Our Giulia wrote these words shortly after learning about the death of sculptor, Beverly Pepper on February 5, 2020: “I always referred to Beverly as an ‘incredible’ woman. A word often used…
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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…
On January 19, 2020, there was no water in the Bologna piazza –and certainly not desired by the forty-thousand sardines there. In Bologna, Pino and I joined the protesting Sardine who have…
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…
On December 14th in Rome, we met our first Sardine heading up the escalator from the San Giovanni Metro stop. A woman in a red jacket – from Parma and in Rome…
Our family celebrates Thanksgiving here in Assisi, too, but the Sunday following the holiday. Pino needs the weekend to fulfill his role, a major one: the creation of il tacchino di Pino.…
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…
No, Perugia Sardines don’t swim. They protest. Le Sardine are gathering by the thousands in cities all over Italy demonstrating their opposition to Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right La Lega (the…
Yes, our olive oil just back from the mill certainly is “green gold.” And this gold is more precious than ever: olive oil production in our region of Umbria is down 28%…