Vintage Italian Postcards

The cost of property

2011-05-26T13:02:00.000Z

The cost of property in our area, North Umbria is, after a two year slump, recovering. Easter saw a steady trickle of prospective house buyers anxious to secure bargains before the prices took off again. How about booking a property weekend based at La Preghiera, discussions, site visits, questions and answers.

Maybe property isn’t for you, but perhaps religion and history is. St Francis, lived and worked just down the road in Asissi, and passed up and down the Tiber Valley between his workplace and the isolated monastery of La Verna. We have many churches and religious buildings in the area and the church of La Preghiera, built on Roman, if not Etruscan, temple foundations is often used for the most wonderful and romantic weddings. The site www.weddingsumbria.com gives full details and suggestions whilst accommodation in La Preghiera or Villa Moscatelli will provide rooms to satisfy the most discerning traveller.

Not too far from La Verna is Caprese Michaelangelo where the great man was born. He learned his trade from a small man in Perugia, Perugino. Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Rafaello and Lucca Signorelli all lived and laboured in our area and may well have banged on the door of La Preghiera looking for work. They were only, then, journeyman painters after all, and would undertake commissions for bed and board. Art treasures from the time of the Etruscans up until today are scattered throughout Umbria in galleries and churches. An artistic weekend could just be the boost you need to continue the year.
If not religion, or even art, then maybe architecture. The evidence remains within twenty kilometres between Sansepulcro, Citta’ di Castello, Gubbio, Umbertide, Perugia and Cortona. Etruscan, Roman, medieval, renaissance, empire, fascist and modern, both secular and ecclesiastical architecture, local churches and monasteries, castles and keeps.

George Clooney, they tell me: if he escapes the falling pianos; lives up the road, in Venice, and will soon start on a mass murder film about the serial killer of Florence. The Monster of Firenze, but I don’t know if Georgie is a goody, or a baddy. Maybe we’ll see some comparative location shots on www.reelstreets.com one day where they already have some 500 films examined with about 14,000 stills.

Something for everyone in fact, and La Preghiera itself was started before records commenced and was finished a few years before Columbus set sail to find the Americas which the Chinese had discovered seventy years before, probably in 1421. Have you read the book?

British Pound leapt up 5 cent against the Euro this Week

2011-05-23T10:46:00.003Z

The Pound has jumped back up from a 13 month low of 1.10 up to 1.15, benefiting from higher levels of UK inflation (leading investors to increase their expectation of a currency boosting interest rate hike from the Bank of England) as well as Euro weakness, as the Greek debt crisis hits the headlines with renewed vigour. This difference enables us, through our currency partners, to obtain an extra €10,700 (12/5/11) for a client looking to transfer £200,000 to buy a house in Europe, or for any other reason. Email us for details.

Or, you could go to the High Street banks, and get the worst rate possible, and then a further undisclosed charge when the back office processes the transaction. Better by far are the British Post Office, clear clean rates, no hidden charges, cash in your hand, and a saving of over £800.00 on a € 10,000 exchange!

Aussie Dollars at all time high against the Euro.

Considerable savings to be made by trading your Dollars now if you are planning a holiday in Umbria or anywhere else in Europe. Highest rates now being achieved by our banking friends. Contact us for money saving details. You don’t need to book a holiday with us at lapreghiera.com or villa moscatelli.com or even buy a house from us at propertiesumbria.com or get married through weddingsumbria.com in order to benefit from safe and regulated currency transactions, not handled by the High Street banks, and not through high-rental City of London firms.

Tha cost of property in Umbria

2011-05-23T10:43:00.003Z

The cost of property in our area, North Umbria is, after a two year slump, recovering. Easter saw a steady trickle of prospective house buyers anxious to secure bargains before the prices took off again. How about booking a property weekend based at La Preghiera, discussions, site visits, questions and answers.

Maybe property isn’t for you, but perhaps religion and history is. St Francis, lived and worked just down the road in Asissi, and passed up and down the Tiber Valley between his workplace and the isolated monastery of La Verna. We have many churches and religious buildings in the area and the church of La Preghiera, built on Roman, if not Etruscan, temple foundations is often used for weddings. The site www.weddingsumbria.com gives full details and suggestions whilst accommodation in La Preghiera or Villa Moscatelli will provide rooms to satisfy the most discerning traveller.

