Arrivederci Assisi

 

We all sadly said goodbye to David at Assisi stazione.

(I think the station is the most visited place for us here!)

 

 

Elinor and Mattie wanted to see some of the other sites associated with St Francis, so we drove to Rivotorto nearby where he 'camped' with his first friars. There is a replica of the huts they lived in inside this church.

 

Ceramics tell the story of Francis and his friars time here.

 

Vendemmia! We spent a couple of hours picking grapes for Piero and Birgitta's next vintage of vino rosso a casa (house red).

 

Summer was hot and dry, so there were relatively few grapes compared to 2010 when we helped B&P pick their grapes.

 

We hope this wine will be better than the last lot we helped with, which was disgusting!

 

Piero brings home the grapes in his home made tractor.

 

The grapes must be stripped from the stems quickly and fed into a vat to start fermenting.

 

Two hours of grape picking followed by 2 hours of eating. Perfetto!

 

It was Elinor's birthday. One she'll never forget! Birgitta supplied a flower, chocolates and card for the occasion.

 

Next day - one of our favourite places to eat lunch in Assisi.

 

And then it was time to farewell Mattie and Elinor as they headed back to Scotland.

 

It has been strange to be only the two of us at Paradiso....

 

We have spent some time with Birgitta over the few days before we leave on Saturday. We enjoyed lunch on the terrace of Hotel Giotto overlooking Assisi with a panoramic view of the Spoleto valley.

 

Marg had to finish off her meal with a gelato!  (A very elegant hotel.)

 

 

For the past 5 visits, Marg has bleated about never visiting a tiny hilltop town of Bettona which we have passed many times on our way to Deruta. Finally she's seen it! We went there today with Birgitta - who also had never been there!  We bought panini (sandwiches) at this bar, eating almost everything he had!

 

A tiny town with very impressive churches! (Four!!!)

We will miss the town bells chiming the hour when we return to Australia. It's such a lovely sound.

 

Birgitta then took us to a ristorante below Bettona - Il Poggio degli Olivi - where we enjoyed coffee on the terrace overlooking the Spoleto valley with glimpses of Assisi through the autumn haze (look carefully between the olive trees!).

 

Here Birgitta poses with a unique terracotta table.

 

Only two more sleeps and we say arrivederci to Italy for the fifth time. Until 2014....

Every day is different, with moments of delight

 

 

 The paparazzi are everywhere, including Spello.

Bill, Gordon, Karen and Marg enjoyed a snack at our favourite cafe in Spello.

Delightful Gianni the handyman revarnishing the doors, windows and shutters. He used to be a TV program director.  It's hard to make a living in Italy.

 

 

A gelato a day keeps the doctor away.

 

So does a pizza!



 

Marlena di Blasi, author of a favourite book of ours 'A thousand days in Venice', was spotted chatting with her husband and friend in a cafe at Orvieto.

 

Italy, centre of the fashion world!

 

The duomo at Orvieto always takes our breath away.

 

We said a sad farewell to Karen, Bill and Gordon in the morning ...

 

... and then greeted Elinor, Mattie & David that afternoon, with nibblies on the terrace. The weather has been kind to us.

 

Birgitta's 50th birthday present from us - a fine Merino wool wrap from Goulburn, Australia. We enjoyed sharing her birthday at Livia's restaurant with a few of her friends.

 

Hey hey the gang's all here at Spello. From left: David, Mattie, Elinor, Jo and Greg, and Julie and Rob - again at our favourite garden terrace cafe.

 

How's this for a view? Spying through the foyer of a hotel in Spello.

 

Vespa: a common mode of transport

 

What (Italian and Australian) men do best. The blokes occupy themselves while the women shop.

(Someone give them a pack of cards...)

 

 

Sculpures are scattered around Spoleto. Mattie and David test out one of them. Mattie assures us the back wheel was bent before she sat on it.

 

 

We visited the antique and collectable markets at Spoleto.

 

Mr Grumpy's scores again! Great Umbrian food at a reasonable price, only 5 minutes down the road.

 

A Deruta classic. For music and ceramic lovers the world over.

 

Our neighbour's dog Luna spends quite a bit of time here. She's lapping up pats here from Mattie. Rob is somewhat bemused by the cheek of this Italian pooch!

 

We spent a lovely day in Montepulciano, a good day for the Italian economy.

 

Salute!

 

Marg was serenaded by owner Pier as she lazed on the couch at his Restorante Degli Archi at Montepulciano.

 

Can we ever tire of the views in Italy?

 

Sightseeing has been nicely interspersed with quiet moments at our paradise in Paradiso.

 

 

The old town of Cortona in Tuscany is charming and sensational views over the valley.

 

 

A short stop for coffee...

 

 

The end of another wonderful day in Italy.

Goodbye, a quick trip to Tuscany, and hello

We were pleased to see the chaps from Umbra Aque arrive to fix the leaking pipe behind the house. The track is difficult enough to negotiate without it being muddy as well.

 

 

Off to Deruta to revel in the beautiful ceramics again before lunch at one of our favourite restaurants.

 

 

Next day we were off to Orvieto, about an hour and a half south-west of Assisi. The town perched on top of this large tufa rock never ceases to inspire.

 

For Chris' last night, dinner at Livia's with Piero and Birgitta - more than 10 separate dishes cooked and served by Livia and her husband. No menu, no wine list. You eat what has been prepared that day with house white or red wine. Buonissimo!

 

Next day, we took Chris to nearby Perugia airport to catch her flight to London to catch up with her daughter. The rest of us then had a well earned quiet evening. We loaded Vicki and Graeme onto the train the next morning(Monday).

Four days before our next visitors. Washing and cleaning done, we decided to check out the Brunello wine region in Tuscany for a couple of days.

 

Marg Pont told us about a little town called San Quirico which has reasonably priced accommodation in the centre of town. A comfortable, double room for 45 euro! Here's Jan entering the hotel. We had our own key since the owners are not on the premises.

It was a charming town. We picked up 5 litres of vino rosso (red wine) in a cantina for 8.50 euro - about $9.50. Good quaffer!

 

We liked the live cat in this shop window. It looked quite at home.

 

 

Despite the fact we are well away from the coast, we both had delicious seafood meals for dinner in the restaurant opposite the hotel.

It was a little tricky to sleep that night as the church bells across the piazza rang on the hour, quarter hour after and before, and half hour.

 

After breakfast of croissant/donut and coffee, back in the car and off to Montalcino, the real heart of famous Brunello wine. 

 

 

 

This sign might give you an idea of why we decided not to buy a bottle of Brunello wine. These prices were for TASTING it, not buying it.

 

 

Great views of Tuscany from the fort at the top of the town.

 

 

The vineyards are just beginning to get their autumn colour.

 We were surprised how dry and bare the hills were, ploughed after the last crop of sunflowers we think.

 

 

One our way home we popped into Pienza, a smaller town on the way home, famous for its cheese.

 

 

 

We arrived home in time to prepare a four course meal for Piero and Birgitta. It was lovely to have them in our home and entertain them for a change. Birgitta has fed every visitor we've had so far!

 

Bill, Karen and Karen's dad Gordon arrived by train at midday. Yet another beautiful day, so lunch on the terrace under the grapes. Karen's waited about 4 years to do this!

 

 

We made sure we stocked up on liquid supplies in anticipation of their arrival.

 

 

Then into Assisi for a quick look at the St Francis markets.

 

 

Here were are agreeing on a meeting place in case we separated in the mob buying their bargains. It was just as well as we gave poor Gordon the slip when we ducked into an ATM.

 

I'll finish with some moods of Mt Subasio taken from our bedroom window...