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Anne's Italy
The only American authorized regional tour guide for Assisi and all Umbria
Anne's Italy
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  • Home
  • About me
    • Umbria Rural Life
    • US Cooking and Lecture Tour
    • Umbria Calendar
    • Umbria Festivals
  • Virtual Experiences
  • Guided Tours
    • Assisi
    • Spello
    • Perugia
    • Spoleto
    • Gubbio
    • Bevagna
    • Montefalco
    • Narni
    • Deruta
    • Todi
    • Orvieto
    • Città di Castello
  • Blog
  • Recipes
    • Antipasti – Appetizers
    • Primi Piatti – First Courses
    • Secondi Piatti – Second Courses
    • Contorni – Side Dishes
    • Sughi – Sauces
    • Dolci – Desserts
    • Other Recipes
  • Comments
  • Contacts

Monthly Archives: October 2016

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  3. October

Visso: No, Art is Not Eternal

Current Events, History, Special Events, Umbrian HilltownsBy anneOctober 31, 2016Leave a comment

No, art is not eternal. (This has become my mantra). The seismic activity in Italy since August 24, 2016 has affirmed that for us. Again and again. The strongest tremor of all – the 6. 5 quake at 7 41 a.m on October 30. 2016 – brutally gouged the rich artistic patrimony of southeastern mountain…

Norcia’s Basilica di San Benedetto: No, Art is Not Eternal

Current Events, History, Special Events, Umbrian HilltownsBy anneOctober 31, 20164 Comments

Heart-breaking updates of the continuing losses of our rich artistic patrimony come to us in waves – like angry swells breaking on a rocky beach. Mother Earth is still in a rage. We’re hoping she’ll soon be soothed.. ..and now more than ever, a thought I often share with my tour guests while showing them…

Weeping for San Salvatore near Campi (Norcia)

History, Special Events, Umbrian HilltownsBy anneOctober 28, 20161 Comment

Today while telling my tour guests about the restoration of the Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi after the 1997 earthquake, I added “and feast your eyes on this splendor, remembering that seeing this with your own eyes is not the same as seeing it in a book.” The earthquake of 1997 underscored that for…

Wild Mushrooms …and Then the Earth Shook…

Food/Wine Lore, Rural Friends, Rural Life, Special EventsBy anneOctober 28, 20165 Comments

…..or at least the central backbone of the Italian peninsula had a good shake-up on a recent late October evening. And coincidentally, both our Giulia and Peppa had cleaned wild woodland mushrooms just hours before our farmhouses trembled. Giulia had found a few on an an early evening hike and Peppa’s son, Giancarlo, had brought…

An Abruzzo Olive Mill Discovery

Food/Wine Lore, Other Italy FavoritesBy anneOctober 27, 2016Leave a comment

It was time for lunch and as we pulled off the highway not far from Notaresco (tiny Abruzzo town near Teramo), a sign dangling before a two-level stone house caught our eye: “Antico Frantoio  Bar”. An “ancient olive oil mill” sounded promising as a place to eat. The restaurant, Ristorante ai Friscoli, was above the bar…

Umbria’s Olives to Olive Oil: a Mill Visit

Food/Wine Lore, Rural Friends, Special EventsBy anneOctober 25, 20165 Comments

Within forty-eight hours of picking, those olives should arrive at the mill: pressing must take place before the moisture of the fruit starts to dissipate. Pino had called the mill even before our olive-picking was finished, arranging delivery to the mill near Assisi within 24 hours of the conclusion of harvesting. At the mill… The…

Olive Abundance in Umbria: Our Best Year Ever

Food/Wine Lore, Rural Life, Special EventsBy anneOctober 23, 2016Leave a comment

Our son Keegan (36) put it this way, “Well, definitely the best year since I was born.” Not only: the best olive harvest we’ve had since we first picked our olives in 1975. And miraculous considering that the parasite mosca olearia (literally, “olive fly”) has hit again. Perhaps not with the devastation of 2014 (when…

Green Tomatoes: Autumn Arrival

Food/Wine Lore, RecipesBy anneOctober 21, 2016Leave a comment

When the rains come and the air chills, it’s time to pick all the tomatoes: those few remaining red ones and all the green ones that never made it to full ripening. Summer’s behind us now; autumn is stepping forward. A favorite October task for me is deciding how to use those green tomatoes. After…

Sabrina, One of Gubbio’s Many “Hidden Treasures”

Guided Hilltown Visits, Local peopleBy anneOctober 20, 2016Leave a comment

Tucked away in the northeast corner of Umbria – with no railroad access – the splendid medieval hilltown of Gubbio hides many wonders. One is Sabrina, painter and ceramicist. Just ask Nora and Marilyn who recently toured Gubbio with me. They’re now “Sabrina fans.” Marilyn and Sabrina have yet another special link: that same color…

Our Wine: the Birds Have It, Too…..!

Food/Wine Lore, Rural Friends, Rural LifeBy anneOctober 19, 20161 Comment

About half of our grapes went to the birds this year. Literally. Pino picked the rest, filling two crates (about 100 kilos of grapes). He bought a small press for our small quantity: we might have about 60 liters of wine. It’s now maturing in the steel barrel in our storeroom. We’ll taste our new…

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Anne's Italy

Agenzia Viaggi Stoppini in Assisi handles all technical support for my guided visits (bus transportation, organization of meals, etc)

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