Vocabolo

Vocabolo

Umbria

Once in a while, it is a good thing to spend a day driving through Umbria with the express intention of getting lost and exploring the back roads and smaller towns of the region. When you do so, you are likely to come upon signs that contained a fairly unknown word to many, although Umbrians… (more)

Case Cantoniere

Case Cantoniere

Have you ever wondered what the rich reddish-purple houses are that appear periodically along the strade statali (state highways) throughout Italy? These are the Case Cantoniere, basically the roadmen’s houses, and each one is identified by the road’s name and location in kilometers. Since the ‘80’s Case Cantoniere have largely been unoccupied, but up until… (more)

Via Veneto

Via Veneto

Rome, Lazio

Via Vittorio Veneto, commonly known simply as Via Veneto, used to be the bustling center of Rome’s dolce vita in the 1960’s and 70’s, filled each night with famous personalities, both Italian and international from the world of cinema, politics and business. In subsequent decades Roman nightlife moved to other parts of the city leaving… (more)

Old and New Olive Molitura (Olive Milling)

Cantalupo di Bevagna

Cantalupo di Bevagna in Umbria is home to one of the few frantoi, olive mills, that houses both a traditional mill system (notice the stone mill stones in photo 1 and the mechanical hemp mat press in photo 2) and a modern all-in-one centrifuge mill (3rd photo). Owner Simonetta will tell you that both cold-press… (more)

Saffron Harvest Festival

Cittá della Pieve, Umbria

People are often surprised to learn that Italy is one of the world’s major producers of saffron, after countries such as Iran, Spain, and India. Italian saffron comes from Sardegna, Abruzzo and now the Umbrian town of Cittá della Pieve which has had a rebirth in saffron production. Every October the town’s saffron consortium puts… (more)