All I have to say can be said by this video. 



I'm feeling safe now thanks to the POWEHRRR RAYNGERRRZ!

This year wasn't my first time seeing the Chestnut Festival, but through the years, I have never made it to the Palio.  

First things first, What on earth is a ‘Palio' ?  Those who have heard the term generally know of it it in connection with the famous ‘Palio di Siena', which is a horse race.  But Palio is really  a term that can be used for any kind of competition in Italy.  The word Palio itself refers to a large banner that acts as a trophy for the winner of whatever competion is being held.  In other words, the Palio is the prize, not the contest.

Soriano's Palio, unlike that of Siena, is not a horse race.  Instead it is a half-day event that is made up of an archery competition and a jousting competition.  It is one of the main events in Soriano nel Cimino's Sagra delle Castagne (Chestnut Festival).

During the festival, the twon divides into 4 ‘contrade' districts, each with their cavalier and archer that will compete in the Palio.

The contradas are ‘San Giorgio', ‘Rocca', ‘Trinita' and ‘Papacqua'.  This year, San Giorgio swept the competition.  Luckily, Paola's family belongs to San Giorgio.  Actually, Paola's father was one of the founders for the festival, and he was the president of the San Giorgio contrada for years.  Still, I lived in the Papacqua district when I lived in Soriano, and our rentals are all in the Rocca district.  That said, I had a 75% chance shot at being connected to victory!

 The openening event of the festival is the ‘Blessing of the Cavaliers and Archers', during which the cavaliers ride (and archers walk) into the main square in a grand procession, accomanied by their districts trumpeteers and drummers, all followed by a magnificent parade of villagers in medieval dress.   They take formation in front of the catheral as a priest blesses the competitors and the opening ceremonies commence.

On the day of the Palio competition itself, thousands of people march down to the fields where the event will be held to cheer for their their respective contradas.

The even begins with a round of archery, followed by a round of jousting for rings.  Naturally, this is 2007, so the cavaliers are not jousting one on one.  Instead, they ride a course that is marked with a series of poles.  Each pole has three rings of different size.  They are scored based on how many rings they get, how big those rings are, and the speed at which they maneuvered the course.

With the second round, the archers take more distance and the cavaliers get a second shot at their remaining rings, again judged by ring count, ring size and speed.

A third and final round puts the archers at a greatly increased distance, and the cavaliers that their last run around the track in an effort for the perfect score.

When it is all done (It lasted about 5 hours), all of the scores are tallied and the contrada with the highest combined score wins this year's Palio.

From that point forward, the losers go home deflated, while the winners parade all the way back to town for an evening of extreme celebration.

The event is strongly felt in the town.  Emotions run deep.  I watched losers in tears and winners rejoice at their sumpremacy. 

I have to admit, I started out really not caring, but with all of the tension in the air leading up to the event, I found myself really excited, too. It was truly a blast!

Ask around Soriano about ‘Fosso Mulino’ (River Mill) and you will get mostly blank stares. So it is no surprise that after all of these years I had no idea that it existed. Very few people do.

One day I was out with my friend (and our contractor) Andrea D’Alessio. He asked me if I had ever been to the waterfalls. My immediate answer was YES! There is a place in Soriano with some beautiful waterfalls that few know about, and I had been there. In fact, years ago I was telling Paola about them, and she didn’t believe me until I showed her.

Anyhow, Andrea didn’t believe that I had been to ‘The waterfalls’, so he asked me to describe them. As I did, he laughed and simply explained that there were other, more breathtaking, waterfalls in Soriano. So he took me. He explained that not only was this a beautiful fork of the Tiber with awesome waterfalls, but there were the ruins of a 13th century Olive Mill. Cool!

We drove just past the Viterbo-Orte Superstrada, right at the Soriano-Bomarzo exit, and hung a left. We drove down a road which is well known as a hangout for some extremely vile looking prostitutes (another story there) and parked along a little dirt road. After exiting the car, we went down a small trail into what appeared to be complete nothingness.

