Newsletters Umbria Italy

Below you can read our previous newletters. We started our newsletters in the spring of 2011.
You can subscribe to our Umbria newsletter by filling in your name and email address on the right.

Our next newsletter is due in April or May 2012.

Newsletter Winter 2012

With the temperatures coming down over Europe (this time literally ... I am not talking about the Euro crisis!) nobody will be surprised to learn also Italy did see some snow this year. Some areas got loads of snow and had big trouble continuing with normal daily life. Here in Umbria most areas were covered in a manageable amount of snow, inviting for lovely walks (with cold feet) and providing wonderful picture opportunities.

On the Umbria blog you can see a few of the pictures I took in the past two weeks.

 

Meet Villa in Umbria!
Every year we, Villa in Umbria, are organising an interesting and informative event for our guests. The past two years we have been visiting the Montelabate Abbey. This abbey of over a 1000 years old is a real gem and the tour was entertaining and full with information about the past, intelligently linked to the present. Most likely the tour will take place also this year, but we will no longer be organising it. 
More information can be found (in the near future) on our information website, where our guests can log-in.

This year we will organise every Monday at 17.00 hrs a guided tour of the village Castel Rigone. This village is close to Perugia and looks out over the Trasimeno Lake. The 'Guide in Umbria' will provide us with some insight in the life throughout the ages and they will also give a brief highlight of the history of Umbria. An excellent start of your Umbrian holiday, plus a nice opportunity to meet us, Saskia and Willemijn. The guided tour will end with an aperitivo on a terrace overlooking the lake.

More information will follow for those who have booked a holiday rental through us. 



Other Guided Tours in Umbria
More and more good quality tours and events are organised every year in Umbria. The Guide in Umbria already did a Perugia tour for 5 euro per adult in Dutch in the past year. This year they will do the same in English as well, and apart from Perugia they will also organise a tour of Assisi, with a detailed explanation of many of the world famous frescoes in the Basilica.

I do recommend everybody to participate in these guided tours, if possible. The price is very low and the guides are excellent. They involve everybody from very young to old. In the short time (1,5 to 2 hours) you learn a lot about the history and culture in an easily entertaining way. After a tour like this, walking though old villages changes the way you see things, the whole experience of being in Umbria is enriched by the wealth of information provided by the guides. 



 Why going on holiday to Umbria?
Umbria offers something for everybody! The only thing missing in Umbria is the sea. This does have the (huge) advantage that Umbria has fewer tourists and therefore is more authentic and has meny friendly people.
Umbria is foremost known for the beautiful green hills where one can unwind and relax in total tranquility, surrounded by nature and calm. Enjoy the views and space.
Just in case you will start getting bored with this, you can go and visit the many jewels of hill top towns, enjoy a country walk or walk from village to village. You can rent bikes and do some MTB trails (only for those who have a good condition, the hills can be steep!). More interested in culture? There are museums all over Umbria. In the evenings you can enjoy excellent meals in very affordable restaurants or go to a concert. There is wine tasting in many places as well. For those who like an active holiday you can hike, cycle, enjoy the green hills on horse back, you can raft and do extreme sports like paragliding and a lot more!
Ah ... forgot to mention swimming ... all holiday rentals have a swimming pool!

 

See you in Umbria!

 

 

Newsletter Fall 2011

Summer has come and gone, for many of you the weather has been dramatically bad in the North of Europe (don't know about other parts of the world). In Italy especially August and September have been very hot and dry and it is still dry today. The olives are hanging skinny and shriveled on their trees. They are still hanging though, so that is good news.

 

Umbria in fall

The coming month Umbria will be all about olives. In some places a few frantoio have already opened (a frantoio is an olive oil mill). Due to the draught no ig harvest is expected this year, but this will not spoil the fun. Soon, every household in Umbria will have the pleasure of tasting the 'bruschetta semplice' ... a toasted piece of bread with the new fragrant and peppery olive oil on top. Not much later, in the beginning on November, the joy will be complete with the arrival of the Vino Novello (the new wine).

