It's Sunday October 3rd

   I am finally able to make an entry here!  The good news is, I was able to buy an internet "chiave" (like our air cards) while in Perugia. The bad news is, I can't get reception with it on the mountain where we are staying.  

   We had a great flight.  Between the jet lag diet we followed and the fact that we each had 2 seats to ourselves, we managed to get some rest on the plane and arrive in Rome feeling pretty good.  Getting the car from Hertz was a bit of an ordeal, but by 11 am Wednesday we were on our way out of the city and north towards Perugia.  We stopped off in the town of Deruta and had a look at some of the ceramic shops, then we headed east to Ca Mazzetto, our agriturismo (farm stay).  It is in a remote area and we had a little trouble finding it.  But once we arrived we knew we had made the right choice for accomodations.  The farm is beautiful, the owners are very nice, and we have been having wonderful dinners prepared by Marjatta, our hostess.  There is no need to look for other restaurants!



    Marjatta and her husband Pasquale raise sheep and grow olives and other grains and vegetables.  The sheep are actually Sardinian sheep.  Pasquale is from Sardinia and his family moved here with their sheep as land became scarce in Sardinia.  The wool on these sheep is coarse and is used in the carpet industry. They also make pecorino cheese that we have been eating every day.



   On Thursday we went for a hike along the Franciscan trail (where St Francis had walked), it goes right by the farm.  Lots of hills that I'm not used to but the weather was gorgeous and the views were spectacular.  A kitten joined us along the way and would have followed us home had 2 men in a truck not come along and agreed to take her back to her barn. I named her Francesca and am thinking of a way to smuggle her home, she is a cutie!

pottery in Deruta

Betty Lou hiking the Franciscan trail

Our first dinner at Ca Mazzetto

Meet Francesca!

Our view from the farm

Betty Lou at the farm

Sardinian sheep grazing

Friday we headed to Perugia, the main town in Umbria, a university city with much history. And it is the home of Perugina chocolates.  One university is the Universita per Stranieri, which is the place to come to learn the Italian language. Hmmmm...  The city is located on top of a large hill (small mountain) and we parked down below and took a series of escalators to the top. The escalators are located in an old fortress, a beautiful work of art. We strolled around the city, met up with Mary Lynne, our acquaintance from the USA, and then ducked in to a bar/caffe for a glass of wine when it started raining. On our way back to the car we made a wrong turn looking for one of the escalators and  stumbled into a wine/olive oil/cheese/herb expo that was taking place for the weekend.  For 5 euros each we received a wine glass and sampled some of the best wines, cheeses and olive oils we have ever tasted. One of the olive oils had an interesting peppery finish.  We bought some locally grown saffron after tasting the vendor's saffron cookies.  Well, we said we didn't want to drive in the dark, but this was an incredible event that we found.  So we managed to drive back to the farm in the dark, in the rain. Luckily Betty Lou managed to get the voice on the GPS to speak in English.

On Saturday we headed to Assisi, more on that later.  I am on my hosts' computer connection so it's time to sign off.  Ciao a tutti, Jane and Betty Lou.

 

Lucca and his sibliings at the Lucca antique fair May 2009

We will be leaving in exactly one week on our trip to Italy.  After all of the hours researching, planning and googling, it is hard to believe the time is almost here.  This is our third trip to Italy, this time we are heading to Umbria for a week and then down to Puglia for the second week.  We would have liked to spend more time in one location  and be able to absorb the lifestyle of one area. But there is still so much we want to see and explore in Italy that we find ourselves once again with an ambitious travel itinerary.