At one point, I noticed beneath my feet there was some ancient concrete road, which was ribbed. Andrea explained that this was the path the mules used to cart the olives down, and the oil up.

Next I found myself in a tunnel of sorts, created by massive rocks around me, and extending about 200 feet down the hill. All the while, this ancient road ran beneath my feet.
After exiting the tunnel, immediately to my right was the river. As I walked toward it, I was struck by an absolutely beautiful set of waterfalls as I saw the water that had literally carved its passage through this ancient volcanic rock over millions of years. To say it was stunning would be an understatement.

We walked around as I cursed my lack of a spare battery for my camera. It had a little juice left in it, so I took what video I could. How could I never have known about this place?
As we crossed back to our entry point, there was an old structure in ruin. Andrea told me to look to my feet. There, sitting in the middle of this little forest was an ancient olive mill wheel.

We then entered the structure, and a few more wheels were just lying there haphazardly. Wow! What a great experience to see all of this in such an untouched state.

Such was my morning visit to what I now know of as ‘Fosso Mulino’. You won’t find it in any tour books, and you won’t find any ‘professional’ guides that can show it to you. It is just one of those hidden treasures, like Corviano, that you just have to be with the right person to see.

I’m pretty sure I will make this a tour stop with my groups that are into nature and hiking.

Things got quite busy since my last post. We had a wave of guests come to Soriano, and the annual chestnut festival ( Sagra delle Castagne ) began, which really kept me running, camera in hand.

The folks in Soriano's tourism office were kind enough to issue me an all-access press pass for all of the events, so I have tons of content (both video and photo) from the last few weeks that will take form in blog articles over the next few weeks.

So now that I am back in the US and getting over my jet lag, I'll begin...

The Flag Throwers ( Sbandieratori ) of Soriano nel Cimino

Soriano is, for the most part, divided into four districts (Contrade). When the chestnut festival begins, these districts compete in many events (Archers, Cavaliers, Parades, Medieval dinners, etc.). Additionally, each district brings a distinct group with a specific talent. For example, Soriano's swordsmen are from the ‘Rocca' district. The ‘Trinita' district brings a group of heavily trained Flag Throwers.

To be completely honest, they never impressed me in the past. I always thought it was a total non-event. I mean, big deal, right? But I hadn't seen the Flag Throwers from Soriano in years, and I was covering the festival, so I really should check it out. In fact, I actually considered if I wanted to waste my camera's battery life on the event for fear that I might end up missing something interesting later into the evening.

The event was about to begin, and I took my place in the Piazza... thinking there must be something better to do. Then I heard the drums coming from Via Santa Maria (Trinita's home street). Suddenly I saw a massive group of drummers, trumpeters, and flag throwers march into Piazza behind the Trinita Flag Carrier. Their costumes were breathtaking! Their choreography was mesmerizing! Even the drums were absolutely stunning! When the row of trumpets began to play, my jaw dropped in utter awe.

This was not the Flag Throwing group I remembered. In the past it was a small group of guys that put on a nice, but largely unspectacular performance. Wow, have they changed. Someone with great skill and vision has clearly taken over in this group. I would argue that it was the most spectacular event I saw during the festival. Maybe because my expectations were so low going in, or maybe they are just that great now.

Unfortunately, the video that accompanies this article doesn't do them justice. It doesn't even come close to capturing the grandeur of the group, nor does it reproduce even a fraction of the awesome sound they produce. Not knowing what to expect, my camera missed many of the best moments of the performance. 

Next time I have an opportunity to film them, I will try to better convey how truly awesome this group was.

 

I remember my mother telling me about her move to Southern California, and how excited she was the first time she picked an orange off a tree and ate it right there.  I was thinking, like... ok, big deal... you need to get out more!  But then again, she was from New York, and I had been born and raised in L.A.  After all, I had never seen an apple tree...  In fact, at 42 years, I still have never seen an apple tree.  Maybe I'm the one that needs to get out more.

