We have been looking forward to having Stew and Lyndsay stay with us for a week in our apartment in Tuscany. We picked them up at the airport and had a two hour trip to our home for the next 4 weeks.

The “peace de resistance” of our apartment is the view from the balcony , as above! It is fabulous to be able to sit outside with a wonderful breeze and a magnificent view.

We are staying in an old Etruscan village called Chiusi. The Etruscans were a powerful and wealthy civilisation in ancient Italy in the Tuscan / Umbria region, and Chiusi was an important city in the Empire between the 7th and 5th Century BC. Pretty bloody old! More about the village later after we visit the subterranean city and underground water tunnels and cisterns!

The first night we decided to “dine out”. The food was fantastic at La Solita Zuppa , and the owner / maitre d , Andre , became our “best friend”.

 

We enjoyed shared starter plates of prosciutto, (OMG, it is so bloody good in Italy) , carpaccio of beef , and pear and cheese salad! Then came the pasta , pici , (hand rolled pasta) with a garlic and tomato sauce and also a wild meat sauce! Greg did not enjoy his at all as you can tell by his plate! Dolce was sensational too, especially Rhonda’s panna cotta with melon and basil sauce. Yummo , we will return, and it’s just down the road, staggering distance from home!

We spent our first day touring some of the villages in the area. First stop was Montapulciano , a lovely Tuscan hilltop village , but very touristy!

However the view from the Belvedere of the countryside was pretty stunning!

Next stop was the town of Pienza , with it’s UNESCO listed historical centre. The 15th Century Piccolomini Palace was the summer residence of Pope Pius 11. He was elected Pope in 1458 and he wanted to transform his birthplace into the ideal renaissance town.

The construction of Pienza took about 4 years and has remained practically unchanged over the centuries. It was quite beautiful , and more importantly , not too touristy!

The last stop on the “tour” was the Medieval Montalcino, another fortified hilltop town! It’s magnificent Palazzo dei Priori (now the Town Hall) had a wonderful clock tower and it was a perfect place to stop for an aperitivi.

The next day was another touring day to show Stew and Lynds the area.  Our first stop was at Lake Trasimeno and although the lake was quite pretty, the coffee definitely was not!

 

We then headed onto to Assisi to see the magnificent and massive Basilica of St Francis , one of Italy’s patron saints.

The Basilica is a massive 2 level church , consecrated in 1253 with 13th Century frescoes portraying his life. We had visited before but we were still amazed the second time around.

 

Next we needed a lunch stop as we were becoming hungry and more importantly thirsty. We made our way to Norcia via a lovely mountain drive through the Apennines. The area is well known for it’s wild boar and pork. The small town of Norcia was hard hit by an earthquake that occurred in August 2016, and many buildings and restaurants are still closed.

The Medieval Basilica in the town was left with only it’s façade standing (above). We did enjoy a great lunch though. We had a great starter of (of course) prosciutto , salami and cheese, and mains (all round) was fettucine with “mountain ragu” and of course as usual washed down with a local red!

 

Of course we had to help the local economy ,so we purchased some more prosciutto and salami. By the way Lynds has a new name! “Economo (said with an Italian accent) Lynds. We went into a shop, woke up an elderly couple in order to serve us, and when Lynds produced her own bag , the lady said “AHH ECONOMO”. so now the name sticks!

We took a slight detour on the way home to view the Cascata del Mamore, a man made waterfall created by the ancient Romans. It’s total height is 165 metres which makes it the tallest man made waterfall in the world! Quite specky! Note the rainbow!

 

It was a great day , and our tour director  Gregorio and Olaf did a great job!

The next day was a relaxing morning in the village, a pizza for lunch then an afternoon drive just down the road  for aperitivi to Orvieto , a small city perched on a rock cliff. It’s main attraction is the stunning Duomo di Orvieto dating back to 1290. We had been inside previously so while Stew and Lynds checked it out, we sat and drank , and viewed the outside. Quite impressive.

 

We had wanted to return to a small village in Tuscany to have another lunch of pappardelle and wild boar ragu which we had a few years ago. We thought Stew and Lynds would like it also so we set off for Greve in Chianti.

We needed a coffee stop of course along the way , and ALMOST found a Brunettis at San Giovanni Valdarno. The Palazzo Pretoria , now the museum , was quite a stunning sight in the main square. It is covered with many Coats of Arms , the oldest dating back to 1410 and the most recent 1769.

When we arrived in Greve in Chianti we had to show Stew “Antica Macellaria Falorni” a butchers shop ( not quite like ours back home) established in 1806 and has been making wild boar salami for 9 generations. Stew was in 7th heaven!

 

We were not disappointed with our lunch! The pappardelle with wild boar was delicious and of course….yep you guessed it…..washed down with a local chianti.

 

It is a lovely little town and the main square is delightful…….except when you have some Aussies doing crazy things!

We then stopped in Siena for a drink on the way home. The main Square , Piazza del Campo, where the famous horse race occurs , is the place to be , sitting and admiring the extremely tall Clock Tower built in 1338 -1348. It was one of the tallest towers in medieval Italy.

It was another fantastic day and it has been great showing Stew and Lynds around and giving them a sample of rural Italy.

It’s going to be 37 degrees for the next few days with a respite happening late in the week …….the temperature will plummet to 35 degrees!

It is that time again

Aperol spritz please Gregorio!!!!!!!!   NOW !!!!!!!

Ciao ciao

Love Gregorio and Rhondio

Stewio and economo Lyndso!

xxxxxx