La Casa Colonica Agriturismo Wine Oil Mezzetti

Today is our last full day of the holiday in Umbria.  Today has been spent packing and for me, resting as I have had a reaction to a bite.  I will miss the views from Santa Chiara but will be glad to be rid of the insects.  Though to be fair the bites of note have not been sustained here.

Yesterday was spent in the pool at first followed by an amazing lunch cooked by my wife and then we went out to La Casa Colonica Agriturismo Wine Oil Mezzetti after doing some shopping for a few odds and ends that can only be found in Italy.  I liked the wine, not all that was served, but enough to want to buy some.  We left with some olive oil that they make there but no alcohol!  It was fascinating to learn more about the local wines as well as details about the labelled they use.  I will not post it here as if you are reading this you may want to visit.  The only downside to this was that I got my bite there which has limited me today.  Also if you do visit here, follow the SatNav coordinates that they give you as we did not and had an interesting drive until we pulled over and programmed them in.

 As you can see, we got some great photos of the peacock that lives in the area.  The last time we saw one, there were actually two, this one was solitary though.  I have seen peacocks before but seeing one in the wild is different and in addition, the sunlight makes its colours come to life much more.

Dinner was a takeaway from Tabacchi Jazz and as before it was great and as the children had one pizza each (which they could not finish) I got to have leftovers for breakfast!  Today we did go out to lunch at Ranco Nuovo Ristorante.  The food was great as before but as my daughter would not finish her food in a timely manner, the service fell apart, though that may have been down to them and not my daughter.  I am going to miss Umbria and Santa Chiara, the children who have made friends here probably are going to miss it as well and while my wife and I would come back (and certainly recommend it to others) both kids are keen on a return here next year!  Last of all, the cats.  Two gorgeous cats who are great with kids.  I will miss them as well.

What we did yesterday

Morning all.  Yesterday was a kind of easy day though being sunny a very relaxing one as can be seen with Blue one of the two amazing cats at Santa Chiara relaxing on our sun lounger.  

We went to Città di Castello leaving Blue to his cat nap, a short drive away finding a parking spot as it was market day was interesting!  The market was a bit familiar as some of the stalls were the same as in Umbertide. The town centre is enchanting.  We did not get to go into the museum or the tower but spent some time in the Cathedral admiring the frescoes and the beauty of the building.  

After that it was a meal back at Ristorante I Grasoli di Sant' Andrea which I loved (and I think my daughter did as well) but was not as good as before for my son and wife.  A trip back to Santa Chiara resulted in more time in the pool and then another amazing meal from my wife followed by a game of Risk.  My son wanted to play a board game and chose this one, a game I have played before when younger.  After initial defeats I stormed ahead for the rest of the family to join forces and put me down several pegs.  

But it kept the children occupied so that we could try to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower and other than my son, we all got to see a shooting star.  He was just too tired to take it in and appreciate it fully, but maybe next year...

Le Forchette del Chianti, Radda in Chianti

Today was a day trip to experience the better parts of memory lane.  We travelled to have lunch at Le Forchette del Chianti, in Radda in Chianti.  The children were very patient and understanding as this involved a two hour drive there and the same back.  However unlike our trip to Ristorante le Vigne this one was worth the time taken to get there and the money spent on the meal.

In case you have not read my post on the 6th of August, then we returned to an old haunt where we had eaten more than one meal in 2002 and liked it so much that we stayed there in 2003 with a friend, Tony (who was one of the four of us in 2002).  Unfortunately while the view there was amazing the food was not what we remembered but on getting back to Santa Chiara my wife found out that the people we had got to know (despite language issues) now had another restaurant in Radda in Chianti itself!  I had wanted to return sooner but my wife pointed out how unfair it would be on the children considering that the holiday is for all of us.  Anyway the food was amazing and this was possibly the best meal that we have had this holiday.  We were recognised and had as much of a chat as time allowed and had great food.  I would have taken a photograph of the view but by the time we finished our meal it was raining so I did not want to risk damage to my camera phone.  Although the kids did not have time in the pool thanks to the storm that covered both Umbria and Tuscany, I think that the time to do nothing has actually helped them.  Hopefully we will get time to swim and play in the pool tomorrow. 

The last two photos are of one of the two cats here which was catnapping on our sun lounger this morning and the other is of a Porsche that held up our one litre Lancia on the way uphill in Chianti. 

Lake Trasimeno

I did not have the energy to make a post yesterday which was a bit sad of me really. But we had a great day.  Our plan was to go to Umbertide in the morning and see what the ice cream was like there, have a trip to taste wine and olive oil and then return for lunch and spend the day in the pool before going out for dinner.  But when we arrived at Ristorante I Girasoli di Sant' Andrea we found the tasting had closed but was to open again about an hour later.  So faced with the option of going back on the road again and returning and delaying lunch or staying and eating, we ate.

