Easter liturgies have incorporated early forms of performances and role-playing – varying from short text passages to long presentations – since the tenth century. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Passion plays…
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January can be icy cold in Umbria but a month of warmth, too: the warmth of the locals celebrating January festivals. An Umbrian winter festival absolutely not to miss is the late-January…
Pino and I headed into Latium to the Franciscan sanctuary of Greccio on our first icy cold December day. We headed into the Valnerina and then south into Latium, medieval villages perched…
November is the month of the olive oil harvest all over Italy – and this year, it’s my month to focus on olive oils, subject of my two ZOOM presentations (- and…
Umbria’s “liquid gold,” olive oil, is world-renowned and celebrated by the umbri in glorious festivals. These feste celebrate the olio nuovo (the “new oil”, that olive oil just pressed) at harvest time which takes…
My October 17, 2020 ZOOM presentation, “Italy’s Wine Mystique in History and Art” included – logicamente! – an exploration of the cult of the Roman god Bacchus, so often depicted in triumph as…
Flags and banners are integral to the celebration of Calendimaggio in Assisi and not just those representing the two districts, La Magnifica Parte di Sopra and La nobilissima Parte de Sopra…. ..but…
Preparing my September 26th hour-long ZOOM presentation “Assisi’s Calendimaggio: From Roman Rites to Medieval Splendor” has been a challenge: so much to share! Just the subject of the banners and flags alone…
Assisi’s glorious celebration of springtime, Calendimaggio, is above all una festa di amore, “a festival of love,” the love and passione of the assisani of all ages for their beloved early May…
What joy to do the research for my most recent ZOOM presentation, “Sicily’s Age-old Culinary Mosaic.” Such fascinating new tidbits I unearthed as I researched Sicily culinary wonders. I centered my talk…