Not too far from La Verna is Caprese Michaelangelo where the great man was born. He learned his trade from a small man in Perugia, Perugino. Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Rafaello and Lucca Signorelli all lived and laboured in our area and may well have banged on the door of La Preghiera looking for work. They were only, then, journeyman painters after all, and would undertake commissions for bed and board. Art treasures from the time of the Etruscans up until today are scattered throughout Umbria in galleries and churches. An artistic weekend could just be the boost you need to continue the year.

If not religion, or even art, then maybe architecture. The evidence remains within twenty kilometres between Sansepulcro, Citta’ di Castello, Gubbio, Umbertide, Perugia and Cortona. Etruscan, Roman, medieval, renaissance, empire, fascist and modern, both secular and ecclesiastical architecture, local churches and monasteries, castles and keeps.

George Clooney, they tell me: if he escapes the falling pianos; lives up the road, in Venice, and will soon start on a mass murder film about the serial killer of Florence. The Monster of Firenze, but I don’t know if Georgie is a goody, or a baddy. Maybe we’ll see some comparative location shots on www.reelstreets.com one day where they already have some 500 films examined with about 14,000 stills.

What are other tourist/tourism sites saying/doing/writing ……latest tourist news

Tha cost of property in Umbria

2011-05-23T10:43:00.001Z

The cost of property in our area, North Umbria is, after a two year slump, recovering. Easter saw a steady trickle of prospective house buyers anxious to secure bargains before the prices took off again. How about booking a property weekend based at La Preghiera, discussions, site visits, questions and answers.

Maybe property isn’t for you, but perhaps religion and history is. St Francis, lived and worked just down the road in Asissi, and passed up and down the Tiber Valley between his workplace and the isolated monastery of La Verna. We have many churches and religious buildings in the area and the church of La Preghiera, built on Roman, if not Etruscan, temple foundations is often used for weddings. The site www.weddingsumbria.com gives full details and suggestions whilst accommodation in La Preghiera or Villa Moscatelli will provide rooms to satisfy the most discerning traveller.

Not too far from La Verna is Caprese Michaelangelo where the great man was born. He learned his trade from a small man in Perugia, Perugino. Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Rafaello and Lucca Signorelli all lived and laboured in our area and may well have banged on the door of La Preghiera looking for work. They were only, then, journeyman painters after all, and would undertake commissions for bed and board. Art treasures from the time of the Etruscans up until today are scattered throughout Umbria in galleries and churches. An artistic weekend could just be the boost you need to continue the year.

If not religion, or even art, then maybe architecture. The evidence remains within twenty kilometres between Sansepulcro, Citta’ di Castello, Gubbio, Umbertide, Perugia and Cortona. Etruscan, Roman, medieval, renaissance, empire, fascist and modern, both secular and ecclesiastical architecture, local churches and monasteries, castles and keeps.

George Clooney, they tell me: if he escapes the falling pianos; lives up the road, in Venice, and will soon start on a mass murder film about the serial killer of Florence. The Monster of Firenze, but I don’t know if Georgie is a goody, or a baddy. Maybe we’ll see some comparative location shots on www.reelstreets.com one day where they already have some 500 films examined with about 14,000 stills.

What are other tourist/tourism sites saying/doing/writing ……latest tourist news

Easter parades on Good Friday

2011-03-31T13:33:00.000Z

Easter parades on Good Friday are prevalent in all the towns and cities in Umbria, starting in the evening, at about 9 o'clock.
Large bonfires are lighted along the route or the procession, and impressive hooded monks with loud rattles accompany the religious icons and the shrouded Christ.
The solemnity and large numbers of participants, the medieval streets and candles on the windows all instill a feeling of awe to the spectators, and it is well worth a visit to absorb the true atmosphere of this celebration.

Недвижимость в Италии, Тоскане и Умбрии

2011-03-21T11:07:00.000Z

Bыбирая недвижимость в Италии, прежде всего нужно определиться с регионом.

Объекты недвижимости и образ жизни в регионах принципиально различаются.

Как утверждают эксперты, итальянский рынок недвижимости от кризиса пострадал незначительно, благодаря консервативности экономики страны.

Очень привлекательными регионами для инвестиций в недвижимость Италии считаются Тоскана и Умбрия.
В Умбрии стоимость квартир начинается от € 800 за квадратый метр, где на россиян приходится 13% общего числа покупателей недвижимости (третье место после представителей Великобритании и Италии).