The meal was great and so far has been possibly the best meal that we have had this holiday, though for the moment the best (just) in Umbria.  The children played in the playground but it was aimed at smaller children and it was very hot.  The wine tasting afterwards was good.  There was no olive oil to taste and at the time I did not like the wine but my wife did and coming back to the villa later on after getting pizza in Tavernacce (at the oddly named Tabbachi Jazz which I and in fact we would recommend) I realised it was good!  Between lunch (or rather the wine tasting) and dinner it was fun in the pool again though the kids were overtired and ratty with each other afterwards until we forced them to have a timeout.

Today we have been out to Lake Trasimeno and although we did not get to spend time on the beach there or explore the island that we took the ferry to, it was a relaxing day.  No time in the pool today but we are hoping to have time tomorrow when we return to Radda in Chianti to find our favourite Tuscan chef.

I have looked up Lancia jokes and I have realised that the jokes are the cars

Okay, I am grateful that our car works, but it is a terrible car.  It has awful acceleration and in addition Europcar gave us a Lancia with no washer fluid in it.  And in case it has not been noted before it has a radio but no functionality for our iPod as in no USB port or, which is present more often, an audio jack.

 

Tuesday is Market Day in Gubbio which is great to browse in and overall visiting the town we had a great day, the only downside being lunch.  We browsed a bit in the market before heading into the historical part of the town.  I have to admit that we missed out on all the market had to offer, which included lunch, a point that we regretted later in the day.  Gubbio is a beautiful town, like so many in Umbria, full of history and beauty.  It was baking hot and we all were grateful that the policeman my wife talked to told us about the lifts that allowed us to go up in the world to overlook the town.  I was embarrassed at the ability of my wife in speaking Italian and we were all put to shame with his excellent use of the English in comparison to my terrible Italian.  Walking up and down the town would have been fun for me but not for both our children.  The museum at the top was fascinating, though my son found it a bit boring at times.  Lunch was in a tourist trap and was not up to the quality we now expect in Italy, however dessert, which was an Italian ice-cream was to quote my kids spectacular, though we had it closer to the square of 40 martyrs.  Some of the pictures are from the museum at the top of the town.

Back at Santa Chiara we got to enjoy the pool that the children has been looking forwards to.  As you can see from these and previous pictures the view is amazing and to describe the place as relaxing is an understatement.

Amid the transfer rumours Jack Wilshere hopes Wenger brings players into Arsenal during the summer. Or Marlboro. Or B&H. He is not fussy

Just a quick one really. First was that I was amazed to hear that Arsenal beat Chelski in the Charity Shield yesterday.  I was dreading the game and fully expected the record that Wenger had against Mourinho to continue so I was surprised to hear that we won!  Not that it counts for much but it helps that we have overcome one psychological barrier.

As you can see, it is blue skies here and today we all just relaxed.  We went out for breakfast as we had no food (other than the left over lasagna) and ate in Umbertide which is not far from here.  It was a trip to the supermarket afterwards and then home for unpacking and preparation for lunch.  Once that was out of the way it was a trip to the pool.  The kids have made a friend and overall, other than forgetting how to turn the oven on, it was a great and relaxing day.  As you can also seen from the picture, one with a great view!

We have arrived, and while I may grow to hate our Lancia...

We are in Italy!  For my wife and I, it is back in Italy.  My daughter has been in Italy before, but as she was not even two, it is a bit much to expect her to remember anything.  So really it is the first time for both to be here. It was a very early morning trip here and we arrived in Pisa in good time.  The only downside was the wait for the car.  As you can see, some companies are more popular than others when booking online and that means the people who book with the other companies get quicker service and get their car sooner.  It was not bad service just popular and slow.  The worst service we had was from GoldCar two years ago when in Portugal, slow and a constant barrage of selling for additional perks.  We were lucky as others had service to really complain about.  We ended up with a nice car then so it was not too bad.

And the car itself.  I guess we have been spoiled in the past with cars, a Focus in Jersey and a Peugeot when in Portugal two years ago are just two of cars that we have driven when on holiday. It is sad but we now expect things like being able to listen to music other than that on a CD or on the radio and are disappointed when there is no USB port in car or jack to allow us to listen to music using our iPhone.  I am not sure if that is because we have a Lancia but this car has not lived up to the standards of our previous hire cars.

Anyway we have visited one old haunt, this being a restaurant that we used to visit when here in the past, BC or Before Children. Ristorante Il Cipresso in Loro Ciuffenna.  We had been here in 2002 and 2003 and the food and service was as good as we remembered.  It was a nice touch that the man who served us said he remembered us, but that might have just been patter.  We did not get to show the kids the rest of the town properly as it was shut, this being Sunday afternoon but it was nice to return to an old haunt.

Now we are in our villa, Santa Chiara, a self catering apartment in Umbria. We have had a very warm welcome and the food which we had arranged in advance was great. I am now to put the lasagna away as it was great and we may have some more tomorrow. Anyway goodnight all!