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After four months away from home I felt all the excitement of Christmas morning the day I woke knowing I would be seeing mum and dad that afternoon. It was an early start from Terni - we arrived at the train station at 7:30am after being driven there by the kind owner of the apartment we'd stayed in. Four hours on a train through the Umbrian and Tuscan countryside and we arrived at Florence train station. Then the fun really started...with our first experience of Italian car hire!
The car hire office was only a short walk from the train station but when we arrived there was a lengthy queue up to the counter and groups of waiting customers standing with suitcases on the pavement. Two Italian men, one fat and one skinny, were sauntering in and out of the office, moving cars, driving off and returning with different cars and now and again stopping to have animated conversations with each other. In short, it was chaotic. Dale joined the line inside, while I minded the bags outside and hoped desperately that the cream coloured fiat, small enough to drive through a doorway, wasn't ours (thankfully it wasn't!)
Nearly an hour later Dale returned with the car key to a white peugot which was big enough to hold the two of us, as well as my parents and four suitcases. By now we had only 10 minutes before mum and dad's flight landed in Florence airport and we still had to get out of the central city. Even with the help of google maps we got hopelessly lost, driving in circles, taking wrong exits and screaming with frustration. We were tooted at, cut off, and nearly driven into but somehow made it to the airport in one piece and only half an hour late!
Mum and dad were glad to see us and at last the Umbrian adventure could begin - with a two hour drive south to an Italian villa near the village of Montone! Now that we were out of the maze of downtown Florence, navigation went more smoothly. We made it onto the correct highway and were soon zooming along the Autostrada. At one stage of our journey we pulled into a roadside cafe next to a petrol station for a belated lunch. The man that served us turned out to be a Russian who spoke excellent English and made us coffee and salami sandwiches! It was amazing to experience such great food and coffee at a roadside pit stop. Being Italy, the shop also sold pasta and wine (although after dad sampled a 1 euro glass of wine we weren't tempted to buy any more!)
An hour and a few wrong turns later, we pulled into the driveway of Caicresce, our home for the next week. Family friends Rosie and Selwyn were already there and busily unpacking groceries from their tiny rental car. Usually based in Dubai, Rosie and Sel had arranged to join us for a week in Umbria. It was great to see them and they enthusiastically led the way inside. The first thing that struck us about the villa, even before we stepped inside, were the stunning views over the green and gold Unbrian countryside. The house is positioned high on a ridge with views down a valley towards distant ranges of hills. The house itself is a renovated farmhouse, and part of the building used to be a tower for drying tobacco (one of the main crops grown in the area). There was plenty of room inside, with four bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs, each with ensuite. Dale and I took the downstairs bedroom, while the 'grown ups' settled themselves into the double rooms upstairs with the best views.
Rosie cooked up an Italian feast for our first night in the villa - insalata caprese, followed by stuffed chicken wrapped in Parma ham with salad and roast potatoes. Accompanying the food were several bottles of Italian wine (and one bottle of French champagne), each of which were judged a success despite the relative cheapness of the wine compared to an equivalent wine back home.
Our first whole day at the villa was a lesson in relaxation. The sun shone, we breakfasted outdoors, and Rosie and Dale even went swimming! Sitting outside looking down the valley at the beautiful Umbrian vista, I had to pinch myself to really believe that we had a whole week here to look forward to! In the evening we drove down our hill, across the valley floor, and up the neighbouring hill to the town of Montone where Rosie had booked us dinner at a Michelin star restaurant. Walking from the carpark into the picture postcard streets of Montone with its stone walls dripping with geraniums, terracotta roofs, and softly glowing lanterns was magical! The restaurant itself was lit up prettily and had old fashioned music wafting out the doors. We were seated at a white table clothed table with a red rose in a glass vase in the middle. The waiter (who spoke surprisingly good English) took our orders and soon our starters were laid out before us. My scallops with mozzarella, crispy pancetta and pea purée could be the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. The rest of the table had ordered pastas - duck ravioli or a truffle tagliatelle. Good, but not as exceptional as my dish! The real highlight of the evening was dessert - the deconstructed tiramisu was amazing!!! Our Italian food experience was off to a good start!
The food contiki continued in Sansepolcro where we found a renaissance style restaurant where the beautiful owner, Alessandra, brought us plates of fresh baked bread, homemade pastas and crisp, fruity white wine to start, followed by authentic Italian mains - veal cooked two ways, pork loin with figs, and duck with orange. Zucchini souflee, roast potatoes with fennel and green beans accompanied our meals, then just when we thought we couldn't eat another bite, Alessandra brought the dessert trolley around! The gorgeous dining room, the soundtrack (Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong) and the wonderful service added to what was an unforgettable Italian lunch experience!
Dale and I spent a whole day relaxing at the Umbrian villa while the 'grown ups' went to a small town called Deruta which specialises in hand painted ceramics. It was lovely sitting at the outdoor table next to the hedge of lavender, looking over the tranquil countryside. When the wind got up we headed inside to make the most of the DVD collection. By the time mum and dad, Rosie and Selwyn, returned home, we were thoroughly rested!
