The last time I was in Cascia, Pino and I were warming frozen hands over steaming bowls of roveja soup at a January rural festival. On a recent visit there (May 22nd) “everything was coming up roses.” To put it another way, many of those heading there to celebrate the feast of Santa Rita had…
It’s not just for the “aria fina” (“good air”) that you stop at the Agriturismo Aria Fina in the mountains on the Basilicata/Calabria border near the mountain town of Mormanno. Although we were there to spend the night on our way to Sicily last summer, we soon discovered that many came from all over just…
When you’re ready for the best in “farm-to-table” eating (called “kilometro zero” in Italian), head to the medieval hilltown gem of Scheggino on the Nera River for dinner at Osteria Baciafemmine where smiling young Elisa cooks up the meats raised on the family farm at the : pork, lamb, fowl, beef (just 1. 6 km…
I’ll never be anywhere but in Gubbio on May 15th for the indescribable Corsa dei Ceri (“Race of the Candles”). I’ve heard it’s in the book A Thousand Things to Do Before You Die. And if it’s not, it should be. No one should miss experiencing la grande passione of the Eugubini during the astounding…
“E vien Calendimaggio..” As the medieval ballad intones, “Calendimaggio will soon be here.” All over Assisi, you’ll see the signs of feverish preparation for our stunning medieval celebration of spring’s arrival, Calendimaggio: workers pound together the bolts of the bleachers in the main square, Piazza del Comune, while across the piazza, others hammer planks for…
It’s official: countdown to the May 15th Corsa dei Ceri in Gubbio has started. Almost as if a gun at a starting line had been fired. Today, after a solemn High Mass at the mountaintop Basilica di Sant’Ubaldo high above Gubbio, the three towering wooden Ceri – for Sant’Ubaldo, San Giorgio and Sant’Antonio – were…
Head to Gubbio during the first days in May and you’ll see signs of “Ceri fever” all over town. May 15th, la Corsa dei Ceri – one of the greatest medieval festivals of Italy – is not far off and Gubbio’s feverish anticipation is simply palpable. [lcaption]Ceri draperies on hotels these days[/lcaption] All over Gubbio,…
“The medieval tower leapt straight up into the air when the bomb went off,” Signor Fausto told me, “….and then disintegrated into chunks of rock.” I asked if anyone was hurt. “No, but many roofs caved in and homes were destroyed.” It was June 30, 1944 and occupying Germans forces were abandoning Montisi in retreat.…
Easter is a sacred time and in Umbria, even Easter breakfast must be sacred. Before Easter as you wander the Umbrian countryside, you might see whisps of smoke curling up out of the wood bread ovens. What’s inside? Huge cheesebreads. Many. Probably fifteen to twenty. There is no more appreciated Easter gift than a homemade…
A sunset private poetry-reading on the ruins of an 11th-c. Norman castle in Calabria? An unplanned pre-dinner treat on the drive down to Sicily last August. We’d booked a night at the Agriturismo Aria Fina near Mormanno – on the border between the regions of Basilicata and Calabria – to break up the long drive…