A weekend Out of Umbria: wild Circeo

by Silvia Matricardi

Sometimes We, Umbrians, are in the mood for something different, we need to breathe a different air and to escape some place we don’t know or some place where we know everything is different.

On a Thursday afternoon, a few weeks ago, we decided the time for our out-of-Umbrian escape had come. A couple of days and some telephone calls later we were ready to leave. And we left.

We left Umbria early in the morning and after a 3hours drive we arrived in a beautiful place in southern Lazio, inside the Circeo National Park. The drive was not so hard; you get to your freeway exit very fast and then you take a Province road that immediately gives you the idea you have come to a totally different place than Umbria: different landscape, different people, different colours and habits. And in fact we chose that area beacuse we wanted to be in a place looking really different from our home Region, because we wanted to be by the sea and we did not want to spend too much time driving a car. And we had never been there before.

Our choice was really successful!

As soon as we arrived we noticed the main feature of the place: WILD!

The road that runs along the beach is not so wide and it is bordered by bushes of several kinds of Mediterranean short shrubs on both sides. Here and there you can get glances of water: light blue spots amongst the green, yellow and bright pink of bushes and flowers; on our right the sea, on our left the coastal lake. And there was a “plus”: the road, as well as the beach, was deserted. These are the advantages of visiting Italy in “low season”!

But the best had yet to come! When we arrived at the hotel we immediately understood why it was called its name: it is standing in a privileged position, right on the beach! It is simple and silent, with comfortable commons spaces characterized by open rooms with big windows, the fireplace, wild plants everywhere, white walls and dark brown wooden ceiling…. tasting a little bit Mexican.

Anyway the best thing was: we wanted an hotel with a view on the sea and what we got was an hotel with the beach in our room; the water was so close and the roaring of the waves was so strong we could hardly talk to each other. Our room had a balcony with comfortable chairs, from which we had the chance to enjoy a beautiful view of the Circeo promontory, of the Pontine Islands and a beautiful sunset in the Tyrrhenian sea.

The weekend passed very fast, with walks on the wide wild beach, visit to local villages, a morning cruise around the islands, beautiful panoramas, discovery of several villas hidden amongst the Mediterranean vegetation and meals based on local food, fish of course!

To be repeated soon, there on in another beautiful spot, OUT of Umbria but not so far!

******

A package tour proposal is available in this area: www.umbrianescapes.it

Germany: castles, wine and good music

Germany: castles, wine and good music
Part 1

by Silvia Matricardi

We love music and we love travelling and fortunately in our job sometimes we can enjoy both things at the same time. As it happened two weeks ago, when we left Umbria to take a group of young opera singers in Germany, for three concerts in three different small cities inside three castles, in the Palatinate region.
The reason why this charming region, located in the south western corner of Germany directly against the French border, is known as German California is immediately clear; a strip of land where nature is rich in surprises: the flowing of the Rhein river, the high protective hills covered by woods and the geographic position create a climate which is completely different from that of the rest of Germany, that is not continental but mediterranean. Perhaps this is the reason why while we explored these places we felt almost like being home: because the environment that welcomes us looks very much like sweet Umbrian hills, covered with rows of vines. In fact, this region has got an ancient wine culture: the Romans themselves introduced the vine growing when they founded most of the cities in the area.

To tell the truth, we are in the Weinstraße (Wine Street), renowned for the production of red wines, Rieslings and Pinots. Softly rolling hills are covered in a seemingly endless sea of grape vines, while villages, castles and fortresses perch on the adjacent mountains, telling of a millenary history and of a rich and lively cultural and oenogastronomic activity.
Our guests welcomed us very warmly and led us to three small cities in whose castles the young singers of Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto performed three concerts of famous opera arias accompanied by the piano.
The marriage of history, wine and music besides the setting, the hospitality of our German friends and the audience’s warmth led to three charming soirées and engraved our heart and eyes with vivid images.

Germania: castelli, vino e buona musica
Parte 1

di Silvia Matricardi

Ci piace la musica e ci piace viaggiare e per fortuna nel nostro lavoro qualche volta riusciamo a fare entrambe le cose insieme. Come è accaduto due settimane fa, quando siamo partiti per accompagnare un gruppo di giovani cantanti lirici in Germania, per tre concerti in tre diverse cittadine e in tre diversi castelli, nella regione del Palatinate.
Il motivo per cui questa ridente regione, posta nella parte sud occidentale della Germania vicino al confine con la Francia, è nota come la California tedesca è immediatamente chiaro; una striscia di terra dove la natura è ricca di sorprese: lo scorrere del fiume Reno, le alte e protettive colline coperte di boschi e la posizione geografica fanno sì che il clima qui sia completamente diverso da quello del resto della Germania, non continentale, quindi, ma mediterraneo. E’ per questo, forse, che nell’esplorare queste zone ci sentiamo quasi a casa: poiché l’ambiente che ci accoglie somiglia molto alle dolci colline umbre, coperte di filari di viti. Questa regione ha infatti un’antichissima cultura vinicola: furono proprio i Romani che nel fondare gran parte delle città della zona introdussero la coltivazione della vite. Siamo infatti sulla Weinstraße (Strada del Vino), rinomata per la produzione dei vini rossi, dei Riesling e dei Pinot. Distese di vigneti ricoprono le colline, dove si incontrano paesi pittoreschi, castelli e fortezze che raccontano di una storia millenaria e di una ricca e vivace attività culturale ed enogastronomica.
I nostri ospiti, che ci hanno accolti con molto calore, ci hanno invitati in tre cittadine nei cui castelli i giovani cantanti del Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto hanno tenuto tre concerti di celebri arie d’opera, accompagnati al pianoforte.
Il connubio di storia, vino e musica, nonché le location, l’ospitalità dei nostri amici tedeschi ed il calore del pubblico, hanno dato luogo a tre serate molto suggestive ed hanno lasciato impresse negli occhi e nel cuore immagini molto vivide.

Getting ready for Germany

Hi! I am getting ready for the tour of concerts of Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto in Germany. We are going to have concerts in Wachenheim, Schwetzingen and Worms, from March 18th to March 23rd. Apart from the concerts we'll have one day off and we will visit Heidelberg and Speyer. I'll post nice pictures soon....