In a bustling narrow alleyway in downtown Naples, Neapolitan life and Naples’ highest craft traditions merge. I can’t imagine Christmas without a walk in Via San Gregorio Armeno, nor any visit to…
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Acclaimed “la citta’ dell’olio”, Spello celebrates its “liquid gold” with the Festa dell’olivo e Sagra della Bruschetta every year in early December. Its 50th anniversary edition transforms this medieval hilltown gem into…
“The applause and affection of my fellow Folignati made up for the fatigue of wearing this stupendous gown,” said Miss Italia, Francesca Testasecca from Foligno, (Umbria) after participating in the splendid Baroque…
At the end of June, it’s hot in Bevagna, medieval hilltown of Roman origins in the Valle Umbra Nord, Umbria’s largest valley. Not exactly the ideal day for dressing in heavy woolen…
There certainly is something sacred about the sagra: a local village festival offering the best in local cuisine at minimal prices, top (and free!) dance band music outdoors til the wee hours…
Since time immemorial, man has heralded the arrival of spring with ritual and festivity. In Assisi, committees meet nightly for months to plan the annual traditional salute to spring, the Calendimaggio. The…
Pino and I had been working the land here outside of Assisi for about eight months and collapsed into bed exhausted on April 30th (1975) – as we did most nights in…
On the vigil of May 1st, a small Umbrian hilltown not far from Gubbio, San Pellegrino, celebrates a curious May ritual grounded in Christian tradition but celebrated with a decidedly pagan flair:…
It all started on a late June Sunday in the early 1900’s when an elderly woman from Spello (Umbria) scattered shredded bunches of brilliant yellow wild broom and mossy green wild fennel…
I often tell my tour guests that appreciating Italian passione is key to fully understanding the Italians. Passione is the underlying theme of all things Italian: from the elegant presentation of colorful…