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...

Borgomela, Tavernacce

Today we went to the market in Umbertide.  We had aimed to do so last week but arrived too late to experience it fully.

This time after my wife dragged me out of bed we all went into town and saw what it had to offer.  My Mother-in-law has given the kids some spending money which they put to use there.  After that it was a trip back to Santa Chiara for some time in the pool and a few hours later a trip to Perugia to see if we could find some Mustard Essence.

We had no luck finding this but as you can see the drive had some spectacular views.  Afterwards it was a trip to Tavernacce to eat at a restaurant that has been recommended here and it lived up to the billing.  Despite being down a residential road and being besides a railway track, we thought the place was amazing.  Warm service with good food, we may return this holiday.  Anyway we are now going to see if we can watch the Perseids Meteor shower!

The Golden Saloon in Umbertide and the Chocolate factory in Perugia

Today we went to Perugia aiming to visit the city itself as well as visiting the chocolate factory there.  My kids know my views on Nestle but while I have told them about them I have also said what great chocolate they make.  The company Perugina was formed in 1907 and originally was in another part of Perugia, but over time it grew and had to change location and was sold to Nestle.  We were lucky as the couple who run the villa we are staying in made a reservation for us and even making a shopping diversion we arrived in good time.

The tour was good with an excellent guide who coped well with many children making a lot of noise and our kids were both great at being well behaved as well as being disappointed that they did not get to experience the chocolate kitchen.  From a previous trip to Cadbury World they were not expecting any chocolate waterfalls nor glass lifts and they loved the samples that were given out.

By the time we got out the heavens had opened and it rained and rained and rained.  It was exciting for the two children but an experience for my wife and I who ended up taking them to McDonalds for lunch.  Not what we originally planned which was to explore the city and its history.  When we finally arrived back after a rest, it was out for dinner though that was interesting as many places were closed. We did find one place open that did not look amazing but we loved it as we were served the biggest pizzas we have had in a long time.  Even if we had ordered two, we would have had food left over!  Folłowing this was a walk around the castle in Umbertide.

Now we have to make plans for tomorrow and hope that the weather is good.

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.

Montone

Just a quick post.  Today we went to Montone a beautiful town in Umbria.  We were hoping to make it to the market in Umbertide but left things too late and arrived as it was closing up.  So we continued in the car and went for a little adventure.

Montone is a town full of history and character.  The children were taken by the square that we entered and loved the ice cream that we ate at the Gelateria in the Square.  We ate just outside Umbertide at Ristoro in Campagna, a place with no fixed menu.  I liked lunch but I am very glad that my wife was there as they speak a bit of English but I would have been very lost without her.  I would consider returning but would recommend it to others to try.

A trip to the pool when we were back followed by Pizza Night with a show by the children at the end.  All in all, a good day.

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.