HONG KONG TYCOON PAYS $160,406 FOR ITALIAN TRUFFLE!

A Hong Kong property tycoon and his wife have reportedly paid $160,406 for a huge Italian white truffle, which may be the world's most expensive ever. Last year, a group of bidders in Hong Kong paid 95.000 euros for a 2.7 pound truffle, a purchase later named by Guinness World Records as the most valuable truffle bought at an auction. White truffles, know for their extravagant price tag and strong, garlic-like scent, grow underground near tree roots. They're eaten uncooked or shaved into pasta, salad, omelettes and many other dishes.
Come to Umbria to discover the good taste and flavour of truffles! At La Preghiera we can arrange truffle hunting near Cittá di Castello including tasting different truffles, explanation of their use in Italian cooking and preparation of various dishes, followed by a 7course dinner based on truffles at the Fattoria, returning to La Preghiera afterwards. You can also come at La Preghiera for a Cooking Class, to learn how to cook dishes the white and black truffles!
For more information: info@lapreghiera.com
……we don't guarantee you will find a truffle of this value!!

La Preghiera Luxury Accommodation in Umbria, Italy. Special Offers for next season! info@lapreghiera.com

Merry Christmas from Umbria!!

The staff of La Preghiera, Luxury accommodation in Umbria, wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Hoping to see you at La Preghiera next year, to relax yourself in Umbria, the green heart of Italy…
Cheap flights of Ryanair from Perugia, just 20 minutes on the road.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

UMBRIA JAZZ WINTER

Orvieto - From 28th December to 1st January the fourteenth edition of Umbria Jazz Winter, five days of great Music held in some of the most picturesque settings in one of the most beautiful and historical cities in Umbria. Over the years, the festival in Orvieto is becoming more and more important, thanks to its formula that combines tourism, culture and music, and even the excellent cuisine and wines.

Christmas is a very touching and particular period in Umbria. There are decorated trees, markets, exhibition and holy celebrations all over the region. Religious tradition merges with folklore and every city greets this Christmas time with lights, colour and historic celebrations.
Christmas cribs, Presepi in Italian, are to be found in all of the churches spread throughout the towns and countryside of Umbria. Often these cribs are the result of months of patient work, sometimes they are the cribs of previous years that are presented anew with added features, and in some cases they are connected to the traditions of the local people or to messages of peace.
Many Christmas events will take place and Umbria becomes the right place for tourists who are looking for spiritual atmosphere, monuments, museum and tourist attraction.

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Christmas in Umbria: Gubbio “THE WORLD’S LARGEST CHRISTMAS TREE”

From 7th December to 10th January
Gubbio, PG - The Christmas tree outlined on the slopes of Monte Ingino is lit up every year on 7 December, the evening before the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It is the largest Christmas tree in the world and it has become a symbol of the town of Gubbio.
The “tree” stretches from the last stone houses on the edge of the town up to the Basilica of Sant Ubaldo (Patron Saint of Gubbio), where the star crowning the tree shines until 10 January. Consisting of four hundred meters of lights, the tree both heralds Christmas and makes Gubbio a record holder with a place in the Guiness Book of Records.

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On line shopping: eBay

This year marks the eleventh anniversary of eBay, the world’s biggest auction website. eBay started in san Jose, California and is now worth more than $50 billion. It has more than 150 million members and local sites for more than 20 countries, including US, UK, Australia, Germany and Italy. Every day, members put hundreds of thousands of new and used items on eBay, which other members can then bid for. To sell something on eBay, you must photograph it, write about it and later send it to the buyer. If you don’t want to do all this , you can take it to a store like iSold It. There people will do the work for you for a share of the selling price.
Most people use eBay because think in a department store you will not have the same variety as you can get on eBay. And also for the price, a good price.

On Ebay Italy:

•A bottle of wine is sold every 11 minutes
•A watch is sold every 6 minutes
•A postcard is sold every 3 minutes
•A DVD is sold every 20.5 minutes.
•A fashion item is sold every 45 seconds

Unusual listings

•A fish culture – sold for € 1,615,000 in 2004
•A call center with 76 cubicles – sold for € 500,000 in 2004
•An Ancient copy of Dante’s Divine Commedy – sold for € 75,000 in 2004
•A 1946 Vespa 98 – sold for € 43,550 in 2005

The Weird and the Wonderful

You never know what you’re going to find on eBay. In a few clicks, people can put up anything from a ghost in a jar to their virginity – and they have! Here are some other weird things that people have tried to sell on eBay:

•Britney Spears’ chewed bubble-gum
•The meaning of life
•A UFO detector
•A vampire-killing kit
•A collection of real shrunken heads

Sold

Nobody knows whether anyone has ever bought the above items. But the following items have actually been sold on Ebay:

•An elephant’s ear ($156).
•A vintage wooden yo-yo ($1,645)
•Justin Timberlake’s partially- eaten French toast.
•The oldest known pair of Levi’s jeans.
•Man’s entire life’s possessions
•Gulfstream private business jet (at $4.9 million, the most expensive item ever sold on eBay).
•Grilled cheese sandwich with image of the Virgin Mary
•Woman’s deceased father’s walking cane, ghost included
•Three tablespoons of water from a cup used by Elvis Presley
•Man’s forehead, for advertising space
•The Pope’s Volkswagen Golf

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Airlines

In the paper today was a “league” table of state/national airlines and their attributes, or otherwise.
It was interesting to read that Europe’s “sick-man”, Alitalia has a better record on time-keeping than British Airways, and they also lose much less passenger luggage. They do however lose loads more money.

Still, the good news is that Ryanair is starting, in a couple of weeks, to fly from Stansted to Perugia/Asissi, some 25 minutes down the road.

Perhaps we’ll see you in the New Year.

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