On Palm Sunday, even our goats had a celebratory treat: instead of just their usual hay, also some fresh grass. Peppa called me just before noon on Palm Sunday, asking anxiously, “Anna,…
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The mimosa bunches on our table remain, a memento of our March 8th Festa delle Donne lunch cooked by Pino for “le mie donne“: our Giulia and myself. Another memorable day here…
Just after Valentine’s Day, over one hundred engaged couples – each woman holding a rose – celebrated their love in a church linked to Valentines, the Basilica di San Valentino, where the…
On January 29th – the Feast of San Costanzo (Perugia’s first bishop and one of the town’s three patron saints) – I headed to Perugia for the traditional fiera (a grandissimo outdoor…
Pino and I were grateful for invitations to the annual mid-December Assisi Christmas concert in the upper level of the Basilica di San Francesco (always televised nationally on Christmas Day). In anticipation,…
The late December days were icy cold in Orvieto – but jazz, blues, soul and Motown warmed up the Umbria Jazz Winter appassionati gathered in this Umbria medieval hill town gem perched…
In late December, icy lips blow into trumpet mouthpieces while chilled fingers grip drumsticks, fly up and down the keys on many a sax and clang cymbals as musicians in jeans, navy…
That huge crackling and spitting focaraccio (literally, “big ugly fire” i.e., “bonfire”) near Assisi’s massive medieval fortress, La Rocca Maggiore, is said to light the way for the arrival of La Madonna…
Vicky, Mary, Dorothy and Christina, such pleasure to have you in our Assisi countryside apartment, sharing Umbria with you all. Mille grazie for your note, Vicky, letting us know that this pleasure…
Sharing tasty food with family and friends is often a week-end outing in central Italy from early spring to late fall, the season of la sagra (village food festival). Onions take center…