travel

May Festivals 2010

Many of you will be traveling to Italy in the coming months and I would like to share the festivals and events that are happening in Italy. I have compiled a list of fun festivals for May for those of you who may travel abroad. Beth Cope.

Ring Race and Procession, re-enactments of 14th century contests and parades, continues in Narni in the Umbria region through May 12 (starts near the end of April).

Calendimaggio is celebrated in early May in Assisi, Umbria. The festival is recommended by Manuela of Italian Ceramics who says - It is a spectacular evocation of Medieval and Renaissance costumes and life. The two ancient medieval wards, the "Parte di Sopra" and the "Parte di Sotto", engage in a spectacular challenge which takes the form of theatre shows, concerts, songs and choruses, dances, processions, archery, crossbow and flag-waving displays. The districts compete in a singing contest among the spectacular floral decorations, flags, torches and candles. 2009 dates are May 7-9.

The Risotto Festival Sessame is a huge feast of a special rice dish dating back to the 13th century.

A Civil Rights Odyssey

It was a brisk autumnal morning Friday October 26th when we set off with two visiting friends from Germany and Jamaica on our odyssey to the shrines of the Civil Rights era in Alabama, snaking through the streets of Atlanta, a pregnant metropolis about to give birth to a new character. Our escape hatch to the I-85 Highway South was aptly named Freedom Parkway which straddles the verdant gardens of Nobel Laureate President Jimmy Carter Center. It was a day of great anticipation ... more like Great Expectations.

The gaps would in both friends’ minds would be filled after their sojourn in the land replete with a sordid acts of inhumanity that have recently abated, but still remains divided along racial lines, albeit voluntary these days.

A debate ensued on how best to organize our day. Time was of the essence and we needed to use every minute expeditiously. Barbara, who hails from the region, gave structure to the travel plan and we had our first respite at a funky petrol station about five miles from Tuskegee. As we alighted from our decrepit "rest rooms" - a euphemism for "toilet" - a hirsute white chap in overalls lurked nearby, reminding us of an unsavory historical local color.

With pangs of hunger we sped off like winged steed stopping just outside Montgomery at Cracker Barrel for a 11 o'clock breakfast, pancakes, syrup, bacon, eggs, dirty socks-type coffee, hot chocolate, and a chirpy and chubby black waitress who seemed to have some difficulty deciphering our accents, while bemused Barbara looked on. Our meal was akin to those that President Clinton used to ingest before his triple by-pass surgery. Sweet tea was yet to come later in the trip.

Italia Campione del Mondo!

Non ditemi che non siete raggianti, che non siete saltati dalla sedia, che non avete gridato il nome dell’Italia a squarciagola! L’italia è campione del mondo di calcio per la quarta volta, un traguardo che ha a parte il grande valore sportivo, ha ripercussioni commerciali incalcolabili! L’Italia è in ascesa e non solo in campo sportivo. Sono certo che i più avventurieri di voi non si sono persi le celebrazioni da Figo Pasta, Baraonda e Fritti, organizzate dai rispettivi proprietari Sandro, Mario e Costanzo e il gasatissimo Riccardo Ullio che ha praticamente regalato ai tifosi il patio di Fritti, inclusa una selva di sedie e tavoli sui quali più o meno tutti sono saliti a sbandierare e a saltare di gioia. Fracasso, ritmi improntati con piatti, forchette, bicchieri e bottiglie di birra. Alla fine persino un’innaffiata di spumante Italiano sulle teste degli astanti, con Riccardo alla testa del rinfresco, stile Formula Uno. Gioia e tripudio dei tifosi per una vittoria agognata e, per certi versi inaspettata.

Finale difficile e lenta, per quanto partita ricca di emozioni, che ha visto l’Italia attaccare intensamente nel primo tempo, poi ripiegare in difesa nel secondo, probabilmente per stanchezza, forse sperando di sorprendere la difesa francese, e la Francia che nel secondo tempo e nei supplementari ha assediato la porta italiana per oltre un’ora, senza grandi risultati, ma producendo almeno due occasioni-goal da brivido. Un rigore dubbio, assegnato con una certa leggerezza, ed un goal spettacolare annullato agli italiani (per fuori gioco) lasciano l’unico autentico goal della partita a testimone del merito degli Italiani. Una partita tutto sommato ineccepibile, se escludiamo l’episodio Zidane. Certamente, tutt’altra cosa sarebbe stato ottenere una vittoria senza andare ai rigori, ma non mancheranno le occasioni per una più netta vittoria con la Francia. La nostra è una squadra giovane. Quella francese è una squadra che deve rimpiazzare numerosi giocatori, per cui la congiuntura è in nostro favore.

Travel in Tuscany by John Mulholland

Where to go and what to do - a personal view.

I arrived in Tuscany 37 years ago at the age of 19. From my first days in the region (Italy is divided into regions which are similar to our states, La Toscana is one of them.) I immediately felt at home to the point that I often thought of myself as an Italian born by error in the United States. My sojourn lasted only three years and, sadly, I've never lived there since. However, all was not lost. I did meet the lady of my life there, Gabriella (a daughter of Florence), learned Italian well, and acquired an old farm house in the hills northeast of Florence.

Since 1968 I've had the good fortune to live constantly overseas returning every year to our home near Dicomano for vacation. I offer this preamble so that you will understand that while I'm obviously passionate about Italy I cannot really call myself an "expert" on my adopted country. In short, please understand that all that follows are very personal views. They should be held up to the objective light of other (undoubtedly better informed) sources and your own desires and preferences. First, a note on the historical perspective.

During the arc of ages there have been various magical moments of human creativity. The philosophers of Athens and composers of Salzburg are two examples that come to mind. As great as these moments were in the enrichment of man they pale in comparison to the creativity that poured forth during the Renaissance in Florence. We are all familiar with the great artistic creativity of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Equally great accomplishments were wrought in literature, the sciences, music, architecture, and commerce. For example, regarding this latter, relatively obscure subject, how many of us today realize that the Letter of Credit, sales on consignment, consolidated shipments, Bills of Lading, and even "banks" were all inventions from Florence?