On August 2nd, Piazza Inferiore San Francesco was closed off, Italian police of various branches and military surrounded the piazza, eyes roving everywhere. An entourage of armored cars with darkened windows pulled up – and Italian visitors under the piazza porticoes asked each other quizzically, “E’ qui la Regina Elisabetta?” No, it wasn’t the Queen…
It’s hard to decide which is the highlight of a rural banquet with Giuseppa in the family farmhouse near Deruta: her rural goodness, cooked up with such passione – or the warmth of her welcome..? Not long ago, a Connecticut “extended family” feasted on homemade pasta with meat sauce of veal, pork raised right there,…
Why head to Nocera? Here’s one reason. …and have a look at the good eating in Nocera Umbra: Click here to raed about nearby Gualdo Tadino Read more on Gualdo Tadino Read about a fascinating May festival, not far away
Not far from us, Gualdo Tadino, of pre-Roman origins, perches like a silent sentinel on a forested hilltop. A few buildings miraculously survived the devastating 1751 earthquake: one was the frescoed 13th-century church of San Francesco, dedicated to the beloved Saint of the nearby hill town of Assisi. The pale pastel colors of the medieval…
I suggested to Pino that we put fewer zucchini plants in our garden this year: to no avail. The “zucchini tsunami” has hit. Our chickens are relishing the seeds and soft pulp of the giant ones, too overgrown for zucchine marinate. We often have penne with zucchini and zucchini flowers (with and without shaved black…
Late afternoon on a breezy summer Sunday, Pino and I set out for Arezzo, a favorite southern Tuscan city. It was the first Sunday of the month, the day of the Fiera Antiquaria and we’d never been. We were there to wander the booths lining the cobblestoned alleyways between Renaissance palazzi, not for a purchase.…
Just south of Parma, the region of Reggio Emilia is best associated with parmigiano reggiano cheese. And not only: if you’re a teacher, you’ve probably studied Reggio Emilia’s innovative early childhood education – the Reggio Emilia Approach. Modern architecture appassionati will know Reggio Emilia boasts Calatrava bridges, a railway station and other stunning Calatrava infrastructure…
When heading off on vacation to the seaside – either the Mediterranean coast or the Adriatic – Italians must leave behind their center of town life, the main piazza, but they simply transfer to another place of social gathering. A sandy one, not a cobblestoned or paved one: their favorite stabilmento balneare. The literal translation,…
Nothing really regal about the farrmhouse of Chiarina and Marino but their welcome certainly is. And Chiarina with daughter Rossanna cook up rural banquets fit for royalty. Have a look at the feasting enjoyed recently by an international group: Meet our farm friends, givers of the greatest gifts Read about – and see – our…
In Italian, “gusto” means “flavor” – and what flavorful rural goodness cooked up by the locals to celebrate la Festa di Sant’Anna, July 26th. And the rural people of the mountain area near Assisi don’t just fête the Saint for a day..but for ten days. Locals outfitted in the obligatory plastic caps (for anyone cooking),…