До 2008 года цены в Тоскане и Умбрии уверенно росли на протяжении двух десятилетий, однако кризис внес свои коррективы, и сейчас цены в регионе на 20% ниже своих пиковых значений.

По мнению экспертов, Италия интересна тем, что практически все регионы являются ликвидными с различной степенью интенсивности.

Инвестиция в квадратные метры Италии может быть сейчас выгодна еще и потому, что курс евро по отношению к доллару и рублю снижается. "В 2010 году мы не ожидаем роста цен на недвижимость в Италии - в первую очередь это связано с проблемами в Евросоюзе. Сейчас из-за падения курса евро цены уже снизились как минимум на 10%. Поэтому те покупатели, которые хранили деньги в долларах или рублях, на запланированную сумму могут купить объект побольше, чем если бы они покупали четыре месяца назад",- считает президент международного агентства недвижимости Gordon Rock Станислав Зингель.

Недвижимость в Италии можно купить и в кредит. По данным международного ипотечного брокера Lowell Finance, ипотечный кредит в Италии иностранцам можно оформить сроком на 5-30 лет, получив максимум 60% оценочной стоимости недвижимости. При этом плавающие процентные ставки составят 3,5-4,2%, фиксированные - 4,75-5,5%.

Cоотношение ежемесячного платежа по ипотеке и ежемесячного дохода должно составлять не более 35%. Оформить кредит можно только после получения прав собственности на объект.

К списку обязательных документов относятся идентификационные документы: загранпаспорт, свидетельство о рождении, браке и т. д. Для подтверждения дохода необходимо представить трудовую книжку, справку в свободной форме с места работы с указанием занимаемой должности и оклада, справку 2-НДФЛ за два года, подтверждение других видов дохода, если такие есть. Для владельца бизнеса или руководителя компании необходимо представить учредительные документы и отчеты о деятельности компании за последние два года. "Если заемщиком выступает руководитель компании или владелец бизнеса, то обязательным требованием является юридическое заключение о подлинности представленных сведений. Если есть аудиторская отчетность о деятельности компании, то нужно еще заключение аудиторской компании о ее подлинности. Если такое невозможно (например, для общества с ограниченной ответственностью), то необходимо обратиться в независимую юридическую компанию для получения подобного заключения",- рассказывает Кирилл Долгинский.

Также нужно представить выписку с банковских счетов, рекомендательное письмо от банка (лучше от двух) и информацию о текущих кредитных обязательствах - для этого в обязательном порядке требуется представить выписку из бюро кредитных историй. В банке нужно предъявить оригиналы документов и их переводы на английский и итальянский языки официальным переводчиком. Заемщику потребуется открыть счет в итальянском банке, в котором оформляется кредит, при этом на счете должна быть размещена сумма в размере около двух ежемесячных платежей. К дополнительным расходам при оформлении кредита относятся оплата административного сбора банка (1-1,5% суммы кредита), оценка объекта (как правило, в диапазоне €40-800) и страхование недвижимости (до 0,4% суммы кредита).

Помимо расходов на оформление кредита заемщику нужно быть готовым и к другим тратам:
регистрационный налог (до 7% стоимости объекта)
кадастровый и ипотечный налоги (до 3% стоимости)

www.propertiesumbria.com
www.lapreghiera.com
www.villamoscatelli.com

Clooney Brings Italian Murder Mystery to Theaters

2011-03-06T16:06:00.001Z

With a villa on Lake Como and a former Italian showgirl as a girlfriend, it can be safely assumed that George Clooney has a soft spot for Italy. Now, with a new movie deal on the table, he’ll get to spend more time in the country, filming The Monster of Florence on location.

Clooney has signed on to bring a famous Italian murder mystery to the big screen. The Monster of Florence is based on a book that recounts the true story of 8 couples who were found murdered around Florence between 1968 and 1985.

Clooney will play Douglas Preston, author of the 2008 book about the mysterious killings. Preston moves to Italy to investigate the murders and teams up with Mario Spezi, an Italian crime journalist. While Preston and Spezi are trying to find the real "Il Mostro," they find themselves accused of crimes by Florence police.

