Blog Entries for admin

Recession-proof your vacation with DiscoverSoriano.com

admin — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:00:00 +0100

With so much uncertainty ahead with the economy, skyrocketing fuel prices, and the drastic drop of the Dollar against the Euro over the past couple years; many people have been concerned about planning travel. In fact, during the 2008 season, most of Europe has seen a sharp drop in tourism for these very reasons.

We at DiscoverSoriano haven’t felt the negative impact. To the contrary, while many in the industry have reported a 60% or more decline in business, [...]

Dances with Mozzarella

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

For my first video post in a while, I thought I would start with a cool little video compilation made of some of the video I shot during some of the cooking classes we had earlier in the season. This video concentrates on 3 groups we had in May and June of 2008 -- I’m not sure why I didn’t break out the video camera for more groups.

Featured in this video are:

Mary, Erica, Maka, Sue, Terry, Katie, [...]

Where has the time gone?

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0100

So it has been an incredibly busy season for us this year… o the point that we sold out most of the tours this year. Not bad when you hear all over the news how Americans just aren’t travelling to Europe thanks to the weak dollar, right?

Anyhow, the consequence of being so incredibly busy is that I have had absolutely no time to contribute to this blog this season. I’ve hardly even had time to get a night of s [...]

Tuscia in Jazz Festival 2008 - Schedule

admin — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:01:57 +0100

DiscoverSoriano.com is a proud sponsor of this year's Jazz Festival in Soriano. We hope you will come and see us! We'll be filming a great deal of the festival this year in High Definition, as well as conducting numerous interviews.

This is the preliminary schedule for the 2008 Jazz festival in Soriano. Most performances begin around 9:00 PM in Soriano's main Piazza. Some performances will take place in the City Hall Courtyard. Keep in mind that more events are likely to be adde [...]

So Goes Our 1st Tour of 2008

admin — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:00:00 +0100

{mosimage}16 days to go before I make my trek to Italy for 5 months this year, but our tours have started. Fortunately, so that I could get some last minute work done and finish coaching our son's baseball team, Paola went over ahead of me for our first tour of the year.

Scott & Michelle (from Texas), and Don & MaryAnn (from Washington) are our guests for this week that ends tomorrow. They have chosen to do a somewhat custom itinerary that more or less mi [...]

This Blog about Italy is about to go into Video Blogging Overdrive

admin — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Let's face it... when I am in the US, this blog runs pretty dry. After all, a blog about Italy doesn't do too well when you are sitting at a computer in Florida. Well, that is soon to change.

On May 12, I'll be heading over again, and this time I will be there for 5 months straight. No back and [...]

The Blindfolded Chef - Ceci Soup Challenge

admin — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Last week Paola wanted to teach Alyssa, our 18 year old daughter, how to make Ceci Soup. She was saying it was so easy that she could do it blindfolded. As we laughed at her, she insisted that she could, so I ended up betting her $100 that she couldn’t. What started out as a stupid little bet turned into an evening of intense laughter and family fun.

We found a sock, blindfolded Paola and she went to task as I film [...]

Italian... So lost in translation

admin — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:00:00 +0100

“My daughter speaks perfect English. After all, she spent a month in England with a native family”. That was the quote that caused me to simply give up, and it speaks volumes about Italian culture and the denial so many of them live in.

It happened this past October. I was in a local barber shop in Soriano nel Cimino. The barber was telling me of the frustrations he had been experiencing as he tried to communicate with the American tourists that t=started coming over the p [...]

Florida Italophiles Unite!

admin — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:47:31 +0100

Wow… I’ve been away from Italy now for a total of 3 and a half months. That is the longest stretch in more than 2 years. When I am in the states, I’m not immersed in the wonders of Italian culture, so material for the blog is hard to come by.

Anyhow, the other day Paola and I had the great pleasure of meeting a group of Floridians with whom I [...]

Why Italy is not known for modern music

admin — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:08:21 +0100

You know, there is a really, really good reason that you don't see any Italian groups on the International rap scene. What could that reason be, you may ask... just click below and remember that Italians make great food and wine, ok?

Oh yeah, and promise you will keep watching it at least until you see the Michael-Jackson-esque moonwalk. Trust me, it is worth the wait.

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A little more Olive Gardening Laughter...

admin — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:41:15 +0100

Face it, I'm back in the states for a few months, so I just don't have much material for the blog these days. I mean, when I am in Italy, I could write several posts a day, but I am sitting here in Florida, what to contribute to THIS blog?

That said, little things catch my attention here and there, and while I was clicking away on Youtube, I stumbled across another one that had me rolling on the floor.

If you have read deeper into my blog, you certainly know the disd [...]

Protected by the POWEHRRR RAYNGERRRZ

admin — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:47:30 +0100

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

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

Soriano nel Cimino - Palio delle Contrade

admin — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 23:38:13 +0100

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 bann [...]

The hidden ruins of a 13th century Olive Mill

admin — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 09:32:47 +0100

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 be [...]

The Flag Throwers ( Sbandieratori ) of Soriano nel Cimino

admin — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:29:52 +0100

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 [...]

The Wine Harvest - Making wine in Italy

admin — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 03:57:32 +0100

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 [...]

You can travel to Italy without worrying about the weak Dollar

admin — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 05:17:19 +0100

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.

Discov [...]

Soccer Fanaticism in Italy � Because they cant feed Christians to the lions anymore

admin — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:21:04 +0100

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 [...]

Would you have a second home in Italy?

admin — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 05:23:46 +0100

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 eve [...]

The Medieval Swordsmen of Soriano nel Cimino

admin — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:54:11 +0100

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 Ca [...]