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Welcome to our Blog
Come with us to explore the beauties and wonders of Umbrian cuisine, landscapes, and culture.
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…
October 4, 2020
Day 2, Post 4 75% Umbria, 25% Tuscany
We departed the Falconiere, skirting Tuscany’s southern border with Umbria. This area is wild and not overrun by tourists. We passed many castles, towers, and fortresses primarily on the Umbrian side of the border. Remember, these Umbrian lands belonged to the Pope. We were still searching for antique wall sconces and Cortona had come up…
October 4, 2020
Day 2, Post 3, 75% Umbria, 25% Tuscany
After breakfast in the Falconiere restaurant, a spectacular former limonaia (room to winter the lemon trees), we headed to the hotel spa. We had the entire spa to ourselves as it is reserved for individual parties exclusively due to COVID.We relaxed by the pool and then of course tortured ourselves with lovely massages. Lunch we…
October 2, 2020
Day 1 Post 2, 75% Umbria, 25% Tuscany
After our aperitivo on the terrace of the Falconiere, we left for a walk and dinner in the center of Cortona.🌅 I was having a work emergency which interrupted us every half hour, but the evening was still delightful.❤️ We explored Cortona’s steep streets and views and had dinner at atmospheric La Loggetta, a lovely…
October 2, 2020
Day 1 Post 1, 75% Umbria, 25% Tuscany
Kicking off this series! Let’s go!!!!We intended to spend 3-4 days diving deeper into little Umbrian towns, and that’s just what we did, with the small but significant exception of a quick trip across the border to Cortona.🌞 Why Cortona? Not for Frances Mayes or her Tuscan Sun book, but because for years we have…