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…
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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…
In past years in May, I’d be walking the labyrinthine Assisi medieval backstreets nearly daily, taking in the floral splendor all around….. …..as I headed to meet my tour guests for an…
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…
Lockdown here in Italy means staying housebound. Mostly. These days, people in the towns and cities love their dogs more than ever: walking them is an excuse to get out. A way…
These days, a few familiar hashtags are #Italianonsiferma – #DistantiMaUniti – #italystaystrong – #ItalyCoronavirus – and now of course, #italylockdown. Coronavirus lockdown was mandated here in Italy as of March 12th but…
In Assisi, too – as everywhere in Italy now – all hotels, cafes, restaurants and shops are closed. Only pharmacies, newsstands, tobacconists, post offices, alimentari (grocery stores), panifici (bakeries), and macellai (butchers)…
On the evening of March 9, 2020, Prime Minister Conte officially announced a coronovirus-protection lockdown throughout Italy, meaning – basically – “tutti a casa” (“everyone stay home”). …or as much at home…