That said, if you are reading this from Napa Valley (Hi Jac and Ami), this post might have you thinking I've been locked in a cage most of my life.  Well, that cage was walled by the confines of the 101, 405 and 118 freeways in the San Fernando Valley, and I can't stop saying to myself: ‘Dude!  I, like, fully made WINE yesterday'. 

OK, I'm going to admit that it wasn't my first time.  The first time was about 13 years ago when I happened to be here in Soriano nel Cimino during the harvest, and I helped my father in law with his private yield. 

At the time, my only point of reference in making wine was the image of Lucy rolling her pants up, stomping grapes, and screaming ‘Ohhhh Ricky'!  I quickly learned that grape stomping was actually a practice that ended about a thousand years ago when the first mechanized wine press was invented. Some towns still practiced stomping (of a small portion of their grapes) for fun and entertainment during their wine festivals, and of course THAT made far better entertainment for the ‘I Love Lucy' fans.

The ‘basket press' (Torchio in Italian), which was invented about 1,000 years ago has remained largely unchanged through the years.  Farmers throughout Italy that have their own private vineyards for personal use still use this press every year to make their wine.

Yesterday marked my second time. I went to visit Leo, Santino and Andrea.  They are actually the contractors that restored our villa, but they also have a farm with their own two acre vineyard, plus more acreage of an olive orchard, hazelnut orchard, etc.  They harvest their grapes each year, which produces an average of 1,300 liters of an excellent red.  Believe it or not, that is hardly enough to get them through the year for their own personal use!  Does that thought just drive your mind away from Lucy, and on to Otis from The Andy Griffith Show, or what?

We spent the afternoon in their cantina filling the press with the separated grapes, and watching the must (basically grape juice that will grow up to become wine) pour out.  As I watched and helped, I listened to them tell me what a true labor of love it is.  Every so often, it was time to assemble the press and start cranking away, squeezing every little bit possible out of those pesky grapes!  After all, we couldn't have a year with only 1,299 liters, could we?

In between, we would rest, eat pecorino cheese, salami and mortadella with freshly baked bread.  Of course, all the while we are either drinking the remains of last year's wine, or drinking the must straight from the press ( YUM!!! ).

It was a wonderful afternoon that I will never forget.  So much so, that we discussed expanding the vineyard for next year and dedicating a section to DiscoverSoriano's own private reserve.  We'll be planning days with our guests to share in this wonderful experience, and will set aside enough to produce roughly 300 liters of our own reserve for our guests.

Today I am off to Maurizio's farm, where he is just starting to pick his grapes.  More to come!

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In the past year, the value of the dollar has fallen 10% against the Euro.  That means if the price of something in Europe has not changed, it costs you 10% more if you earn your money in US Dollars.  In other words, a hotel rate of E.200 per night a year ago translated into $242, and today it translates into $282.  OK, that's bad.  But if you are considering a vacation in Italy, there is a way to be almost completely unaffected by this with DiscoverSoriano.com.

DiscoverSoriano is an American company that operates tours in Italy.  We own our own homes, we guide our own tours, and most of our operational costs are in Dollars, not Euros.  Since some of our costs are in Dollars, and some are in Euros, we are largely unaffected by the exchange rate!  This is very important for you, because we can keep you from being affected by the weakening dollar.

Most hotels and tour operators in Italy are completely bound by the Euro.  If they offer you a price in dollars, it is based on the exchange rate, so if the Dollar weakens by 10% against the Euro, they are forced to raise their prices in Dollars by at least 10%.  At the end, you pay in Euros no matter what.  Fortunately, DiscoverSoriano does not have this problem, and we can protect you against it.

Think about it this way:  If you are from Colorado and are thinking of taking a vacation to California, you would never consider that you might hold off on the vacation if the Dollar is weakening against the Euro, would you?  That is because your dollar is still worth a dollar, whether you are in California or Colorado.  But if you go to Italy, your Dollar is carrying less and less value as the exchange rate weakens it, so the trip is getting more and more expensive even if there is no inflation.  That is not the case if you take a DiscoverSoriano.com tour.

