Italy- Week 2

Friday: Friday begins our week of group travel in Umbria, meeting up with Phil & Paula and Toni and Ralph. Scott and I met P & P at the Orvieto train station, so we could get our rental car for the week. Rental car finally secured (a small feat in itself), we were on our way to find Locanda Rosati, the agriturismo that would be our home for the next 7 nights. First impressions of Umbria: green. so green and lush, vineyards and olive trees lining every road. Locanda Rosati was lovely; the farmhouse has been in the family for many years and Giampero began operating it as a agriturismo in 1995. It was an organic farm with a majority of the food coming from the farm itself. Giampero had about 17 acres of olives trees, and the largest parcel was an orchard across the street. There were pears, figs, peaches, and hazelnuts being the main crops.

Saturday: Unfortunately, we were only 5 today as Phil came down with a wicked cold, leaving him bed ridden for the day. We headed out to Orvieto, walking the market and wandering the city. The markets in Italy are quite fascinating and practical. You generally have the usual produce, butcher, and cheese vendors as well as clothing, household and drugstore goods. The markets are once a week, and they are really one-stop shopping. It's a little off putting to think about choosing lingerie in the middle of the town square, but really if you think about it, it's not that much different than shopping in a store. The cathedral in Orvieto is quite beautiful, with it's black and white striped sides.

Sunday: A couple of hill towns on the agenda today, Assisi and Spello topping the list. Assisi was beautiful, the church of St Francis looming at one end. There was a peace parade going on today, one

that's been happening for 50 years. There were close to 100,000 people marching for peace- in any form you chose to march for. Quite remarkable to have so many people participating, but more remarkable that this march has been happening annually for 50 years. Our next town was Spello, and it could have possibly been my favorite. So clean, so quaint and

charming, and so steep the town was! We were on a mission to get lunch before the restaurant closed, and Phil had a particular one in mind. Racing against the clock, we speed walked straight up hill for what felt like a few kilometers-only to find the restaurant closed! A quick adjustment and we were at a nearby spot with an amazing deck looking down from the town. Lush and beautiful, and so quiet. This could be a place I could come and stay for a week, I think. We had a lovely lunch and the rains began, so unfortunately, our time here was brief. The ride home was treacherous- hail and unbelievably hard rains made the drive on the small roads both a challenge and nerve wrecking. Paula was a champ, and got us home safely, where not a drop had fallen. Scott and I had planned on dinner in tonight, and it was just as delicious as the first meal. Assorted bruschetta to begin (radicchio & smoked mozzarella, tomato & basil, and eggplant), pasta with truffles, and fried chicken & rabbit pieces with frites. As soon as the platter of fried came out, I knew Phil was going to be mad they didn't opt in for dinner-fried chicken and fries topping his list of favorite foods!

Monday: We had our cooking class on site this evening, so decided to keep our exploring closer to

home today. We went to Civita, one of the oldest Estruscan towns, about 25 minutes from our place. Unbelievably beautiful; at every turn the views were more beautiful than the last one. Civita has been mostly devoid of residents in the recent past, but people are beginning to move back. Maria is the oldest living resident in Civita, and you could walk her garden and take in the views- which we did. That evening, we had our cooking class with Paolo and Gupal back at the farmhouse. We were watching them prepare the dinner for the evening; it was somewhat frenetic tutorial as Paolo spoke no english and Gupal's english was good, but not great. It was fun to be in the kitchen, getting acquainted with the process of cooking dinner for the guests, drinking wine and frantically taking notes for the recipes. Dinner that evening was a herbed frittata in red sauce, eggplant and tomato pasta, braised beef with a fennel gratin, and a pear chocolate cake. Yum, indeed!

Tuesday: Since Phil was unable to join us for Orvieto, we headed back into the town today to do the

underground city tour. There are 1,200 or more underground 'caves' throughout the city, underneath private homes and we were going to tour two of the public ones. It was fairly interesting and I'm glad we did the tour, but frankly, the Seattle Underground tour is more interesting. We headed out to the Umbrian hills for a little Orvieto wine tasting at Custodi. Two beautiful sisters run this family winery, where they are producing mostly white wine, a little red, and olive oil. The wine was good; we all decided we have a very Washington wine centric palate- but I did enjoy almost all of the wine I had in Italy. Headed back to the farmhouse and each brought wine down for a happy hour- which lasted for many hours.. There was lots of wine drinking, cheese eating, laughing and silliness.

Wednesday: Everyone was ready for a more mellow day today, and I chose to stay at the farmhouse. The sun was shining and it was so lovely to be pool side with my ipod playing and reading for hours, blissfully alone. I wandered up the street when I got hungry and had a nice lunch al fresco then came back to my same spot at the pool and continued to read. Since it was our last evening all together we had one last dinner at the farmhouse.

Thursday: The there were 4.. our day was spent in Tuscany today, with stops in Pienza, Montepulciano and Montalcino. Driving through Tuscany was picturesque- like most of the trip has been. The fields had been cleared of the wheat and sunflowers, so they were bare and shades of beige. The hills were dotted with vineyards and olive trees, giving a beautiful contrast to the deep color of the barren earth. Old farmhouses sat stoically on the hills, and the cypress trees lined the roads leading the way to their entrances. Montalcino is home to Brunello di Montalcino, one of the more highly regarded red wines in Italy. We did a small tasting at a local wine shop- the wines were delicious and there were definitely a few I would bring home but I was afraid to bring any more glass in my bag. We had a lovely lunch in a small cafe overlooking the valley below, drinking glasses of pink bubbly. Pienza is the home of pecorino; the air was full of the aroma of this cheese, and the wheels of pecorino

lined many shop walls. We bought a small wheel (for 6e- a steal!), to eat that evening, and take home to enjoy. Our last stop was Montelpulciano- yet another beautiful hill town rich with Etruscan history and wine. Had a nice wine tasting in a local shop, and a not so delicious wine tasting at another (we didn't stay to taste through all of the wines- that rarely happens). We would have loved to stay for dinner, but it was early yet and most restaurants don't open for dinner until 7 or 7:30. Since we were a good hour plus back to the farmhouse, we headed back to Umbria to share one last meal and bottle of wine together.

Friday morning came, and I bid farewell to Scott, Phil and Paula. They were heading home on

Saturday, and I was boarding the train to Lucca to begin my final week of travel, and my first experience of traveling in a foreign country alone.

onto the week of solo travel....