All over Umbria in late October, early November, medieval hilltowns celebrate autumn culinary specialties in a fanfare of festivities. Hazelnuts take center stage in Bevagna’s Festa della Nocciola during the first week-end in November. Under the massive ribbed vaults of the thirteenth-century city hall – where medieval merchants once displayed their goods – volunteers sell…
Fernando Checchini, Umbrian Regional Assessor of “Agricultural Politics” (literal translation), put it this way: “Bees and honey are important for the well-being of all. Bees offer a very high quality product and are important indicators of the level of biodiversity in our territories. Without their impollination, this biodiversity would be severely undermined.” At Foligno’s autumn…
You’ll see elderly Agostino and a young assistant roasting chestnuts and grilling sausages over an open fire, just after you pass through a medieval arch. A sure sign you’ve found the Festa del Vino e delle Castagne (Wine and Chestnust Festival) of San Martino in Colle, tiny castle-village near Perugia. For nine days in early…
If you’ve never tasted corbezzoli, giuggiole or pepini, you can try them at the Festa del Bosco (“Woodland Festival”) in the northern Umbria walled castle-village of Montone. Just stop at one of the first stands, adorned with leafy branches, intertwining vines, creating a “woods” effect. The bright red corbezzoli (translated as “arbutus”) and the walnut…
It’s not the first time we’ve savored the abruzzese goodness at the family-run Agristoro San Gregorio, just outside L’Aquila. And it won’t be the last time. A couple years ago, we stayed here in the rooms upstairs, after dinner in their warm and welcoming restaurant. We were in L’Aquila for Pino’s bid presentation for an…
Who ever thought that at an olive oil festival, you’d come home with a hand-bound journal or a handmade eelskin belt – or a pair of handmade leather shoes? Gianfranco will tell you all about the making of parchment and ancient book-binding techniques at his stand – and nearby, Federico will explain why that eelskin…
In updating my website, I came across this note on a fascinating festival. Enjoy. I’ve lived here in Umbria, “Italy’s green heart”, for well over 25 years… and finally this past year was able to attend the celebration of the Sacra Spina (“Sacred Thorn”) in the tiny walled medieval castle-village of Montone, about 25 miles…
Well, months of work by Pino and his stonemasons resulted in a gem of a countryside guest house. And you can see the our lovely new guest house here (note the solar panels on the roof), just behind our own farmhouse (also a Pino “restoration masterpiece”). Our first guests? a New York family of four…
“It is a rare travel experience when you don’t feel like an outsider just passing through,” wrote Diane to me after her recent stay in our Assisi apartment, Il Nido Tranquillo. Her few days here were full ones. On her first day here, a full Assisi introduction as she joined in one of my guided…
Whether staying in our Nido Tranquillo apartment for two in the Assisi backstreets or in our countryside guesthouse, our guests are more than guests. We like to welcome them into our family. Like Yolanda and Renee who just recently left. They joined us for dinner in our home, met all the family, shared in a…