Our tours are all-inclusive.  We pay for all of the lodging, all of the excursions, all of your meals and all of the transportation.  All you pay is airfare , and that is not rising with the currency exchange.  You pay it all in Dollars, and the price of your tour will not fluctuate with the exchange rate.  So you can take that trip to Italy without worrying about the falling dollar.

Your only expenses once in Italy on a tour with us will be small personal incidentals and gifts.  Of course, those will be affected by the exchange, so we decided to make you an offer.  Since everyone else is raising their prices, and our costs are more or less unchanged, we have decided to LOWER our tour prices by nearly 10% for a limited time.  In other words, if you were to spend $2,500 in gifts and personal items in Italy, it would be as if you were doing it with the exchange rate from 2005!  All other costs are covered by us in the price of the tour.

See our Cooking tours and Organized Tours for more info.  Or visit us at www.DiscoverSoriano.com

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I love Football (Go USC!) & Baseball (Go Dodgers!).. I'm an American after all.  But I have never been able to sink my heart into Soccer. So having spent all of these years in Italy, I've never been to a serious professional Soccer match.  I've been to the small ones, but never ‘Stadium Sized' games.  That changed yesterday.

I'll write this article aimed at people that are not up to speed in the world of European Soccer, so I ask those of you that are in the know to be patient with me.

I was invited to go to a match between AS Roma (Rome) and Juventus (Turin).  They are the Italian Soccer equivalent of the Yankees vs. the Red Sox, with Juventus being the Yankees.  You know, the team that has a huge following all over the country (and the world), not just mainly in their home town.  It was held at Rome's Olympic Stadium.

I was far more focused on the experience than the game itself.  After all, I could care less if ‘Totti must die' or not.  Still, I was there with a group of six die hard Juventus fans, who graciously shared a ‘nearly impossible to procure' ticket to the game.  Many envious people felt the ‘golden ticket' had been wasted on me.  That said, for my own personal safety I was a Juventus fan yesterday.

 

The experience began with the walk up to the stadium.  Vendors abound were selling flags, shirts, banners, towels, etc. proclaiming that ‘Juve must die' and ‘Juve I hate you', etc.  Juve is short for Juventus, in the same way that we say ‘SC' for ‘USC'.  There was no pro-Juventus paraphernalia to be found.  In fact, I noted that none of the fans wore anything pro-Juventus.  Odd, considering what a huge following they had all over the country.

After a bit, we arrived at security check #1.  Then #2, then #3.  Then a caged fortress-like area where we inserted our tickets.  Then yet another security check.  Each person was individually patted down, made to empty their pockets and bags, then checked again, and again at a series of checkpoints.  Nothing was allowed in.  There were literally thousands of police in full riot gear everywhere you looked, forming lines, ready for the worst.  I think I would have an easier time getting into the White House than the Soccer game yesterday.

 

The moment we walked through the gates, I witnessed people opening their bags and getting shirts, hats, flags, etc. out.  All Black and White... Juventus colors.  They had been afraid to wear their gear outside of the protection of the ‘Juventus Section' of the stadium.

As we walked into the stadium, I quickly learned that all of the security was outside.  It was pure chaos as we attempted to find our seats... until I learned that seat assignments have no meaning.  Everyone just crowded in wherever they could.  Aisles, stairs, etc. were all fair play for seats.

As we tried to make our way to a place where we could see the game, I suddenly heard a roar of screaming and felt the pressure of thousands of people pouncing around me, pushing me (and everyone) violently to one direction.  As I looked up, completely confused, I saw a chair flying over the big fence into the stands where I was. Thousands of people were rushing away from the area... into me.  Then another... and another.... Bottles, small objects, etc.  It was mayhem.  I noted that everyone on the other side of the fence was wearing Red and Yellow, while those on my side were wearing black and white.  I was within 20 feet of the giant divider between Juventus fans and Roma fans.  THANK GOD FOR THE MASSIVE BARRIER!

 

Riot Police stormed the area and calmed things down, after a fashion.  We continued to slowly make our way to a better place in the stadium.  Pushing and shoving to move foot by foot was the order of the day.

