cherry blossom branches, sunflowers big as suns, multicolored snapdragon bunches and countless other paper floral masterpieces born on…
Yes, Assisi’s early May Calendimaggio festival IS – above all – a festival of love: an ebullient demonstration of the love that all the assisani have for their annual celebration of the birth of spring. A young journalist from Assisi, announced the winner of the festival even before the jury did. The day before the…
There’s a single religious moment in Assisi’s four-day medieval celebration of spring, rooted in pagan rituals: the blessing of the banners of the town’s two rival factions, la Parte de Sopra (“Upper Assisi”) and la Parte de Sotto (“Lower Assisi”). All the partaioli of Lower Assisi, gathered at the Basilica of San Francesco for the…
“I have a dream…” – and I’ve had one for many years: I’d like to share Umbria with a small group of 10 persons, offering with them “MY” Umbria, giving them a unique, insider’s view. We’d celebrate Umbria’s May festivals, have unique encounters with the locals in every Umbrian hill town we tour – and of…
You know our early May medieval festival, Calendimaggio, is around the corner if you walk the stunning backstreets the end of April: those banners are flying. Blue ones in la Parte de Sopra (“Upper Assisi”) and red ones drape windows, terraces on the home of la Parte de Sotto (“Lower Assisi”). Calendimaggio is around the…
You’ll miss out on the best in local cuisine – enjoyed with “the locals” – if you miss a sagra while visiting Umbria. Running about ten days, these village food festivals animate the Umbrian countryside from April to late November. At every sagra, an array of entertainment – balllroom dancing will always be part of…