The screenplay is still being adapted, which means Clooney has downtime to spend with Elisabetta Canalis before he has to report to Florence for filming this fall.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/george-clooney/clooney-brings-italian-murder-mystery-theaters

Eurochocolate festival in Umbria

2010-10-19T06:58:00.003Z

Once again, time for the delicious Eurochocolate festival of Perugia 2010 which takes place in the ancient centre, for 10 of the sweetest days imaginable, from 15-24October 2010.

Giorgio Armaniwas - Designer of the Year

2010-09-12T09:15:00.002Z

Giorgio Armani was named as International Designer of the Year at the GQ UK Men of the Year Awards in London on Tuesday.

Mr Armani's close friend, the film director Martin Scorsese, presented the award, saying that Giorgio Armani had succeeded in his own desire to “make the world a little more beautiful every day.” Martin Scorsese also said that he himself wore Armani clothes because of their casual elegance, fluid lines and sense of absolute timelessness. He reminisced about the two weeks he spent with Giorgio Armani making the documentary “Made in Milan” and said they were among the best weeks of his life.

Mr Scorsese said that there were two eras in Hollywood – BG and AG, “before and after Giorgio” - and pointed to the film “American Gigolo” as the one in which Armani's costume designs changed the way actors dressed forever. He also said that Armani had invented the concept of dressing actors for the red carpet.

Giorgio Armani's sponsorship and charity work were also mentioned and Mr Scorsese said that the designer had not hesitated to support the World Cinema Foundation which restores and preserves neglected films from around the world. Mr Scorsese said that Armani had been a great friend of the cinema and was a “towering original”. He thanked his friend for his “incomparable sense of beauty”.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/fashion/armani-international-designer-year

Letters to Juliette

2010-08-20T14:00:00.000Z

Letters to Juliette, with Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave and Amanda Seyfried and made in Verona, New York and Siena, which is just up the road from where we live and where more than twenty internationally famous films have been made including Brother Sun-Sister Moon, My House in Umbria, Tea With Mussolini, Romeo and Juliet, Under the Tuscan Sun, The English Patient, Quantum of Solace and Gladiator.

AUGUST 2010

2010-08-20T08:55:00.001Z

Montone is celebrating the medieval procession of the Madonna della Spina until the 22nd, with flag wavers, archers, costumes, drummers and traditional food.

Citta di Castello is hosting world famous Russian musicians at the Festival of the Nations

Summer truffle hunts are starting in the Upper Tiber Valley which include samples and six course lunches or dinners based on black truffle.

San Leo Bastia village is having their annual four day mushroom festival, with dishes made by local cooks based on world famous porcini mushrooms, traditional from this area of chestnut woods.

Anghiari is hosting an art festival with exhibitors from different countries who are using the old cantinas in the historic centre as showrooms.

33° SAGRA DEL PESCE 2010 - CALZOLARISSIMO

2010-06-05T15:16:00.003Z

Inizio: giovedì 17 giugno 2010 alle ore 20.00
Fine: domenica 20 giugno 2010 alle ore 23.30
Luogo: Calzolaro : campo sportivo - CVA .

Descrizione*** La Pro Loco e la Società Sportiva Calzolaro ***

PRESENTANO :

- CALZOLARISSMO 2010 - 33° Sagra del Pesce ; 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 Giugno -

PROGRAMMA FESTA :

giovedì 17 : ore 21:00 - GARA DI BRISCOLA .
ore 21:30 - Serata danzante con l' Orchestra " LUNA D' ORIENTE "

venerdì 18 : ore 21:00 - GARA DI BRISCOLA .
ore 22:00 - Serata danzante con l' Orchestra " RITA BRAIDA E
GLI ELISIR " .

sabato 19 : ore 21:00 - Serata danzante con l' Orchestra Spettacolo
" MATTEO TASSI " .
ore 23:00 - Spazio giovani interno CVA con il gruppo " SIMPLE
STRANGERS " .

domenica 20 : ore 17:00 - Briscolone tra Pro - Loco .
ore 21:00 - Serata danzante con " IVANO PESCARI " .
ore 23:00 - SPETTACOLO PIROTECNICO .

DURANTE TUTTA LA FESTA FUNZIONERA' STAND SAGRA DEL PESCE .

Valerio Scanu wins the Sanremo Festival 2010 with "Per Tutte le Volte Che"

2010-02-21T19:16:00.002Z

Per tutte le volte che is a song with a notable vocal difficulty but also with a single instantaneity..

