“St. Anthony’s fire” – tormenting (and yes, fiery!) skin flare (ie, shingles, herpes zoster) – is named after him. His image in Italian stalls protects the sheep, the oxen and all the…
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La Befana viene di notte con le scarpe tutte rotte,Con le toppe alla sottana, viva, viva la Befana!” (“La Befana comes at night, her shoes all torn, her slip all patched…long live…
n the mid-thirteenth century, Franciscans shared meagre fare in contemplative silence here in the refectory, attached to their 13th-century San Francesco church. In this once-sacred space – now called the “Ristorante San…
If you truly wish to experience Italian passione, join “the locals” for their May festivals. Work goes on all winter in Assisi for the town’s medieval welcome to spring in early May,…
No, Madonna is not arriving in Assisi but La Madonna is – or so the children believe.As darkness creeps in on December 7th vigil of the Feast of the Immacualte Conception on…
Not “show and tell” but “show and sell” is the theme of the Italian mostra mercato. These markets – generally open-air – can feature just a handful of vendors or hundreds and…
The truffle has always been the richest and most refined element of Mediterranean cuisine. Certainly not desired for its beauty – it resembles a measily rotten potato – the truffle grows underground,…
Passione is in the Italian DNA: Each has it. No one can fight it (and why do so anyway?) Passione for his craft is in the heart of the gelataio as he…
The hit of Umbria Jazz 2004 (see www.Umbriajazz.com) in Perugia this July was the 15-year-old Sicilian sax player Francesco “Wonder Boy” Cafiso (so baptized when he played Carnegie Hall last May with…