Having had a glimpse of the designer shops in Sansepolcro, the girls were quite keen on a return excursion. We left the boys lounging about the villa with their books and with Rosie at the wheel we set off once again for Sansepolcro. We knew we would have about an hour and a half before all the shops closed for siesta, so we got straight down to business. We found a very reasonably priced men's clothing store where Rosie and Mum found plenty of potential Christmas gifts for the men in our families. Sadly that was the only reasonably priced store we encountered! As we walked around shops selling Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, and Valentino we realised we were out of our league! At one place I admired a lightweight cotton scarf - it was Burberry and cost 400 euros!!
It was a similar story in Umbertide, another small Umbrian town we visited which seemed to have a disproportionate number of shops selling designer labels. We did find a shoe shop, however, called Pucci which had a selection of shoes ranging from sleek Gucci flats, to cheap unknown brands. The women running the store was a little old woman who looked about 80. She didn't speak English, so it was with a mixture of sign language and writing down numbers that mum and I managed to try on some of the shoes. With surprising agility the old woman clambered up and down a corkscrew staircase to the store cupboard, fetching us different sizes and styles. Despite our obvious ignorance of Italian she chattered away merrily to us - every now and again we would understand a word or two. It was almost inevitable that we would find something to buy, and much as I love the shoes I bought, it will be the memory of the sweet little old woman in her tiny Italian shoe shop which lasts longest.
Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the week was meeting Josh the groundskeeper. From Melbourne originally, he has been living in Italy for 9 years and 'our' villa is one of the properties he and his partner Virginia manage for owners who live abroad. With rugged good looks and a twinkle in his bright blue eyes, Josh had the three ladies of our group swooning every time he flashed a smile! Rosie invited Josh and his fellow gardener, a dark curly haired Italian, to come up to the house for coffee (with the ulterior motive of picking Josh's brains for restaurant and shopping recommendations). This put the pressure on Selwyn to produce two espressos good enough to present to locals!! By the time affable Josh and his silent companion had downed their coffee, we were smitten and wondering whether we could invite Josh back for dinner!
One of Josh's recommendations was a restaurant near Monterchi, 'La Pieve Vecchia', so we decided to check this out for our next long Italian lunch. It was just over the Tuscan border surrounded by fields of leafy tobacco plants. Inside the stone building it smelt delicious and tables of happy Italians were already tucking into platters of crostini and bread with olive oil. Our waitress was a cheerful Polish girl who joked that she didn't drink Italian wine, only vodka. The menu of the day gave a choice of pasta, plus a main and a side dish, all for 12 euro. I ordered risotto with porcini mushrooms and radicchio, followed by chicken with a rocket, pear and walnut salad. When the risotto arrived I wished I hadn't ordered a main - it was huge! With great restraint I ate only half of it (it was delicious!) But the others all managed to finish their plates of homemade tagliatelle with tomato sauce and sat ready for main courses. Rosie and Selwyn had ordered plate sized t-bone steaks, while Dale had veal escalope and dad had a thicker cut of veal with shaved truffle and mushrooms. It was a feast! By the end of the meal we all swore that this would be our last decadent lunch - yeah right! In need of a walk, we headed up to a neighbouring hilltop village and spent a happy half hour strolling about the gorgeous winding streets and gasping at the incredible views over the countryside below.
For our final day in Umbria, Dale and I drove to Umbertide with mum and dad for coffee in the square, while Rosie and Selwyn set off on a shopping excursion back to Sansepolcro. We all met up back at the villa for a final lunch under the pergola and a restful afternoon, with a bit of packing thrown in. Our plan was to avoid cooking dinner by picking up pizza from nearby Montone. However, when dad, Dale and I arrived at the pizza place on the outskirts of Montone, it was inexplicably closed! Walking further up the hill, through the city walls, and on towards the centre of town, we encountered old Italian men sitting on a bench in the square, brightly lit cafes with a few tables occupied by people drinking wine, a gelato shop with a couple of interested children looking through the door, but not a pizzeria anywhere! Knowing that mum, Rosie and Selwyn were counting on us to bring back pizza, we returned to the car and began to make our way to Umbertide, where dad had seen a pizzeria earlier that day. On the way, we passed a hotel which had pizza on the menu, but when we made enquiries about whether we could buy takeaway pizzas, the manager explained that their restaurant only opened at 8pm - it was 7:30pm.
We continued on our pizza mission, eventually ending up at a hole in the wall pizzeria in Umbertide run by a pizza maker from Napoli. In broken Italian we ordered four pizzas and then went for a walk around the illuminated old town centre. The city walls, towers and main church were beautifully lit up, the air was balmy, and a full moon glimmered above us - it was magical! Like Montone, the town square was busy with activity - outdoor tables and chairs seating chattering locals, children running about, and the occasional cyclist peddling through. The shops were only just beginning to shut as we went to collect our pizzas and I spotted the elderly woman from the shoe shop locking up. She recognised me from my earlier shoe purchase and we exchanged greetings - I felt like a local!
The pizzas were worth the effort and received a very warm welcome by the trio we'd left at the villa while we foraged. Thin crispy bases with rich tomato sauce, sparse toppings, and mozzarella. It was a classic Italian finale to our blissful Umbrian sojourn.
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