"Each time i sing it, i think at the words thus whispered, by moment timidly sang, and on other time with a feeling of rage which comes to express a discomfort and then explodes in the refrain with this melody which falls, raises you and cut your breath. It's like looking at a small world with its details and its characteristics of every day, the troubles, fights, bad moments in the verses... And then the refrain which , on the other hand, brings you above the mounts and the clouds in a happy coasting flight...»

http://www.valerioscanu.com/

Trevi, Umbria - A week without TV

2010-01-27T12:28:00.000Z

The Italians - watch on average 28 hours of TV per person per week as compared to 28 hours of weekly viewing by the average Italian. In Italian homes there is nearly always a television in the kitchen as well as in other rooms and it is usually left on during mealtimes.

When a school in Trevi [Umbria] asked two classes to participate in a project in which not only the children but also their parents would spend one week without watching the television at all, then, the families foresaw a difficult seven days. However, 41 children between the ages of 8 and 11 and their families agreed to try, denying themselves the use of video and computer games as well, reports La Repubblica.

The project, called “Oltre lo Schermo” [“Beyond the Screen”] was the idea of Umbrian journalist and mother Giovanna Grieco, who only allows her own son to watch TV for a short time each day. He spends the rest of his free time reading stories and playing games with his family. Ms Grieco suggested games and activities that the children could do in the afternoons at school or at home instead of watching TV.

The emphasis was on interacting with the people around them.
In all, 28 children got through the “week without TV” and they kept diaries of their difficulties and discoveries of other ways to spend their time, such as helping their mothers with the cooking, reading in the school library or enjoying playing games with their parents.

“We enjoyed turning the TV off every time Dad switched it on”, reported eight-year-old twins.
It seems that the older children found the sacrifice harder than the younger ones. The school is happy with the outcome and may extend the project to include other classes in the future.

"What’s Fashion About?”

2010-01-14T22:06:00.000Z

"What’s Fashion About?” is the title of the 77th Pitti Uomo [Pitti for Men] Fashion Show which is taking place at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence until 15th January. This is the event that opens the international fashion fair season every year and exhibitors from all segments of the fashion industry participate, including textile manufacturers, garment makers, textile machinery and technology manufacturers, embroidery companies, makers of trimmings and accessories and even laundries. In all 730 exhibitors and 905 brands are participating.

The organisers say that, because of the recession, all fashion houses have been rethinking their strategies and Pitti have reflected this by breaking with tradition in the design of this year’s exhibition space. Spanish designer and architect Patricia Urquiola has revolutionised the design of the main pavilion and, on the lower floor, she has created a “fashion district”. Here the exhibitors’ stands are smaller than in previous years so that there is more space between them to encourage people to stop and talk. “Give up a little of your space so that there is room for all” is the message.

Exhibitors hope that the autumn-winter 2010 – 11 collections will mark a turning point for the industry as it comes out of recession but everything depends on the army of international buyers – 22,000 of them attended the last winter fair - who can make or break a brand. The upturn in the industry’s fortunes is expected to begin with the export market which decreased by 19.6% last year. The fashion companies particularly hope to be able to export their goods to the USA.

Yesterday Lars Nilsson showed elegant outdoor wear for men along with brightly patterned scarves. The waistcoat is definitely back in his suits and evening jackets featured a Bogey cut. Japanese designer Jun Takashaki showed in Italy for the first time in the setting of the Boboli Gardens in the evening. Corleani are showing at the Pitti for the first time. Pitti_W Woman Precollections are showing simultaneously at the Dogana. These are collection previews taking place in an exhibition space designed by Oliviero Baldini.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/firenze/whats-fashion-about

Darwin Day - Perugia 2009

2009-12-07T11:31:00.000Z

To commemorate the centenary of Darwin's Evolution of the Species theory, the Associazione Nazionale Insegnanti di Scienze Naturali, the Centro di Ateneo per i Musei Scientifici have scheduled a long series of events throughout Umbria for Darwin Day from February through to December.

Email: segreteria@perugiasciencefestival.it

Forget Van Gogh's ear - it's Galileo's molar

2009-12-07T11:18:00.001Z

A private art collector who recently purchased a seventeenth-century box containing unidentified “artefacts” must have had a gruesome surprise when he opened it, for it contained a human tooth, a thumb and a middle finger, later authenticated as having belonged to none other than Galileo Galilei [1564 – 1642] who was condemned by the Vatican for claiming that the Earth moved around the Sun.

