Archive for 'Central Italy'

Italy is home to many delicious dishes, foods and products but one of the most recognisable food items of all has to be Baci. These chocolate “kisses” are one of the most famous sweets from Italy and can now be found in stores and supermarkets all over the world. Coming from Perugia, in the region of Umbria, they are made by Perugina, which is the leading chocolate brand in Italy. Made of chocolate and hazelnut, a popular combination of flavours in Italy, and wrapped in metallic blue and silver foil with stars and the logo on them, they are an iconic chocolate. If you have a holiday rental in Perugia and are visiting the area, you can visit their factory, and take a tour, drop into their chocolate museum, and take a chocolate-making class while you're there but, if you have found a vacation rental anywhere in Italy, you'll be able to readily get your hands on these tasty treats. Be sure to treat yourself and to buy some to give to your loved ones!

Chiostro del Bramante, as the name may suggest, is an architectural gem by the Renaissance master, Donato Bramante. The main architect employed by Pope Julius II, and the only one to rival Michelangelo, he was an extremely talented architect. The Chiostro is the cloister of what was originally a monastery complex commissioned by Cardinal Oliviero Carafa around 1500.

Today, the building has a different use, as a cultural centre used for various purposes, but this remarkable central structure remains unchanged despite this. It is still a harmonious space made up of elegant geometric lines and perfect proportions, according to Renaissance ideals, which revived classical Greek and Roman aesthetics. Light, bright, airy, and an oasis of calm, it is free to visit and just steps away from the famous Piazza Navona. If you were considering spending time in the city, be sure to browse our luxury villas in Rome, and then carve out some space in your schedule for a trip to this extraordinary space.

There are lots of lots of beautiful and famous parks and gardens dotted all over Italy from the gardens attached to palaces like the Boboli Gardens and the gardens at Villa Toepliz in Varese, to great botanic gardens like the Hanbury Botanic Gardens attached to Genoa's University, to magical gems like the Giardino di Ninfa, a once abandoned gem in a Medieval ghost town. Amongst amongst these incredible beauties, however, there is one public park and garden that cannot go unmentioned: Rome's lovely Rose Garden. If you love blooms, beautiful settings, and gardening and you have found a luxury villa in Rome, then it truly is a must-see.

Located on the eastern side of the Aventine hill, the gardens date back to 1931 when an American countess named Mary Gayley Senni managed to secure a site near the Colosseum from the city authorities for a municipal rose garden and planted it with around 300 flowers. This original iteration was, sadly, destroyed during WWII but was reborn and given a new home in its current location, the former site of a Jewish graveyard that had been transferred to the cemetery at Campo Verano in 1934.

There are many interesting traditional festivals that take place all over Italy from foodie delights to heart-in-your-mouth horse races, costumed parades to wild parties. However, among them all, there is one that stands out as, perhaps, the most unique, bizarre, interesting and entertaining. This, of course, has to be the Palio della Rana. Taking place in the town of Fermignano in Le Marche, not far from Urbino, this festival features multiple events and celebrations including an annual race that takes place each year on the Sunday following Easter. While the Palio di Siena is one of the most famous horse races in the world, this is probably the most famous frog race in the world. Yes, you read that correctly, it is a frog race and if you want to experience it for yourself, you need only find a vacation rental in Le Marche and plan to be there on time for the big event!

The Palio della Rana festival was born as a result of the town's independence from the rulers of Urbino in the 18th century, warranting major celebrations and new traditions. Among those new traditions that were created at this time, the frog race emerged. It involves representatives from the 7 contrade of Fermignano (Cà L’Agostina, Calpino, La Pieve, La Torre, San Lazzaro, San Silvestro and Santa Barbara), each clad in traditional clothing and wearing different colours, compete for the title of champion. Specialists inspect the frogs before and after the race to ensure there is no foul play and each frog is placed on a wheelbarrow, underneath a basket.

Last April, as the famously beautiful gardens of Florence – amongst them the Boboli Gardens, Iris Garden, Rose Garden and more – came into bloom, a new kid appeared on the block in the form of the temporary Tulip Garden.

Located in the grounds of the Castello dell'Acciaiolo park, the sprawling garden was planted with around 200,000 tulips of 70 different varieties and opened to the public from the beginning of April to the 22nd. Entry cost 3 euro a person and allowed visitors to wander and pick and bring home two tulips, with additional tulips picked counted at the end and charged at a euro a piece and all of the fees going towards the maintenance of the park. Such was the success of last year's edition, that the planting of another garden of tulips of the same scale and kind was announced and begun last Autumn to be opened once more in Spring 2019.