Once we were settled in our chosen location, one thing became utterly clear.  I was in that spot for the duration.  The stairway was completely blocked by fans and there was no way to move away from my two square feet of stadium floor.  I had skipped lunch earlier, thinking I would get a bite at the game.  HA!  A couple hours earlier I passed up an opportunity to go to th

It used to be that when I would come to Italy, for the first few days, people would see me and give me a huge ‘welcome back’.  That was then.  I would come here once a year in the summer and spend a month to six weeks here.  Michael and Paola are here… it must be summer, right?  Big hugs, dinner invites, the whole nine yards.

But now things are different.  I got here yesterday and there was no fanfare.  Not a single dinner invite, not even an excited greeting.  Instead, most people never even realized I had been away.

Who can blame them?  They saw me 3 ½ weeks ago, after all.  I was here with the family all summer.  Before that, I was here for Christmas…  and in October before that… all summer before that… April before that… January before that… etc.  In between my solo trips and family trips, Paola always peppers a trip or two per year on her own, so to the untrained eye, it seems that there is always a Kovnick in Soriano.

When I tell them I have been in the states, I get that shocked look, accompanied with something on the order of ‘But didn’t I just see you???’.  In fact, I would argue that many people think we live here now.

Such is now my life with DiscoverSoriano.com. 

So why do I blog this?  Last night I met a couple of our guests from Arizona who are leaving today.  (Hi Lynda and Christine).  They told me about how much they loved it here.  They felt so at home,  and Lynda was really interested in purchasing a place here as a vacation home.  It really occurred to me how doable something like that really is.  If you sit down and do the math, it isn’t really more difficult or costly than having your second home in the mountains or at the beach in the U.S.  It just seems that way.
To start, purchasing a place here is far less costly that it would be in the states.  One could easily get a beautiful place here for less than $75,000.  Property taxes here are extremely low.  Ongoing expenses such as heating, electricity, phone, internet, etc. are all relative, of course.  So what makes owning a vacation home here seem so far out is that it is a world away.

But if you consider that someone from the east coast only has an 8 hour flight, then a one-hour drive to get here, is it really that far?  Even from the west coast, it isn’t that bad.  Essentially, you give up coming for the weekends in favor of spending weeks, but the payoff is that you are in ITALY.    When you look at the cost of ownership here, it covers the airfare many, many times over.
Then it is worth considering what one would do with a second home in Italy.   The first and obvious answer is to see Italy.  After all, after 23 years, I am still discovering this wonderful country every time I come.  I’ve never seen such an amazing place.  But then consider the rest of Europe.  After all, in Soriano, we are about an hour from the Rome airport, and there are airlines that now sell tickets to just about anywhere in Europe for insane prices.  Think about spending the weekend in London, Berlin, Paris, etc. for around $40 each way.

Add all of that to the fact that Viterbo (the provincial capitol) is only 10 miles from us, and their airport is gearing up for commercial international air service.  All of Europe is literally at your doorstep.

Thinking about it, it really does add up.  The cost of having that cabin (and using it) in the mountains is really on par with the cost of having (and using) that medieval retreat in the heart of Italy.  Hmmmm.

For those of you that will be coming to Soriano for the Chestnut Festival, I thought I would post a video that shows a few of the highlights.  This video is a promotional piece by Soriano nel Cimino's Medieval Swordsmen.  While they perform at many festivals all over the world, being from Soriano, they perform at each and every festival in the town.

This video concentrates on them, but many of the video clips are taken during the Chestnut Festival (Sagra delle Castagne) over the years.   Enjoy!

 

40th Annual Chestnut Festival (Sagra delle Castagne) Schedule - 2007

Every year, during the first two weeks of October, Soriano nel Cimino hosts a festival that surrounds the chestnut harvest. This festival is done on a large scale, and attracts thousands of people from surrounding areas, including Rome. The two main events of the Sagra are the Palio and the Corteo Storico. Unfortunately