The collector contacted the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence and the Museum’s director, Paolo Galluzzi, pieced together the story:
when Galileo died, those close to him feared that the Church would refuse him burial in consecrated ground because of his “heresies” so his body was taken to a small room beneath the bell tower of Santa Croce.

In 1737, 95 years after the astronomer’s death, his body was removed from its “temporary” grave and placed in a monumental tomb in the Basilica itself. It was during this process that Giovanni Targioni Tozzetti, chief physician of the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova Gualtieri, removed the tooth, two fingers and the thumb from the right hand and the fifth lumbar vertebra. He wrote that he found it difficult not to yield to the temptation to remove the skull too, for it “had housed such extraordinary genius”.

One of the fingers was kept in the Science Museum in Florence and the vertebra was conserved at the University of Padua, where Galileo had taught.
The other body parts, however, were kept in a blown-glass vase inside a wooden container and this was passed down the generations of a noble family. Eventually, no one in the family knew what was in the container and they sold it. All trace of it was lost by 1905. Then suddenly it turned up at auction.

The rediscovered relics will be displayed in the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza in Florence when it reopens next year as the Museo Galileo.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/

Wine of the Month: Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia

2009-11-16T12:16:00.000Z

Ten years old and still going strong. First made in 1997 and released in 1999, Le Serre Nuove is a complex aromatic red by the acclaimed Tenuta dell’Ornellaia winery in Tuscany.

One of the Tenuta’s three wines, it came 12 years after the flagship Ornellaia and, like its big brother, it quickly garnered international praise.

Le Serre Nuove is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, mainly made with grapes from younger vineyards. Technically, it is a second vin, a byproduct of Ornellaia, because it is produced with base wines that don’t make the cut during the flagship wine’s extremely rigorous selection process.

But second vin doesn’t mean it is a second rate wine. Its combination of intense aroma, structure, balance, but also freshness, softness and approachability captured critics’ interest from the very early days.

Each of the base wines is fermented and aged separately, first in stainless steel vats, then in barrels. After 12 months, the blending takes place. Once blended, the wine is aged in barrels for three months, and in bottle for six more. The end result has been described as “gorgeous”, “mellifluous”, “very rich”, and “elegant”, and, over the years, was awarded a minimum of 88 points (for the 1997 vintage) and a maximum of 92 (for the 2004 vintage) by wine bible The Wine Spectator.

Now the tenth anniversary vintage, which dates from 2007, promises to be among Le Serre Nuove’s very best. The weather was perfect in September two years ago, with hot sunny days and cool nights, ensuring the grapes ripened to perfection.

"Having ideal conditions in September enabled a perfect, slow, steady ripening of the grapes," says Leonardo Raspini, general director and agronomist of Tenuta dell’Ornellaia. "In this way, the grapes mature with a good concentration of aromas and polyphenols and without any hint of overripening.”
The resulting wine has “a complex bouquet, with intense red berry fruit, sweet spice and balsamic mint and eucalyptus accents," according to Axel Heinz, winemaker of Tenuta dell’Ornellaia. “Ample and silky on the palate, it displays an elegant, deft tannic structure, fresh sweet fruit, and intense minty accents.”

The 2007 vintage of Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia is available now.

Vampire trips in Volterra

2009-11-12T18:15:00.001Z

Why are young people [and some of their mothers] flocking to the small Tuscan town of Volterra?

Ah, romance is far from dead in the twenty-first century and these particular pilgrims have set out for the “shrine” where Stephanie Meyer, the author of “Twilight” and “New Moon”, set a particularly important scene between her heroine Bella and Edward, the vampire she loves.

Volterra is also where the elite vampire coven, the Volturi, reside in the books and films of the “Twilight Saga”.

The film version of ”New Moon”, starring Kristen Stewart as Bella and Robert Pattinson as Edward, is due to be released on November 20th in the USA and Italy and on November 27th in the UK. Despite a vigorous online campaign for filming in Volterra the Italian scenes were actually shot in nearby Montepulciano but that has not stopped the townsfolk of Volterra from making the most of the tourism opportunity which has come their way: you can book Vampire Tours, New Moon weekends and a tour called “Hot on the trail of Bella and Edward”. You can buy “New Moon” mugs, calendars and even soaps.

