The Largest Christmas Tree in The World

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Do you know where the largest Christmas tree in the world is? In Gubbio, a precious little town in Umbria.

This wonderful installation is lit up on December 7 every year, since December 1980, and is turned off during the night of January 10 of the following year.
With each passing year the popularity of the event has boomed and reached an increasing resonance, so much that the lighting up ceremony has been carried out with an ever growing presence of people and by celebrities of greater fame at every edition. The upcoming edition of the Christmas tree in Gubbio will be lit up by the Pope in Rome!

Benedict XVI will use a tablet PC in Vatican City that through an Internet connection will command the switch in Gubbio. The 2011 largest Christmas tree in the world will be lit up at 6,30pm and you will be able to follow the ceremony on RAI 1 (if you have satellite television) or see the images on the webcam of the official event's website.

But, wait a minute, who says this is the largest Christmas tree in the world? Well, in 1991 the World Guinness Record committee assigned the title to the installation, making official what the simple people of Gubbio had been saying for many years.

Some cool numbers:
1981 the first installation
1000 sqm is the shooting star's surface
200 lights trace the shooting star
260 lights trace the shape of the Christmas tree.
270 multicolor lights are set inside the tree
8,500 meters of electric cables
650 meters is the height of the tree
350 meters its base width
1350 the number of plugs
1,900 work hours to build the Christmas tree
35 Kilowatt necessary to light up the tree

If you decide to spend your Christmas in Umbria, make sure to include Gubbio in your itinerary. It is one of the most delicious towns in Italy, one that will make you fall in love with the region. Plus, it will give you the chance of a unique event and a spectacle of rare beauty to keep in your heart.
Come to see the largest Christmas tree in the world.

So long for now! To the next time I find something interesting to share about Umbria.

Umbria Villas with Pool

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At this time of the year, when you speak about holidays, most people think about spending quality time with their family during Christmas or staying a week or two in their favorite ski resort. Summer still seems very far away and preparing the next summer holiday doesn’t seem to have a high priority.

Do not make the mistake to wait until 2012 if you are planning to spend your next summer holiday in Umbria. High season in Umbria runs from June to September, the hottest months of the year, and finding accommodation during those months can be a difficult challenge if you are waiting for too long.

This is especially true if you decide to rent a villa instead of going to a crowded hotel.

Renting a villa in tuscany will require a little bit more planning as some of the most exclusive places are already booked a year in advance. But the effort is worth your time as you will enjoy multiple advantages.

You will get more space for yourself and your family. Depending on your needs, you can find small villas of 1 or 2 bedrooms or go for a luxury villa that can welcome up to 58 guests!
You will live an incredible local experience. Renting a villa is the best way to mingle with local people and share their life. You will be able to discover their habits, to hear insiders tips and get the chance to live the real Umbrian life.
You will get privacy. You will be able to use your own amenities, no sharing, no queuing!
You will be totally independent. You will not have to schedule your day taking into consideration breakfast or lunch hours and you will not have to renounce at your favorite food because it is not on the menu!

Umbria has an incredible offer of villas available for rent and you will with no doubt find the villa that fits your needs. You could for instance decide to rent a 17th century home in Perugia, a typical Umbrian farmhouse in Todi, a beautiful family house in Assisi, a secluded villa in the Umbria mountain or a restored medieval house in Spello.

A Umbria villa with pool is definitely the best choice for you if you want to relax and have your family around you.

So, do not waste time and plan your Umbria summer holiday now and make sure your family gets an once in a lifetime experience!

Eurochocolate 2011

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Eurochocolate 2011, nine days of brown craziness ending on October 23, was marked by gluttony but also by trails and cultural initiatives to allow visitors to get the most of Perugia, the Umbrian capital.

Perugia hosted the 18th edition of Eurochocolate, more at http://www.eurochocolate.com. It was a wonderful opportunity to savor the succulent productions of master craftsmen that from a simple cocoa bean are able to create new products, always very tasty. But it was also a good opportunity for a visit to the city!
Let's start from chocolate. It was an event including many events, such as workshops for children to teach them to eat chocolate intelligently, while adult audiences will be shown some sweet ideas to create chocolate cakes and other sweets for any occasion.

Nestle chocolate sculptures were on display in Corso Vannucci on Sunday October 16th from 10 am to 6 pm. A very important health initiative was the diabetes control campaign aiming at giving out the correct information to promote the prevention of diabetes. One of the main partners and sponsors of Eurochocolate was Kodak, which made available a large frame made with more than 800 kilos of chocolate from October 14 to the 24, which also was the icon of Eurochocolate 2011.

But you can also discover Perugia independently walking along the Via Regale, which connects the Cathedral of San Lorenzo the the old Perugia Cathedral, the Basilica of St. Peter in the Benedictine Abbey. You can also choose to spend an entire day in the Abbey to live an exciting experience through the ages from medieval times to today. Or immerse yourself in the discovery of the treasures of the city: the masterpieces of Perugino, the divine painter. Starting from the Cathedral passing through the National Gallery of Umbria, you can retrace the steps of the career of the great painter, and then admire the masterpiece of his frescoes in the Collegio del Cambio. All this and much more is Perugia, a beautiful town of Etruscan origin.