“Our family visited Assisi for the first time with Anne as our guide some time ago. We had a wonderful time, our visit enhanced with the details of Assisi that Anne shared with us. She even took us to a sagra–a festival with food prepared by the locals–and then a tour of her farm. This year, we joined Anne in Assisi for the Calendimaggio, a three-day medieval festival complete with music, astounding pageantry, parades, medieval games, and food. Anne arranged for everything. We began on a Thursday afternoon with the opening of the festival and, for the next two days, we were living in a time from long ago. She found us perfect seats with a great view of all of the festivities. She introduced us to her neighbors in Assisi who were sitting around us and, after a few hours, we had purchased the bandannas that identified us as supporters of Assisi Sopra, that part of town where Anne lives. When we weren’t attending the afternoon and evening portions of Calendimaggio, Anne took us on tours of local sites in Umbria. We saw the towns of Narni and Bevagna. During each visit, Anne gave us the history of each location and introduced us to local people, like the tailor in Bevagna, the butcher, the baker. The highlight of this year’s visit was lunch at Anne’s farmhouse. She lives off a dirt road far into the Umbrian countryside amidst dark green hills. The large stone farmhouse was restored, she told us, by her husband Pino, a stonemason. In fact, one day during a tour in Assisi, she pointed out a building that her husband was in the midst of restoring. The lunch was spectacular. We had antipasti, pasta, chicken with rosemary, homemade bread, desserts, and wine. Her husband joined us as well as some of the neighbors. Outside, the donkeys were braying and the birds chirping. It was a feast for our tastebuds and for our hearts, in a backdrop that could have occurred in the movies. Our trip to Umbria was truly outstanding, thanks to Anne and her skills. We feel we experienced the real Umbria: medieval festivals, tiny hillside towns, lunch in a farmhouse. Anne arranged everything to fit our desires and our budget, and it was a trip of a lifetime.”