Category Archives: Sunsets

Fun visit !

Our friends couldn’t have asked for nicer weather. Autumn in Umbria is spectacular in an entirely different way from the brilliant greens of springtime.

The visit was with two friends. Eunice, one of my besties from my Book Group, and her husband Mark. Eunice was unable to come with the initial group of Book Group friends a few years ago. We had to make that right! So we experienced it again, with some new adventures thrown in so she has some experiences unique to her.

Our first outing was to Todi, one of my favorite towns in Umbria. Very high on a hill, it is fairly large and completely medieval. The heart of town is the Piazza del Popolo and here you find many gorgeous buildings to include the People’s Palace and the Captain’s Palace. The latter houses the Civic Museum and Gallery. We also found, for the first time, the funicular from a nice parking lot up to the top of town. It eliminates any arduous hill climbing.

Interesting door knob on our walk from the funicular to the Piazza.

One of the prettiest buildings and one of the only green areas is San Fortunato. Built originally by the Romans and converted to a church in the 1100s.

Also in the Piazza is the Todi Cathedral which features a rose window.

The  Captain’s Palace. Very Venetian looking I think.

We had a nice lunch in one of our favorite restaurants, Ristorante Umbria.

The view from the walls which was also enjoyed by our restaurant.

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Next up, a visit to Tom and Maximus. This will take a little explaining. Mark and Eunice are big Bernese Mountain dog fans. They have had several over the time I’ve known them. Their latest is Quinn who is 3 years old. When they heard Tom and Carol had a puppy named Max they wanted to meet him. So I asked Tom if we could come up. Well he’s a fine fellow and decided on a BBQ lunch for us all. It was a beautiful, clear day and we drove high up into the mountains to his house. Unfortunately Carol was in the UK because her father was ill so our friend , Joanne, who is Tom’s neighbor came up to join us.

We sat outside where it was breezy and much cooler than I had expected. I brought my World Famous Ribs for our contribution. Tom must have spent hours preparing all the food we had. We had an excellent time and the time flew. When I looked at my watch it was 6PM!! That’s what happens with a lunch here in Umbria with friends. Thanks Tom!

Pretty planter at Tom’s house.

Basil makes a nice arrangement on the set-up table.

The table and view.

The dessert was spectacular. And not too heavy.

Maximus (7 months old) was quite shy and took a long time to warm up to us. Everyone took time sitting on the floor with him. When we rose to leave he suddenly became very friendly! Funny pup. He also likes men more than women.

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Our last real outing was to a vineyard in Bevagna, a small town in the wine growing area of the famous Sagrantino grape. It was another spectacular day. The winery Luther chose was Villa Mongalli. We had visited it 2 times before. A family operation consisting of the semi-retired father, two brothers, and their wives and small children. The last visits we had were with one of the brothers, Pierrepaolo. This time his wife, Natasha, conducted the tasting. We tasted a spectacular Rosato, a white Grechetto, a Rosso, two Sagrantini reds and one more, super smooth Montefalco Rosso. We, of course, bought several cases, and Eunice bought one for her planned soiree on the terrace of their rented house.

Sagrantino di Montefalco

Array of our bottles in the sun.

The vines are loaded. This is Sagrantino. They said it won’t be ready to harvest until late October.

We tasted a couple of theses. They are unbelievably sweet!

View across the acreage with grapes and olive groves. Pretty patchwork. I think Bavagna and Montefalco hills are the prettiest scenery in Umbria.

Natasha sent us up the road about a kilometer to a church with picnic tables. It was a lovely place. Way up high with excellent views. And the temperature was perfect!

Our picnic tavola. Prosciutto cotto and crudo, a nice pecorino and two flat breads. We drank a bottle of the Villa Mongalli Rosato. Prefect way to have lunch and not over eat too much.

Eunice and Luther.

View from the table of the medieval town of Bevagna. One of my favorites.

We drove on down to Bevagna after our lunch and strolled the town. Pretty streets.

I loved the sparkling sun on the fountain water.

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After a two day break we joined up on their last night in Umbria at their rented house. We had a nice evening snack table outside on the spectacular terrace. It has perfect sundowners view as my British friends would say.

