On Vacation in Italy

UPDATED  JULY 9, 2016

Everyone knows that  Italian beaches  are very popular, in fact the most read article   on my blog  is  about them.

But not all Italians spend their vacations  browning on  the beach  and not all of Italy closes down in August. Most of the people you will find walking around in Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan in these days are  probably  tourists, for residents try to escape the heat by getting out of the city. For this reason  the small towns  fill up. Here the homes stay cool  for thanks to the metre-thick stone walls we have natural  air conditioning ! 

Here are just a few of the alternative vacations you can enjoy in Italy, without going to the beach.
  

Here is  20 year old  Russian violinist Sarkis  who spent some of his summer taking a Master Class in Cremona, the violin capital of the world. 

Music-the Tuscia Opera Festival and Baroque music festival are very popular in Viterbo. 
House concerts  take place in Vetralla,  in the magical  gardens of Palazzo Piatti, thanks to Opera Extravaganza. 

cooking risotto at Opera Extravaganza concert July 8, 2016
Paola, Ruud, Paolo and hostess Susanna Ohtonen of Opera Extravaganza 

Anna Carbonera, Ugo Tarquini and Alessandro Manetti  perform "Gran Risotto del Belcanto " 

concert program for July  2016

Here is  20 year old  Russian violinist Sarkis  who spent some of his summer taking a Master Class in Cremona, the violin capital of the world. 

Irina, Lavinia, Nelly and Catalin enjoying the concert 

Art – many artists from all over the world  come to Etruria and there are summer programs in Viterbo and Civita Castellana that draw  painters from around the world  to  enjoy the magical light  found only in Italy.  

You might want to join  a group of artists like this summer painting group next year .

  Catalin, a Moldavian painter who works in Munich, came  back to Italy for a short  holiday.

prize winning painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti 

Sagre and Festivals  - most local towns celebrate local  food  with communal dinners eaten in the main piazzas and film festivals brightened up the nights in  Montefiascone  and  Viterbo.

 Theme Parks –kids love the  amusement parks that dot Italy: the best are  Mirabilandia and Italia in Miniatura, both in Romagna, near Rimini

Italia in Miniatura 

photos from the Mirabilandia website 

Massimo enjoyed the scary rides and shows like this one  at Mirabilandia 

Travel- many families take  the kids to see another part of Italy,  or maybe a different country, like San Marino.

Bianca and Mauro visited the castle in Senigallia with their parents

Relax with family and friends- long days and warm nights are perfect for getting together, catching up  with old friends, and making some new ones. 

checking out the olive grove 

making new friends  is easy in summer;   Florette, Irina, Nelly, Lavinia 

For ways to stay cool in summer in Italy just use the search box at the top and type in  "cool places ".

How are you spending  your mid summer  vacation ? Leave a comment in the  box below and share  with friends using the Facebook and Twitter icons.  Whatever  you are doing, have a wonderful  mid-summer holiday !

Summer Music Festivals in central Italy

The hills  are alive with the sound of music…the hills of Northern Lazio, that is.

Jazz concert in Vetralla

Throughout  the summer, from  seaside   Tarquinia to  Proceno on the border  with Tuscany, the sounds of music can be heard most  evenings thanks to a myriad of concerts  held in  many different venues. 

Opera Extravaganza's summer theatre, an ancient  grotto,

"When the saints, come marching in....!

You might find  a jazz  quartet playing in a   secret garden  or Baroque strings  in a castle courtyard.

orchestra music at Proceno Castle 

 Many top level musical events take place  inside  candle-lit  churches or outdoors on piazzas surrounded by medieval, Renaissance or Baroque buildings. 

Pianist Manuela Cola at Proceno Castle 

For music lovers visiting central Italy, here is my personal  list of musical happenings in northern Lazio for the next month or so.  It is by no means  complete for most small towns in the Viterbo area  put on free concerts  and local  festivals (called Sagre if food is involved)  around mid-August. 

after concert dinner, Opera Extravaganza 

 Information  can  generally be found posted on  billboards around town, so keep your eyes open as you travel.

