Assisi’s Christmas Illumination

Festivals, Guided Hilltown Visits, Special Events, Traditions, Umbrian Hilltowns1 Comment

There’s usually a life-sized creche scene on the lawn in front of Assisi’s majestic Basilica di San Francesco, right  across the street from the Bar San Francesco of the Angeletti family. Since 1995, the Angeletti family, in fact, has worked with volunteers to set up the artisanal presepe (creche) with the help of volunteers each Christmastime.…

From Naples to Milan: Christmas Solidarity in Italy

Festivals, Food/Wine Lore, Italian 'Passione', Local people, Special Events, Traditions5 Comments

Glorious Naples is not only the Italian capital of pizza but also of espresso;  in fact, here in Umbria if we wish to compliment the coffee of a local coffee bar, we might say, “veramente buonissimo – come a Napoli!” (“Really very good- as if from Naples”). Neapolitans are not tea-drinkers, for they see tea as…