After an arduous 8 hour drive from Lindau, Germany, we arrived in Umbria. Our Italian destination. We have rented a 3 bedroom house in a small village in the Umbrian hills. Preci, is the name of the town. It is located in the Valnarina area of the Umbian Hills. The village itself is tucked away in the dense forest of the Valnarina-famous for it's wild orchids,streams of trout, and fields of wild yellow and red poppy - like flowers. Our house is on three floors. The ground floor, has an entry hall, a double bedroom, and a bathroom. The first floor (2nd floor in the US) there is a large well equipped kitchen, with a dining table for 6, a living room, that opens up to a small patio that overlooks the Umbrian Hills. The second floor (3rd floor US) has a full bathroom and two bedrooms. There is a lot of light in the house. Each room has at least one large window. All of this sounds wonderful, along with the 68degree days, and 48 degree nights? But not without issues....the wi fi that came with the house the owners forgot the password. One of them was taken ill, and had to return to the UK for medical treatment for the entire summer. The washing machine flooded, and it took 2 hours to mop up the laundry room. However, we "soldiered" on. We found a mobile phone,butcher shop,barber shop, and computer store in the nearby village of Visso (this was one shop with one man running it!) We purchased Chivetta Cards for each of our computers - 118Euros for 90 days of internet access in Italy. Armed with our thumb drives, and a 26 year old (Katherine) who knew how to do this complicated process, we retuned to Preci (20 minutes over the mountain). Good news/bad news. Good news the Chivetta card was perfect for Katherine's Dell. The bad news was that we had to make another trip the next day to Visso to have the Chivetta card custom cut to fit in the Sim card slot for my IPAD. The gentle man knew exactly what we needed. Katherine's Italian is improving daily (can you say Sim card, and thumb drive in Italian?), and he took out his butcher sheers,paper punch, hair cutting instrument (an all inclusive device) and inserted the card into my IPAD. How nice!! High speed internet at my fingertips.
TORGIANO
On our second day in our villa we took a 60 mile trip through the hills to a small wine producing town, Torgiano. "Captain Obvious" guided us through the small towns and around larger cities. Torgiano is one of the larger wine producing areas in Italy. Umbria and Tuscany are the two largest wine producing regions in Italy. Torgiano, west of Spoleto, is dominated by the Lungarotti family. The family is known for producing the Lambrusco wines of Italy. While in Torgiano we toured the Wine Museum, and the Olive Oil Museum. Olive growing in Umbria has remote origins every since the Roman age in the 15th century. Both of these museums are sponsored by the Lungarotti Fondazione. We ate at a local restaurant - Il Spiro overlooking the local vineyards.
NORCIA
Norcia, 45 minutes from Preci, is a picturesque pedestrian only town that is known for the truffles that are grown and exported all over Europe. We entered through the walled gates, and walked to the town square. In the main piazza is a Basicila devoted to St Benedict who was born in 480AD in this town, along with his twin sister St Scholastica. He formed the Benedictine Monastary, and is currently the namesake of our Pope. The town has a checkerd past , but who doesn't if you've been around for so many years? Norcia is famous for the butchers, and the salami. It was called the "butchers of Rome" because of their knife skills. It is also famous for having buried the body of Pontius Pilate, and has a history of "witchcraft" tales. We enjoyed the truffles at a local eatery (you can't order any dish in Umbria without truffles). There, we signed up for cooking classes at a later date.
BOLOGNA
We braved out of Umbria to a region called the Emilia Romano - 4 hours North West of Preci. This area has the most dense population, and claims to have the most famous chefs of Italy.Parma, Ferrera, Bologna, and Ravenna. We treated ourslelves to the most "famous" restaurant in all of Italy. We left Preci at 9:00AM and arrived for lunch in a small town called Imola where the San Dominica is located. Our lunch was a fabulous feast, which it should have been for the cost. I'm sure this restaurant is not for the "average tourist". For more details on our dining in Italy, refer to Katherine's blog which will be listed below. We then drove on to Bologna - twenty minutes. Bologna is know for it's vast porticos which encompass this University town. One can literally walk 35 miles under these covered walkways. We sat in the large square on the anniversay of the liberation of Italy and watched the animated crowd enjoy the beautiful day. The Italians love their children and their gelato. We enjoy both, as well. We found a lovely hotel with a beautiful garden in the center of the city. Hotel Porta San Mamola. We had a moderate size room, Italian tile floors, and a large wrap around terrace in which to enjoy the garden for 110Euros with a full breakfast in the garden.
Ravenna
We drove 21 miles North East to Ravenna. We really adored this small city. The city was named a Unesco Heritage site in 2000. The mosaics in the town's several Basilicas and ancient tombs are incredibly well preserved. The richness of these reliefs are beyond comparison. We visited all of these well preserved monuments that were adorned by the Byzantines during 400-550AD. There is a mosaic preservation society that has kept these tombs and churches in perfect condition. Dante was born and buried here. We stayed in a small hotel in the center of town. You are not going to believe this - but, we stayed in a Best Western!! Yes folks, a Best Western. We had a large suite (yes, with a sitting area), two HD televisions and a wonderful full breakfast for 100Euros a night. We also participitated in a demonstration against austerity.
On the way home from Ravenna, we stopped at a larger "mall" with supermarket and various stores under one roof. It was the best selection of fresh fish I have ever seen.
Katherine and I before we left for our trip decided that she would learn Italian, and I would take a refresher course in French. Katherine has an undergraduate degree in Spanish, and spent a semester studying in Madrid. Fortunately, Katherine has proven that she has followed through on her part of the bargain, however, we will not be in France until October, so we will see if my French lessons will be as fruitful as her Italian lessons. (I did study French in high school for a year)
Cultural differences:
The Europeans, particularly the Italians, don't believe in clothes dryers. They feel that the bright sunshine adds freshness and brightness to the clothes. We, on the other hand, like our towels fluffy and light. As I am sitting here in a "Top Ten Campsite" of Italy - 10 minutes from our house in Preci - we are waiting for our towels to dry after we washed them in a coin operated washer and dryer. The joys of travel, and new adventures.
Note: Katherine's Food Blog is: texangirleatingdrinkingeurope.blogspot.com
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