After a struggle at Termini station to pick up our rental cars (all told it took over an hour and a half to get the cars; it was madness at the rental agency), we were soon on the road and headed to towards the town of Umbertide (pronounced UM-BRR-TEA-DAY by the locals) and Casa Giardino, the nearby villa we rented for our family week in the Italian countryside!
We arrived in the late afternoon on Saturday and quickly settled in after the initial welcome. The villa is wonderful with four separate bedrooms (each with ensuite washroom), a large kitchen and dining area, a wonderful outdoor dining area, a pool and a small garden (from which many tomatoes and figs were harvested).Our initial group consisted of Bob and Larry, Sally and Alex, Lisa and Christos and Liam and Jo. As we had just arrived with little time to provision or cook, our first dinner was out at the nearby Agriturismo "Calagrana". Dinner was excellent and thus we opted to book a table for the coming Tuesday night as well.
After breakfast crepes by Christos, Sunday was a day of relaxation and provisioning. Quite a few bottles of wine were taken in to the villa as well as food for the masses! We also added to our group with the arrival of Neil (Lisa's brother and Liam's dad) during the afternoon.
There was much lounging by the pool and eventually Lisa and Christos cooked up a Spanish dish of chicken poached in white wine with olives for dinner; everyone loved it although quite a bit was prepared and thus leftovers were inevitable.
Sunday also saw the arrival of good tidings as Christos received an email from his cousin Hana indicating she was aware that we were in Italy as was she!It turns out Hana was a mere hour or so drive away in Perugia enjoying the jazz festival, staying with friends and promoting her film.
Of course with family so proximal we could not but help planning a rendezvous and we arranged to pick Hana up on Tuesday afternoon in Umbertide!
Monday was a day for touring with the destination being Gubbio, less than an hour away.
We piled into three cars and arrived a little before noon. It quickly became apparent that members of our nine strong group toured at different speeds and with differing goals in mind. So after some time touring together it was decided after lunch that we should split into smaller groups.
For Christos, the highlight was the Iguvine Tablets while others enjoyed the wonderful Palazzo dei Consoli which is now a museum and houses the Iguvine Tablets as well as other wonders.
We also met the local (quasi) feral cat on Monday who came by lookign for whatever food she could get. We named her "Honey" and fed her well over the next few days. Lisa was concerned about her weepy eye and even snuck antibiotics into some of her food! Honey seemed quite content to hang out at our place on occasion over the next week.
Gubbio is also famous for its association with St. Francis, said to have lived in or near Gubbio in the 1220s, and his taming of a ferocious wolf that lurked nearby.
After several hours of touring it was time to head back to the villa for lounging and dinner which was a big chicken salad prepared by Jo and Christos.Tuesday was a down temp day with lounging by the pool and much chit chat.
Lisa and Christos picked up Hana in the early afternoon in Umbertide and after a brief tour of the town made it back to the villa for introductions, drinks by the pool, chit chat etc until it was time to freshen up and head off for dinner, once again at Calagrana.
The dinner was excellent and we were a boisterous bunch (although another large table nearby was even more boisterous) ... eventually we made it back to the villa where we stayed up until the wee hours discussing family and such.
Wednesday started very early for Neil who drove Jo back to Perugia in the early hours so she could begin her travels back and it was also market day in Umbertide so off went Lisa, Christos and Alex a little bit later to provision for the next few days. Kathy and Larry headed off for an afternoon tour of parts unknown, perhaps Cortona, as was now their day trip modus operandi.The farmer's market was wonderful with amazing fruits and vegetables as well as wonderful deli meats like guanciale. We loaded up on all sorts of goodies, had some coffee and headed back to the villa for afternoon lounging. Neil acted as chauffeur again, driving Hana to Perugia in the late afternoon!
Baba made dinner but due to a chef error he had bought cured sausages rather than raw ones for the peppers, pappardelle and sausage he wanted to create. Dinner was a bit rough but edible!
Thursday was another day of touring, this time it being lovely Assisi that we chose to visit. Our group of eight (with Jo and Hana having left on Wednesday) split up early on into smaller groups and spent a full day visiting the town's monuments.
Lisa and Christos visited a few art installations as well, including a fascinating one that had been looking at the US spy "blimps" in Afghanistan, before finding the gallery of the artist of Massimo Cruciani. We could not resist and purchased two of his smaller pieces.Baba managed to redeem himself on Thursday, making an amatriciana sauce which was much better than the previous night's debacle!
Friday was another casual day with Neil and Liam departing in the mid afternoon for Rome. The six of us dined at "Ristorante Simone Corsetti ai Girasoli di Sant'Andrea". Almost everyone loved it but Lisa seemed to have a bad reaction to the amuse-bouche flan! The Florentine steak was huge (and a wee bit rare) so much of it ended up coming with us the next day when our week in Umbria was done, as did other goodies such as the delicious melon from the local farmer, left over tuna and some fruit (sadly there was no wine leftover!).
Saturday morning the owner arrived and we exchanged pleasantries before gulping down the last of the coffee and heading off to the next chapter of our Italian caper! First we dropped Alex and Sally off in Arezzo before crossing the border into the Tuscany!
No comments:
Post a Comment