In Cascia, Saffron Stars – and Not Only

At the end of October, Pino and I headed into the bellissima Valnerina (Nera River Valley)…..  ….on our way to Cascia, medieval mountain town where St. Rita died in the mid-15th-century. Annually, the Mostra Mercato dello Zafferano di Cascia (“Show and Market of Saffron of Cascia”) animates this mountain town: As we arrived huge white tents…

Fanum Voltumnae: An Etruscan “Celestial Place” Near Orvieto

I’ve often termed our bellissima italia “that land of the endless discoveries.” A recent early evening visit to an Etruscan find below Orvieto (of Etruscan origin, 9th-c. B.C.) confirmed this. Spreading out on a volcanic tuff rock plateau, splendid Orvieto overlooks an astounding recent archaeological find:  the ruins of perhaps the most vast Etruscan sanctuary (and meeting…

Umbria Rural Goodness with Peppa

Rural friend Peppa is like a part of our family and we’ve savored countless rural feasts in her farmhouse.  Every lunch or dinner is a buonissimo rural banquet, although she’ll always say “oggi ho poca roba”  (“today, I have very little”) as she serves up the abundance. She said the same thing the other day as she…

Luca della Robbia: Home Again to a Tuscan Town, Santa Fiora

Pino and I recently headed with son Keegan and his wife, Francesca, to the charming Tuscan village of Santa Fiora (population about 2600), clinging to the southern slope of the extinct volcano, Monte Amiata now draped in forests of beech and chestnut trees. The town’s brochure aptly describes the charm of Santa Fiora:  “The vestige…

Near Sarnano, That Simple Goodness of the Marches Region

The Marches region borders our Umbria on the eastern side and one early summer day, Pino and I headed there to Amandola where he was to view a prospective job site. (Photo below: Mongolo1984) I explored this small marchigiano hill town during Pino’s appointment.  Around lunchtime, we headed to Sarnano, the rolling foothills of the…

In Umbria, That Floral Majesty of Spello’s Infiorate, 2023

Called “Hispellum” by the Romans, majestic Umbrian hill town Spello perches on the lower slopes of Mt. Subasio….  …surveying below the Valle Umbra Nord. 500 square meters of the mosaic floor of a Roman villa – discovered in 2006 – now draws visitors to Spello all year long. And every year on the Feast of…

Near Sarnano, Ciauscolo and More Marches Region Goodness

As we headed from Amandola to Sarnano in the Marches region, rolling wooded landscapes blanketed the surrounding hills: the foothills of the Sybilline mountains: Coming around a curve, the sign in front of a large stuccoed yellow building on the left, caught my eye:  “Salumi Monterotti” I knew the area was famous for salami, prosciutti,…

A Gubbio Highlight: Discovering a Talented Artisan

One of the “undiscovered” medieval hill town gems of Umbria is certainly Gubbio. Not on any railroad line, the winding medieval backstreets of Gubbio are thronged once a year: on May 15th, for the Festa dei Ceri. But all was quiet in Gubbio late May as my tour guests, Beth and Tim, and I headed…

Assisi Infiorate: Floral Splendor in the Medieval Backstreets

In the flowering backstreets of Assisi,…. ……friends and neighbors of all ages gathered on a mid-June afternoon to chat over boxes of flower petals as busy hands swiftly de-petaled flowers of myriads of colors. This was the afternoon of the Feast of Corpus Domini (60 days after Easter) and the locals were preparing Infiorate (literally, the…