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Kylie Bearse, a Spring 2011 Umbra Institute Alumna, just began working for the Local News 8 team in Boulder, Colorado. During her time in Perugia, Kylie took advantage of Umbra’s internship program to work closely with the International Journalism Festival, which invites world-renowned journalists to come to the Umbrian city to give talks and workshop and is regularly attended by such names as Al Gore, Julian Assange, and Walter Vetroni (Italian politician and ex-mayor of Rome).

Kylie said that “a love and passion for traveling and experiencing other cultures propelled her to spend her last semester abroad in Perugia, Italy studying Italian, the Italian Media system and eating as much delicious Italian food as possible.” We knew she was destined for big things and couldn’t be happier — best of luck, Kylie!

You can also read the original Local News 8 team article!

It’s hard to say what the best part of the art show was: the freshly-painted frescos; the pastel exposition; the photo gallery; or the dance movie, put together by Springfield College’s Cynthia Nazzaro and her Renaissance Dance class. The culmination of the art students’ work was put on display on Monday at the Umbra Institute’s Via dei Priori building, with the frescos painted by the students nicely matching the ones that still adorn some walls there.

Although Umbra puts on an art show to showcase the courses’ accomplishments at the end of each semester, this was certainly one of the most successful and abundant in terms of work displayed, particularly considering the Renaissance Dance movie that was shot, edited, and presented.

Complimenti a tutti!

In the 1300s an association of doctors set up a dorm in Perugia for orphans. 700 years later the dorm is still there, and the residents decided they wanted a rematch. Two months ago an Umbra Institute soccer team defeated the dorm’s team in soccer, the Italian national sport. Last week it was basketball.

Unfortunately, Umbra’s dream team was unable to bring home the gold. In a cross-over game organized by Umbra Director for Community Affairs Francesco Gardenghi, the Italians beat their American guests 47-43. Everyone noted with irony the reversal of games, and a good time was had by all.

It was finally time for Professor Zach Nowak’s now-legendary pizza workshop. He accompanied students to Pizza e musica, where he gave them a quick history of pizza in Italy, beginning with Queen Margherita. Felice, a true neopolitan pizzaiolo, then showed them the basics of pizza making and even had them try their own hand at it. Who knew that once a pizza is in the wood oven – which, by the way, takes hours to get up to temperature – that it has to be quickly rotated in order to cook it evenly? How do these master pizzaioli manage to put five pizzas in at different times and still manage to have them all come out together, cooked perfectly? The answer: practice.

Of course, at the end of the demonstration and workshop, all the students were treated to their own fresh, wood oven-cooked pizza. Tasty!

Aperitivo ImageWhat do the ancient Egyptians, eighteenth-century Italians, and students at the Umbra Institute have in common? They all think that “Appetite comes while eating” (L’appetito viene mangiando). Yesterday Umbra food history professor Zachary Nowak took a group of students to a local café, where he explained the age-old social outing that the Italians call aperitivo. One goes to a café at 7 or 8 in the evening, orders a small drink, and gets a buffet included in the price. Nowak explained both the typical drinks (the Spritz, made with prosecco and neon-red Aperol Bitter, as well as the Campari Orange) as well as the social geography of the aperitivo. Italians tend to use it as a way to go out with friends without having to make dinner or be out late, and students take advantage of being able to pay for a drink but eat as well. The next Umbra Food Workshop is next Monday: Pizza-Making!

History/Food Studies professor Zachary Nowak and Professor Elgin Eckert delivered papers.

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Quando si parla dell’Italia non si può che non parlare di cibo e sapori, e questo è anche l’argomento preferito da noi italiani.
Mmmm, squisita!!! É l’unico aggettivo che posso usare per descrivere la seconda cena per il gruppo di Italiano Intensivo presso il ristorante “La piazzetta” in via deliziosa.

Risulta difficile pensare di descrivere una cena così buona quando sei così concentrato sui sapori e sugli odori di piatti così semplici e pure così eccezionali quando preparati da mani esperte.La filosofia di questa serie di “cene a lume di candela”, è di offrire un esperienza di una cena molto elegante in tutto stile italiano con l’accostamento ben indovinato di 4 vini, uno per ogni piatto.

Ecco di seguito il menu di abbinamenti:
Per iniziare, un antipasto composto da piccoli pezzi di sedano perfettamente sposati con del morbido speck esaltato da alcune spezie aromatiche, il tutto adagiato in una foglia di radicchio, degustando un magnifico Grechetto Chardonnay non troppo leggero per bilanciare l’intensità dei sapori dell’antipasto.
Siamo passati dopo una piccola attesa meditativa al primo piatto, dei classici fusilli conditi con una salsa alla norcina tipica della zona di Norcia (famosa appunto per i suoi salumi e salsicce); in abbinamento a questo piatto un delicato Montepulciano d’abruzzo Cerasuolo, con il suo caratteristico colore rosso ciliegia, da cui prende il nome, ed un gusto asciutto ed armonico.
Come secondo, delle delicate fettine di sella di maiale arrosto, ricoperto da una salsina alla spoletina in perfetto abbinamento con un rosso di Montefalco, un vino tipico umbro composto da diversi tipi di uva come il Sagrantino, il Sangiovese, il Merlot e il Cabernet Sauvignon.
Per concludere la magnifica cena durata più di tre ore, un semifreddo di ricotta e amaretti con un vino siciliano, lo Zibibbo ottenuto da uve passite, un vino da dessert aromatico con retrogusto mandorlato tipico.
Se vi ritrovaste affamati dopo aver letto questo articolo vi suggerisco di soddisfare il vostro gusto in uno dei tanti luoghi del bere e del mangiare.

Another Intensive Italian event described above! This time students were treated to a “candlelight dinner” complete with four courses and four different wines (Grechetto chardonnay, Montepulciano d’abruzzo Cerasuolo, Montfalco and a Zibibbo) complete with an explanation of which wines compliment which courses and why. Besides the incredible food, the best part of the night was that is was absolutely prohibited to speak English for the entire meal! There is one more “candlelight dinner” next week for the students in the Intensive Italian Program.


From June 2nd until the 5th, there will be full days of activities surrounding the theme of architecture and the relationship between planning and politics. There will be exhibitions in the street, at Teatro Pavone, in multiple rooms of the Palazzo dei Priori, and in the Palazzo della Penna off of Corso Cavour. More information about FESTARCH can be found on Abitare Magazine’s website, including when and where the individual events can be found. This is also a very international festival, with events being held in both Italian and English!