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Welcome to our Blog
Come with us to explore the beauties and wonders of Umbrian cuisine, landscapes, and culture.
September 14, 2023
Parking and Getting Around in Orvieto, Umbria
Palazzo Misciattelli is positioned in the centro storico, or historic center, of the ancient city of Orvieto. It has been a family residence for generations, and now also is a boutique lodging option for travelers. We also live in the Palazzo, on the “piano nobile”, or historically aristocratic floor one level up from the piazza. …
August 3, 2023
Palazzo Misciattelli – A Four Story Palazzo with 3000 Years of History
At first glance, the Palazzo seems straightforward enough. 10,000 square feet of above ground space over four levels. With additional very deep cantinas below ground. Is it a “Renaissance” palazzo? A “Medieval” palazzo? Many palazzos in Italy vaunt themselves as such. But ours? With changes over three millennia? I struggle a bit here to define…
July 18, 2023
Palazzo – Luxury Beds, Beds, and More Beds
Beds are important to me. We sleep in an antique bed with panels for silk fabrics, and many levels of cushioning and linens and duvets. I am the Princess indeed! We also recreate the luxury and quality of our own beds in each of the Palazzo luxury residences. Growing up, my aunt was fastidious about…
May 11, 2023
Three Gianluca’s and Four Enrico’s
We have had at least two to three dozen workers on the palazzo over the past two years, whether electricians, plumbers, tile layers, painters, plasterers, stone masons, builders, not to mention our design team of engineers, architects and geometras. What is a geometra? I’ll get to that later. Think of him like a contractor of…
April 23, 2021
Umbria
PART 1 ! Here I am kicking off a multi-part series on the identity, or as we will see, identities of Umbria. It’s going to be a fun ride! Umbria. The only region in Italy to border neither sea nor foreign country. Umbria is bounded to the north by the region of Tuscany, to the…
March 14, 2021
The Man Turning Left
His name isn’t Furbo but it may as well be. We are in the car behind his car, on a two lane highway, with one direction of traffic each way. We have stopped behind him because he has stopped, and we have other cars behind us. It appears that the man that should have been…
March 5, 2021
Fifteen in the Mist
The early spring mist of morning floated slowly past my window. I felt the delicious sensation of that deep rest that only comes from a wondrous long night’s sleep after a transatlantic trip. This was the first transatlantic trip of my life. I was 15 years old and traveling to Italy with my high school…
February 23, 2021
Returning to Italy
When I was small, growing up in America, I learned my grandparents were from Italy. This sparked an utter fascination. What is Italy? Where is it? I grilled my family. I begged them to speak to me in italian. I sought any resource I could to feed my voracious hunger for Italy. Pre-internet, almost everything…
February 23, 2021
The Marchesa on the Balcony
I remember the first time I met the Marchesa. It was on the balcony of Arrigo’s brother’s house. Below us was that vast expanse of valleys and hill towns and fields spread out in every direction. Vast is a small word to describe a space that is so large it is quite possibly infinite, or…