Should you be in the town and suffer from “New Moon fatigue”, you can always explore the walled city itself, with its Roman Theatre, palaces, Museo Etrusco Guarnacci and twelfth century Duomo. And should you need a complete change of scene, you can escape to the medieval hill town of San Gimignano.
“New Moon” is not Volterra’s only claim to literary fame as the Italian novel “Chimaira” by Valerio Massimo Manfredi is set there and the town is mentioned in Dudley Pope’s “Captain Nicholas Ramage” series. In real life the French author Stendhal had a disastrous encounter with his unrequited love there.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/volterra/vampire-trips-volterra

Chestnuts: a rare treat, and versatile too

2009-10-04T09:26:00.003Z

Hanging by a thread off laden branches, chestnuts sparkle like dark jewels.
They look like huge, fat raindrops, and gleam with a perfect deep brown gloss against the golden spines of the half-open burrs that hold them.
Deep inside—wrapped securely in the shiny peel's firm cocoon, sheltered by what remains of the prickly burrs—the straw-yellow core is ripening, getting ready to yield its sweet, nutty flavour to the voracious embrace of a roasting pan.

Soon starch will turn into sugar and the chestnuts will start falling with muffled thuds on the mossy undergrowth that carpets woods from Piedmont to Umbria.

Europe's oldest living chestnut tree, which stands in Sicily, is reputed to be more than 3,000 years old.
It is so big that legend wants it to have given shelter to a medieval queen, Joan of Aragon, and her escort of 100 knights on a stormy evening. If the story is true, it was already there when the Romans, who were great fans of the plant, started planting chestnut trees along the length and breadth of the Mediterranean basin.
The sweet nuts were so popular that even the empire's greatest poets sung of them in their work—in the Eclogues, Virgil recalled a dainty dish of chestnuts cooked in milk and eaten with cheese, while Martial raved about the roast ones he had in Naples.

In some areas, such as the Tuscan Apennine, chestnuts were the main staple since Roman times and throughout the Middle Ages - chiefly because of their nourishing qualities, though their reputation as aphrodisiacs can't have hurt.

Also from TuscanyIUmbria comes castagnaccio, a thin, textured, nutty cake made with chestnut flour peppered with pine nuts and rosemary.
Even richer is Monte Bianco, a rum-drizzled mountain of chestnut puree and cocoa, covered by a snow-white blanket of whipped cream.

And of course there are chestnut-filled tortelli, chestnut flour fritters,and the velvety marmellata di marroni—a chestnut puree blended with syrup and cooked until it becomes a deliciously sweet cream.

The best places to savour the nuts, both in traditional and innovative recipes, are the areas of production.
Virtually every hill or mountain wood in Italy will have a chestnut grove - they cover some 15% of Italy's wooded surface—but the most acclaimed nuts come from Tuscany and Umbria, Piedmont and Campania.

This is it - from 28.09.2009

2009-09-27T13:22:00.002Z

Celebrate Evensong in Morra, Umbria

2009-08-07T18:54:00.003Z

On the 29th of August there will be held a celebration vesper or evensongs to formalise an ecumenical meeting in Morra, in the Upper Tiber Valley of Umbria, between the Catholic Church represented by Bishop Cancian of the diocese of Citta' di Castello; Bishop Rowell, the Anglican Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe and Bishop Celoci of the Orthodox diocese of Italy and Malta.

This celebration is open to all men and women of goodwill and will be followed by a dinner.

Gian Carlo Vichi, 06 557 2754, 075 857 4140 is organising the event and will be accepting bookings for the celebration dinner, the cost of which is €22.00 per person.

Santa Rita of Cascia

2009-05-23T19:51:00.001Z

Words by Michelle Fabio

One of the most beloved Italian saints is St. Rita of Cascia, a native of Umbria who died in Cascia in 1456. Santa Rita is widely celebrated not only in the Green Heart of Italy but also throughout the country on her feast day, 22 May, with Mass, processions, and other festivities. St. Rita has a most interesting tale for a saint as she was married and had children.

Although St. Rita had always wanted to be a nun, she obeyed her elderly parents’ wishes to marry a harsh, immoral man when she was just 12 years old. She was a loyal wife and mother of twin sons for 18 years, but family life went sour when her husband was murdered and her sons sought revenge.