 

Plenty of reason to consider visiting Umbria also in this beautiful and rich time of the year! Temperatures are pleasant and there is a lot to do, experience and taste. This is also the time of the year for mushrooms, amongst others the famous truffle. Not to forget the chest nuts (roasted over open fire ...).

 

Prices of our holiday rentals are also low in this season, so that should really help in making a decision. Maybe something to consider planning for a next year!



Village Feasts / Sagras

 

As always in Umbria, there are sagras about food. In fall especially the chest nut sagras are very popular, and we understand why. Chest nuts (castagna in Italian) are roasted over an open fire, they taste full and sweet and warm. You drink new wine with it and the contrast is lovely (the wine is fresh and fruity).

Throughout Umbria the frantoio can be visited. Find out the real work behind a bottle of olive oil and taste the oil a few minutes after it has been pressed.

There are furthermore several truffle markets worth a visit. In Citta di Castello from 4 - 6 November and in Gubbio from 28 October to 1 November.

On To Do in Umbria (www.todoinumbria.com) you can find more information, also about the various other nice events in Umbria.

Umbria is getting ready for winter. The wood has been stacked and already some smoke comes circling out of the chimneys to warm the cool evenings. The grapes have been harvested and the mosto is slowly turning into wine. The tomatoes have been canned and pantries are full with stock of summer produce. So ... let winter come! By the way, did you know that Umbria also has a ski resort? It does not always have snow, but for an afternoon of pleasure on skis we do not have to drive very far!

See you in Umbria!

 

Newsletter Summer 2011

already the second Umbria Newsletter ... time does fly!



In the meantime summer has started here, with very loud 'cicade' and 'grillo' song (they do not really sing, but let's just say they do). Temperatures reach above 30 degrees Celsius every day. For those living and working in Umbria this can be a challenging time, but for those on holiday, the heat provides a serious possibility to relax.
Feeling more like exploring the region? That is still a joy, but you will have to rise early. The mornings are still relatively fresh. After 5 pm it is also again possible to move around, although it is warmer than in the morning because the sun has heated everything by then.




SUMMER FESTIVALS IN UMBRIA

The coming two weeks are all about Umbria Jazz (lasts up to the 17th of July). Umbria Jazz is an important Jazz Festival with famous stars on the main stages and less famous ones in the smaller theaters and in the centre of Perugia where free concerts are held every evening. This is a thoroughly enjoyable festival in Umbria with excellent atmosphere, so if you still have some days of holidays ... do come over! You can also keep it in mind for next year, the jazz festival takes place always around the same dates (the second and third week of July).




After Umbria Jazz you get the Trasimeno Blues festival with many free concerts in the villages around Lake Trasimeno. 

And this is not all!
This summer a lot more music can be enjoyed in Umbria, like:
•    Canti e Discanti (also called the Foligno World Festival) from 7 - 22 July in Foligno, with music, film and theatre.
•    Giovani Concertisti Festival in Castel Rigone with young artists performing classical music.
•    Musica per i Borghi are several pop concerts in the villages surrounding Marsciano.
•    Alt-r-a Musica in Piegaro is a folk music and dance festival taking place on several Sundays.
•    Assisi nel Mondo is a festival of classical music in many Umbrian cities.
In August we still have the Music Fest Perugia (all kinds of classical music) and the Gubbio Summer Festival (also classical music). In the North of Umbria the Preggio Music Festival takes place also every year.


For more information and dates (plus an overview of other activities in Umbria), please visit: To Do in Umbria



VILLAGE FEASTS IN UMBRIA

Umbria is also home to many (very many) village feasts, called 'sagras' in July and August. We have added the ones we know of on the To Do in Umbria website, but every year we notice that there are more sagras than we manage to find out about. The sagras are a joy to visit. The food is usually excellent and you are seated on long tables in the middle of the local Italian families. After dinner there is dancing, partly ballroom and partly the Italians dance in line, performing all the same steps, rather complicated. A feast for the eyes!