We really enjoyed Eunice and Mark’s visit in Umbria. It is always fun to show people around and it got us out of the house and into the beauty of our region!

Odds and Ends

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Greetings from Umbertide!

So August is upon us. The time of year when one cannot accomplish anything because everyone is on vacation. So we have enforced down-time which I guess isn’t so bad. It has been, still is, and will be for the foreseeable future very HOT. Staying inside with all the shutters closed. Drinking cool drinks…speaking of that! August 1 is the day everyone has to have a glass of white wine to keep the snakes away…unless the person who told me that was just pulling my leg! I’ll have a glass of wine anyway!

So I’m just catching up on things now that I’m home and idle. A couple of weeks ago we had a magnificent display of flag throwing. The flag throwers were from a small town called San Gemini in southern Umbria. I took a ton of pictures. Here is one.

And about a month ago we had the opportunity to go on a tour of Civitella Ranieri. This is the castle, built in the 1400s, which is on a hill above our town. It is leased by a foundation based in NYC named the Civitella Ranieri Foundation. It is an artist residency program that hosts Fellows and Director’s Guests at our castle. But on this occasion they were opening the castle to guided tours. It is a magnificent building. Here are a few photos.

Entrance.

Ranieri family tree. The family still owns the castle!

Can you see what this sculpture is. Answer at the bottom…***

Fireplace

Grounds

Lady thought her Chihuahua would enjoy the tour. I’m thinking Not so much.

House for sale
And finally, our friends Joseph and Paul, who live just across the Piazza from us have decided to put their wonderful apartment on the market. It is definitely a one of a kind property in the heart of Umbertide. Totally renovated and beautiful from stem to stern. But I will let the websites which show this apartment speak for themselves. By the way, some of you may remember this one from the House Hunters International a few years ago.
https://viadeicolli.com/en/property/clocktower-penthouse/

And another…
https://www.greatestate.it/en/luxury-apartment-for-sale-in-umbria-perugia-umbertide-4223.html

I know many of my loyal followers are interested in someday coming to live here in Italy. And they also may have friends they can pass this along to. So I am showing these listings from my friends as a favor to them. And BONUS! they are offering $1,000 to anyone who finds a buyer that closes.
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***a mama bunny and her babies!

Lemon harvest!

My little lemon tree had 12 lemons on it! I am amazed at the output of these little trees. They flower and fruit all year. Already we have many new flowers and baby lemons. So I harvested ten of the pretty lemons and decided to make preserved lemons with them. Then I can make some Moroccan food this fall. They have to sit for at least three months.

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preserving

Bellissimo view with our new Tende di Sole open.
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Table set for dinner all’aperto. Nice. Did you know Al Fresco doesn’t mean eating outside in Italian? It means spending time in jail!
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American guest

I know I have been quiet but we have had some company. His name is Gene and he stayed for about a week. We went to Assisi, Perugia, wine tasting and Bevagna for lunch and Luther took him by train to (very crowded) Florence. I am glad I opted out of the later! We also took a trip to Isola di Maggiori in Lago Trasemeno. This last was a first for us. We had been meaning to go for some time. It is a nice, down kind of day after a lot of climbing up and down hill-towns. We had lunch at Da Sauro on the porch. The food was not notable. Still a nice day trip

This is a picture of Bevagna. I was liking how blue the sky was and the big white cloud.
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Lunch at Trattoria Oscar. They have a nice terrace. Gene and Luther.
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I couldn’t resist taking a picture of my Gaspacho (italian spelling). It was sooo beautiful and cool.
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Stairway in Bevagna
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Here are a couple of pictures from our excursion to Isola di Maggiori. First a couple of the main (and only) street.
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View of the town from ferry pier. It is a 10 minute ride from Tuoro.
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You can walk a good distance around the island, but not all the way. Here are Gene and Luther during our walk.
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We said Ciao to Gene on Sunday.

Yesterday we visited a winery. The Wine Guy is getting backed up on his posts so be patient. This winery also offered many other products like sausage and prosciutto, and olive oil. I visited the future prosciutti housed nearby.
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Finally two in a series of another sunset. Sometimes they can be pretty spectacular.
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We are getting ready for another set of visitors from Australia so I will be writing about that soon.