St. Rita tried to persuade them to change their minds, but when she realized nothing could stop them, she prayed they would be taken from Earth so they couldn’t commit murder themselves; they died of natural causes a year later. Alone in the world, St. Rita sought admission to the Augustinian convent in Cascia, but was refused because she was a widow. Eventually she was admitted, though--her entrance itself a miracle as she claimed to have been transported inside by her own patron saints, John the Baptist, Augustine, and Nicholas of Tolentino.

St. Rita is often portrayed holding roses and/or figs and sometimes with an injury to her head because when she had asked to suffer as Jesus had, a thorn from the Crown of Thorns on a figure of the crucifixion fell on her forehead and cut her. She is the patron saint of hopeless causes, abused women, and parenthood.

W Santa Rita!
http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy-featured/cascia/celebrating-st-rita-cascia

La Festa della Donna

2009-02-27T00:17:00.003Z

words by Michelle Fabio

International Women’s Day (IWD)
is held 8 March, and in Italy,it’s called La Festa della Donna.

The first IWD was really a National Women’s Day held in New York City in 1909;
by 1911, the idea of a day honouring women had spread to Austria,Denmark,
Germany, and Switzerland and now celebrations are held in countries throughoutthe world including China, Russia, Bulgaria, Mongolia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The symbol of the day is the yellow mimosa, and men are encouraged to give a bunch of them to all of the important women in their lives.

Read more about International Women’s Day at
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/

Italians to snub ST Valentine's day

2009-02-14T09:13:00.001Z

More than half of Italians expecting a gift from their lovers on Valentine's Day this weekend are in for a disappointment, the Coldiretti farmers' group said Thursday.

Some 52% of people in a poll by the union said they had no intention of digging into their pockets for a romantic present this year - an increase of 7% on Valentine rubbishers in 2008.

The economic crisis will also take its toll on lovers planning to shell out this year, with more people opting for cheaper gifts like flowers (25%) and clothes (11%), Coldiretti said.
Around 9% of Italians said they would buy chocolates or sweets - a 5% drop on 2008 figures, while just 3% were planning to buy jewellery - down 6% on last year.
But the group said florists expected to sell 20 million flowers this year, including 14 million roses, at a cost of 75 million euros.

Another farmers' group, CIA, said around 50% of under-18s would not buy presents this year, but 35% of these would say 'I love you' by SMS or email.
The president of consumer rights group Codacons, Carlo Rienzi, meanwhile started an official campaign to ''cancel St Valentine's from the calendar as a form of protest, not against those in love, but against a pointless recurrence of unrestrained consumerism''.

''Let's be honest, St Valentine's Day gets on everyone's nerves - both for singles, who feel alone and a bit sad, and for those in couples, who feel obliged to give something because of social convention,'' Rienzi said on his website, www.carlorienzi.it.

''People who are really in love should not feel pressured by this symbol of consumerism but should celebrate their love every day,'' he added.
Consumer rights association Adoc confirmed that lovers will also be saving their pennies on Valentine's meals, with 65% deciding to stay home and cook rather than go to a restaurant.
Among the most popular dishes people planned to prepare on Saturday were polenta with creamed cheese, 'trofie' pasta with flowers and pesto and buffalo mozzarella with tomato mousse, followed up by chili-pepper-flavoured chocolate, strawberries or spumante.

Not everyone was shying away from grand romantic gestures, however.
A Genoa bus driver has forked out 400 euros for advertising space on three city buses, one of which he drives, and which now bear the message ''Federica, I live for you only'' as a Valentine's present to his wife.
''It was simply a way of showing my love and affection for my wife. We've been married for 12 years and I love her to distraction,'' the doting driver said.

Consumer moans are also unlikely to stop lovers from turning out in droves at St Valentine's birthplace at Terni in Umbria.
Each year couples swear undying passion in the cathedral that houses the saint's head.
Couples also flock each year to the small Sardinian town of Sadali near Nuoro to ask the saint to look kindly on them and bless engagements.

The ritual has been going on for centuries in the town's 15th-century church, only the second in Italy to be devoted to St Valentine.
In local dialect the saint is affectionately known as Su Coiadori (''he who betrothes'') and many of the couples expect their pilgrimage to bless their marriage (''coias'' in dialect).
As well as saintly enterprises, Italy boasts other romantic rites for St Valentine's Day.
The small southern town of Vico del Gargano, for instance, has a 300-year-old tradition of garlanding a lovers' lane.

http://www.italymag.co.uk
Published on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 08:56 Life & Style