Italy in the media Archives - Page 3 of 5

LOOK, UP IN THE AIR, IT’S . . .

It’s a bird . . . it’s a plane . . . huh. It IS a plane. Hi, hi, it’s Stew and Midge – winging our way by Ryanair, from Stanstead outside London to Ciampino in Rome. So, how WAS Ryanair you ask?

PANICALE, Umbria– . . . It’s a bird . . . it’s a plane . . . huh. It IS a plane. Hi, hi, it’s Stew and Midge – winging our way by Ryanair, from Stanstead outside London to Ciampino in Rome. So, how WAS Ryanair you ask? Well, gosh, everyone just put the total fear in us of Ryanair. Said it would be gritty and more bare bones than we could possibly imagine. We prepared for the el-cheapo worst. But, it was fine. Can I say this? Will anyone believe me if I say our Ryanair flight was much better than the AA flight we took across the pond. Those AA seats were of finest Corinthian Masonite mixed with construction rubble. Our Ryanair flight on the other hand had comfy leather seats, was clean, clean and clean. Ciampino and Stanstead were both fine. Seemed new and with every service I would expect. And for us, Ciampino was fast. Much calmer than the regular Rome airport. Starting from Ciampino clipped an hour off any drive we have ever taken from Fiumincino. Fiumicino is clear out of town over on the Mediterranean for crying out loud. Ciampino is on the East and just way easier to get to A1 from there. Two hours from Ciampino to Panicale vs at least three hours on any other flight landing at Fiumicino. Maybe just luck. No idea as we have only taken that flight this one time. More news as it becomes available.

We kept following the A1 signs north (Firenze/Napoli) and at a certain point it looked like we could keep following the big green signs north that said Firenze but we also could see an A1 sign to Firenze and we took that. It ended up saying Napoli/Orvieto and was three faultless lanes wide and no trucks to speak of until we got to Orvieto. It may be that we took A1 sooner rather than continue on the “annulare” around Rome. They run rather parallel. Around Orevieto we recognized where we were and started getting regular truck traffic. Regardless, at that point we were the horse sensing his dinner back at the barn and we were galloping down the road. Andrea, (Masolino’s restaurant next to our house) put the kettle on, we’re on our way. Let the festivities and the double kisses around town begin. We’re almost home. We will know we really have arrived when we have settled in and are having lunch in the garden with Kiki. And that is just what we did the first day as you can see. Look how tall the rosemary has grown since we’ve been gone. Do you think it missed us? We can hope.

Can’t tell you what a rush it was to see the New York Times article about Panicale taped to the door of Aldo’s Cafe here. Felt like a part of us had arrived before we did. So negligent in writing. Pouting about needing new experiences on the ground? Maybe that was it, also we were moving and having a graduation for our youngest daughter. When did life get so crazy busy? Our family motto requires it: Having Fun as Fast as We Can. Words to live by. Up to a point!

Ok, I love it when we can really say:

See you in Italy!

Stew Vreeland

Easter in Italy. And in the New York Times

The nicest writer from the New York Times found us via the internet, called us and interviewed us about Easter in Italy. Specifically the Pasquetta fun that happens in Panicale, in Umbria the day after Easter.

NEW YORK–Che shock. We’ve been discovered? The nicest writer from the New York Times found us via the internet, called us and interviewed us about Easter in Italy. Specifically the Pasquetta fun that happens in Panicale, in Umbria the day after Easter. She wrote about us and then passed us over to the photo editor and lo and behold: There we were in the Sunday Travel Section of the New York Times! Fairly unreal seeing our words and pictures in that august publication. And yes, I was at the Yarmouth Texaco station at 6 am that Sunday morning! Getting the traditional “five copies for my mother”. Check out MariaLisa Calta’s whole story at the orange link here.

Our full original story, with additional photos, is here, below.

See you in Italy,

Stew Vreeland

Umbria Jazz starts today in Orvieto!

ORVIETO, Umbria, Italy–from now till Jan 1, 2007! fantastic music. Be there! or check out the site at least! Umbria Jazz

The Boston Globe calls it A New Year’s Eve party disquised as a jazz festival. We’ve been to it and concur. It may be jazz, but it ROCKS.

Happy New Year and Felice Anno Nuovo too!

See you in Italy

Stew

Spannocchia on the cover of the Travel Section of this week’s Boston Globe

SIENA, Tuscany/BOSTON, Mass — In this blog you have seen us go on and on about the big Agri-Cultural estate called Spannocchia. Just outside Siena. Midge is on the board of directors of this non profit organization and has been for years. Our marketing company’s tech master has just done the NEW Spannocchia web site and released it to coincide with the mention in the article. We have done brochures, newsletters for them probono also for many years, so we are as proud as new parents. We have been going to Spannocchia since the 1980’s because one branch of the owners’ family are neighbors of ours here in Maine. And the foundation’s headquarters are just down the street in Portland.

This article on the cover of the Boston Globe and two inside pages tells the Spannocchia story better than any one of us could ever imagine it being told. The writer clearly spent some quality time there and his wife contributed the most excellent photos.

Here is the link to the story.
Spannocchia in Boston Globe Should this not work for any reason just simply go to the Boston Globe web site: http://www.boston.com/ and hit Travel and it is the top story there at least for the moment.

If you are planning a trip to the Siena area and want to get a bit of the flavor of the area, this article may be just what you are looking for. Author is so lucid and observant. What a magical way with words. Puts you right in the picture with every turn of the phrase. If you have not been there yet, you will feel like you have after reading this. If you HAVE been there it will be a virtual homecoming for you.

See you in Siena, Italy!

Stew

What is in your Dreams?

Our new friend, Kathy of Dream of Italy, Travel Newsletter quoted little old us in her latest edition which featured Tuscan Hideways.

UMBRIA, 45 DAYS TO GO—
Well, this was a fun diversion. Our new friend, Kathy of Dream of Italy, Travel Newsletter quoted little old us in her latest edition which featured Tuscan Hideways. Her newsletter describes itself as the “Insider’s Guide to Undiscovered Italy: Newsletter and Resource Center”. And it does that very well based on her latest edition. She had a great cover story on an exotic estate outside Florence called Mangiacane. It was certainly undiscovered to me! And the story made me want to go there, even if I probably will not be able to avail myself of its helipad in the foreseeable near future. But I can Dream, can’t I?

This is SO not an ad. But Dream of Italy is a paid subscription newsletter, so I guess you will have to get take our word for it that we were in there. Or get a subscription. But there we are. Right on page 8 talking about Tuscany and Umbria. I made two points about finding something economical in Tuscany. The first one was that buyers need to consider southern Tuscany, the area around Chiusi. The other way to save money on Tuscan real estate is to . . . buy in Umbria! And why the heck not? Umbria is Tuscany is Umbria. Really. Those rolling cypress-topped hills do NOT have a clue where the border is. All the same to me. If you look at a map, Tuscany is on about three sides of Umbria anyway, driving down the road, even on a casual jaunt to Cortona, we find ourselves going across the border over and over. Tuscany, Umbria. Umria, Tuscany. Who cares? They are both great!

Anyway, Complimenti Kathy, nice to know about your publication. We were tickled to be mentioned in it.

YOU CAN QUOTE ME ON THAT!