The coming month there are, amongst other, the following sagras (a very small sample):  the sagra dello spaghetto del carbonaio, sagra della lepre, sagra delle crepes, sagra del tartufo estivo, etc. Sagras usually have a theme, like the ones mentioned above. Luckily the menu always has more to choose from than only the theme suggests, so don't let a theme deter you from visiting! The sagras mentioned above are: sagras of the spaghetti with egg and bacon sauce, sagre of the hare, sagra of the crepes and sagra of the summer truffle.


See you in Umbria!

Newsletter Spring 2011

it did take some time but ... finally here it is! The first Villa in Umbria Newsletter with, amongst others:

- a few (very few) ideas of things to do in Umbria in the coming month
- cheap flights to Umbria and our offers for accommodation





WHY CHOOSE A HOLIDAY IN UMBRIA?

In the coming months Umbria has a lot to offer. Apart from the usual hill-top villages, holiday rentals with pool and views to dream of, unwinding in nature, listening to bird song and looking at all the wild flowers (all these are standard fare for a visit to Umbria in spring), there are many concerts, village feasts and festivals.

We have listed a few (very few) of the possibilities:




Search and eat wild asparagus
We can not think of a better way to enjoy Umbria. Go hunt for wild asparagus and prepare them in your own kitchen. A wonderful lunch!
You can check out our asparagus-search-video to get an idea what to look for.
It is extremely easy once you know what to look for!

How can you prepare the asparagus? There are many possibilities. The easiest is to make a frittata with them. You can also make a risotto or pasta and our neighbours always eat them steamed with a bit of olive oil and salt (they always find very many).

Cantine Aperte
The last Sunday of May almost all wine makers in Umbria are open for visitors. You can drive from cantina to cantina, sample the wines and eat some small bites the cantinas usually prepare. Be merry and enjoy the wine, company of others and the hospitality of the wine-makers.



Vini del Mondo in Spoleto
A long weekend all about wine, taking place from 2-5 June. The whole of Spoleto (already worth a visit on normal days!) is about wine. Several ancient buildings are turned into showrooms and you can find wine makers everywhere. The wine is mostly from Italy, but also some from over the borders. This is an event not to miss!

There are many more small village events (sagras) with food and dancing. Immerse yourselves in atmospheres from centuries ago, enjoy the typically Italian surroundings and scenes and the excellent food you can eat on these occasions.



Calendimaggio
Assisi (Pg) – 05 / 07 Maggio 2011



Festa degli Statuti Medievali

Fossato di Vico (Pg) – 06 / 08 Maggio 2011

Festa dei Ceri

Gubbio (Pg) - 15 Maggio 2011

Check To Do in Umbria for an updated calendar with all things to do in Umbria, including sagras, concerts, big festivals, markets and anything else that can be of interest to visitors to Umbria.



CHEAP FLIGHTS & HOLIDAY RENTALS

From the end of March RyanAir has started flights between Bruxelles Charleroi and Perugia. However, there are many more possibilities. You can fly into Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino, fly to Florence (Firenze) or Pisa, to Bologna Forli or to Ancona.
Finding a cheap flight is not a problem and we have some nice offers for a short spring stay in an apartment or private villa in Umbria.

Special offers for a spring break in Umbria
On our special short holiday offers page you will find the apartments that have discounts for 3 or 4 nights. Arrival days are flexible and you can stay a week or less in most places. Prices are very low, like 36 euro per day per apartment at Il Mulino or around 50 euro per day per apartment in many other holiday apartments.

Don't forget to check our last minute holiday Umbria pages with very attractive last minute offers!

We are organising for our guests a not-to-miss visit to the beautiful Abbey of Montelabate, every Monday morning at 11 hrs. A historic building, over 1000 years old. During the guided tour you will see a lot and get to know some aspects of life between 1000 and 1300. The minimum number of participants is 15.

See you in Umbria!