In one way or another, Umbria’s June rural rites rotate around the summer solstice. The ancients believed that on the vigil of June 24th (later designated as the feast of St. John…
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La passione. It’s a recurring theme to life in Italy. As I often tell my tour guests while strolling the Umbrian hillltown gems, “If you don’t get la passione, you miss out…
During late May and June, enjoy the best in simple local cooking (at enticingly low prices!) and ballroom dancing with “the locals” at a sagra. Which one and where? That depends on…
Actually, there’s nothing “piccola” about la passione in Gubbio every year on June 2nd, except the size of the little ones living that passion. On May 15th, their fathers, uncles – in…
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)…
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…
“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:…
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…
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…
On the last day of Citta’ della Pieve’s October saffron festival, guided visits through the town focus on “the saffron hues in Renaissance master Perugino’s Citta’ della Pieve masterpieces.” Art intertwined with…