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…
In my late August 29th 2020 ZOOM talk, “Italy’s Islands of Refuge, ” I took you along with me to the “islands of refuge” that Pino and I have come to love.…
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…
Treasures of Italy include the peninsula’s glorious festivals and in my ZOOM talk, “Italy’s Uplifting Pagan-Christian Rites,” you’ll live the passione of the Italians as they celebrate their beloved saints in rites…
Who knows when I’ll again be able to share the wonders of Italy as a guide? Due to travel restrictions, it may be a year before I can share again my passione for Umbria…
On May 22nd, the feast of the beloved 15th-c. Umbrian saint, Santa Rita di Cascia, I always take red roses to our farm neighbor Rita to celebrate her onomastico (“name day”). Rita…
Spotting Signora Marinella’s balcony has always been a highlight of Assisi springtime strolls…. …but not this year with Assisi in COVID-19 lockdown as of March 11th. As of May 4th, lockdown restrictions…
May 5th, our second day of “liberation” from that full lockdown which has kept us all at home since March 11, 2020. We can now go to our own Comune (city or…
No glorious Corsa dei Ceri in Gubbio on May 15th, 2020. Annulled. Only three times in history has Gubbio’s Corsa dei Ceri ever been cancelled and only in wartime (in 1916, 1918…