Calendimaggio in Assisi: Medieval Passion Blessed

For four days in early May, the assisani welcome the month of floral abundance, fecundity, fertility and celebration of the rites of spring with passione. La Magnifica Parte de Sotto (Lower Assisi) will compete wtih La Nobilissima Parte de Sopra (Upper Assisi) in a magnificent, astounding array of events including medieval banner-waving,  medieval games, theater, processions, and musical…

Stay in Our Assisi Countryside Apartments: the Highlight of Your Italy Trip

Before leaving, Mimi wrote in our guest book, “ This was definitely the highlight of our trip…(and)…to be honest, I never want to leave this place.”   And while staying here in one of our Assisi countryside apartments in April, Mimi and her lovely family of five joined us for a rural banquet in our…

Fascinatingly Unique Medieval: San Piero a Grado Near Pisa

Just 7 kilometers west of Pisa, an 11th-century Romanesque basilica stands solitary and solemn in an open field: The medieval basilica San Piero a Grado (also known as the Basilica di San Pietro Apostolo) is fascinatingly unique for various aspects: the lack of a facade but with two apses in one apse, the first stone altar ever erected…

Pino and Keegan

Sarnano in the Marches Region: From Good Eating to the Colors of Peace

Generally I don’t have bookings for guided tours in February: for me,  February is dedicated to making videos, writing on my blog and exploring Italy.  When Pino must head off somewhere to view a restoration project he might possibly take on, I join him. Stunning landscapes are guaranteed on any jaunt – as well as…

Artist Maceo Angeli in Assisi – and in Our Home

After learning about the straordinario Maceo Angeli in a guided visit to his medieval home (January 2023), I was taken over by a veritable “Maceo passione.”  I simply needed to know more about this extraordinary assisano (who had died in 1991). I now often ask any middle-aged or elderly assisano I encounter, “Conoscevi Maceo?”  I recently asked elderly retired blacksmith, Roberto as we sipped espressi at…

A Memorable Visit to an Historic Assisi Home: a Day to Remember

Before the end of January, 2023, I hadn’t realized  what might be right behind the wooden doors of the pointed-arch medieval entryways in pink and white local limestone, lining Assisi’s winding medieval backstreets: I But I found out on January 29 2023. On that day, I joined a group for an event sponsored by Assisi’s Museo…