Proceno   Convivio in Musica  

audience  around the ancient fountain 

 Other musical events are put on by  private associations  with  “members only”  mailing lists.

 Most of the photos here were taken during the recent  jazz concert followed by dinner which closed  Opera Extravaganza's  season in Vetralla. 

Check out these  websites for  the complete  list of concerts and to buy tickets on line to enjoy  a summer full of  music! 

Nepi-Stagione Borgiana –concerts  in the Borgia Castle 

Bagnoregio- Tuscia in Jazz, summer courses, and the extraordinary Glenn Miller Orchestra on  Monday July  22 

Viterbo Province-Tuscia Opera Festival 

 and Festival Barocco  are the  longest running, most prestigious music festivals in  the area. 

castello  di Proceno 

Proceno-Convivio in Musica-Bach  concert July  24  at the castle of Proceno.

Tarquinia- Notturni tra le vie della musica 

Civita Castellana –Civita Festival  

Do you know other local music festivals  in your area ? 
 Please leave a comment and help to make this a more complete listing. 
  

Alternative tourism: from hikers and bikers to archeologists and art historians

watercolor by Alice Lejeune

Tourism statistics are nothing more than a dry collection of numbers. Living here and writing about this area gives me the privilege of meeting the real people behind these numbers: a collection of very interesting individuals.  

Archeologist Stephanie exaimes a plaque in Vetralla's city hall 

All of the people met over the past few months had a special, personal reason for coming  to this lesser known area of central Italy. Each had a special itinerary to follow  which ranged from literature, sport and history to archeology, music and dance. 

From the island of Crete, artist Tim spent a week walking in the footsteps of D.H. Lawrence, using  only public transport  and participating in the life of our circle of friends. 

lunch on the terrace with Teresa 

Teresa, from New Mexico, comes annually as she organizes workshops for writers and aspiring writers. Art historians and museum curators are other visitors who are always welcome.

Museum curators Annawies and John visited  from Boston

Author Mark  meets local actor, Christian

Marged (r.) joins local residents for  Wedding of the Trees festival

Marged and Mark both came to Viterbo to study Italian and cooking and stayed on for local festivities.

Jim, bandaged after a fall in London, 

Jim,  an eco builder from Scotland, arrived at night last week, weighed down by a huge backpack.  
He was following in the footsteps of his father, once  a POW  in Vetralla's Camp  68. Jim read about the camp  here and decided to come see for himself. 

Meeting the locals near the POW camp 

Checco Lallo's  pottery cave has not changed over the years 

We showed Jim a place that hadn't changed since his father was a prisoner here in 1943. 
This group of international lawyers who came in May,even  got a chance to try their hands  at the potter's wheel .

Trying out local crafts 

POW barracks in the background 

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Jim meets Ivo who was a prisoner of the Germans


At least once a week a group of pilgrims on foot or cyclists  passes through town, stopping in the main  piazza for a break during their long ride from Siena or Viterbo to Rome.

Bikers from all parts of Italy (and Brazil)   take a break in the piazza

German scholars  and American trekkers often  stop  at our  local bookshop looking for maps of  ancient  Roman roads and books about the area. 
Last week a troupe of young Russian ballet dancers arrived  in Viterbo to present  Swan Lake during the Tuscia Opera Festival. They didn't see much of the city but gifted us with a magical evening. 

dancers applying makeup  in the piazza

The 13th century  Papal Palace was the backdrop for Tchiakovsky's  enchanting music and ballet. 

Ballet dancers from St. Petersburg, Russia 

warming up for  Swan Lake in Viterbo

 Another  international group, this time French archeologists, stayed for an entire month  as they uncovered an Etruscan tomb complex hidden in the woods near Tuscania. 

walking to the newly discovered tombs

Vincent  Jolivet  from CNRS, Paris leads  the group 

Edwige Lovergne  explains her discovery 

tools for the archeological dig

We anxiously await the published report on the French archeological team's discoveries. 
 

a sneak preview of the tomb complex

 Individual travelers like Tim and Jim who like to rough it, prove that you can get around  our area (with difficulty) using public transport, but it makes sense  to rent a car if two or more persons are traveling together.