If you’re in Italy in early November, don’t miss a visit to the local cemetery where autumn bouquets add flashes of color to the tombs and often-grandiose stone family mausoleums. Some relatives…
I decided to title this blog note with a phrase from tour guest, Sharon. After our Perugia/Deruta tour with Sharon, her husband Jerry and friends (Linda and Glenn), she wrote me this…
After four memorable days together, I recenty bid arrivederci to Christine and Ivy, Len and Vivien. That Italian farewell literally means “until we see each other again.” Reassuring for me as these apartment guests/tour…
I was contemplating the views spreading out all around us…. …..sitting in front of our agriturismo (farmhouse B&B) in the Sibiillini mountains in the Marches region. Appropriately called “Alti Pascoli,” (“High Pastures”), the agriturismo is perched at 830…
Spello, Umbria medieval gem, entices right from your first glimpse as you pull off the highway: Spello enchants for its medieval architecture, a splendid Renaissance fresco, recently discovered Roman mosaics, and stunning…
While rural neighbor Chiarina was making her homemade pasta recently,…… ….her husband Marino took me over to their improvised “cantina” (wine cellar) in a converted garage near their farmhouse: Inside, guanciali (pork…
Farm neighbor Chiarina was dicing the carrot for her pasta sauce when I dropped in one recent morning, her husband Marino nearby and how he beamed when I asked him about his…
If you read my recent note on Giuseppa making her homemade fettuccine, you’ll already know that the best in the rural cuisine of Umbria reigns in the farmhouse kitchen of Giuseppa, in…
In the Deruta countryside, Giuseppa opens home and heart to all. When you arrive, Giuseppa comes out of her house, perhaps with her two beloved Jack Russells and that welcoming smile says…
Prosciutto, pancetta, salami, salsicce, coppa, barbozza. The names unite in an enticing rhythm, so appealing to your ear. Even if you’re a vegetarian. When I dropped in recently at the house of…