The illumination of medieval Assisi’s cathedral, basilicas and main square astounded visitors from all over Italy this year. Let me show you a few of the gems of luminosity….and we’ll start with the 13th-c. Basilica di San Francesco, built to house the body of San Francesco (died in 1226), patron saint of all of Italy:…
Linda and Tim and their wonderful gruppo joined me this fall for a memorable Deruta rural feast. See their enthusiasm in these photos – and taste the goodness! All were enchanted- and not just by the rural goodness. See a few comments: Lunch at Giuseppa’s is…..a truly authentic adventure which most travelers are not fortunate enough,…
A small hill town in the region of Emilia Romagna near Forli, Bertinoro, celebrates its centuries-old tradition of hospitality with an array of events in early September, culmination this year on Sunday, September 3rd. The Saturday night prior, Pino and I had booked a hotel right off the main piazza – Piazza della Liberta’ –…
Every year for the Feast of St. Francis, one of the 20 regions of Italy brings the oil which will burn all year in front of his tomb in the Basilica of St. Francis – for San Francesco is the patron saint of Italy. This year, that honor went to the Valle d’Aosta (often called…
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…
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…
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…
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…
How grateful i’ve been for the cool of our Assisi countryside stone farmhouse during our fiery July weather, I’ve been cooking early these days and working on various videos for Anne Robichaud YouTube. The most recent recipe? Pasta alle melanzane (pasta with eggplant) and video coming soon, as well as a blog note. In the meantime,…
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…