Villa Vinciluna, our home for a few days

After some heavy thunderstorms on Sunday night, the weather forecast was not that great for Monday. By the time we left the house to go to Arezzo, the sun had come out! Arezzo is a city about 40 minutes from our villa. It is known for its goldsmiths, but more importantly the della Francesco frescoes. Why are these fresco so famous? After visiting them, we’re trying to figure that out as well. They are old as they were painted in the 1400s, they look valuable yet undone. Watching the frescoes, we saw them in about 10 minutes time.

Bob, unimpressed with the frescoes – note mask

Prior to that we went to the duomo where pope Gregory the 10th lays in state. A life-size replica of Gregory is on top of his tomb. He was short, with little feet that were covered in red slippers. Gregory the 10th now has a face covered in gold, reminiscent of Game of Thrones.

We had lunch in Arezzo and had a 2 o’clock appointment for winetasting on the way back to our villa. We spent the majority of our time on country roads through farms, vineyards and small villages with medieval streets.

We drove to the winery which could be reached by traveling up this very narrow, gravel road through a compound of pretty houses. At the peak, was the Santo Stefano Winery. The wine maker and owner himself gave us the tour and the tasting. We were joined by a young couple from Texas on their honeymoon.

Antonio, the owner, was gracious, knowledgeable, and fluent in perfect English. He told us how happy he was to see the Americans again. That the first year of Covid, they enjoyed the time with family, the view from their winery, and making more wine. But as year two commenced, they missed the companionship of visitors especially of Americans, which are their number one retail source. We tasted six wines, a white, a rosé, two super Tuscan reds, and two dessert wines, one of which was the famous Tuscan desert wine, Vino Santee. Each wine was paired with bruschetta, made by Antonio’s wife, topped with assorted items such as tomatoes, artichokes, and four kinds of liver! Santo Stefano also makes their own olive oil which we enjoyed as well.

Unfortunately, we could not ship any wine to our home state, the Italians are restricted by interstate commerce laws.

Being 10 minutes from Cortona, we had dinner in the small city. By chance, we found a much-reviewed restaurant down on an alley. We sat outside, had some pici and salad and a bottle of Orvietto wine. As a wine chiller, they used a plastic gift bag filled with ice! It was a wonderful dinner, followed by mascarpone gelato. I was a lovely night in a city we love, Cortona!

Tomorrow, we are off to a place I have long waited to visit, Assisi! Salute’ for now!!

A Primo First Day

ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 BY MARYELLEN61

A Primo First Day

Arrived at Dulles early and without incident. Our plane was overbooked as we each sat on the aisle across from each other. We were three seats back from a first class passenger who had hot coffee doused on the side of his face by the flight attendant! Never saw this before!!

After 5+ hours in the United packed lounge in Newark, we boarded a very full flight to Rome. Luckily, no one sat in the middle seat between us and after 8 easy hours, arrived on Rome right on time. Our bag made it to Rome and after being the first customer to the Hertz counter, started on our way for the 2 1/2 hour trip to the Villa. There are benefits of traveling on Sunday as it appears no one is at the airport and the traffic is fairly light.

We stopped 30 minutes before our villa in a small town of Castiglione del Lago which overlooks 49 square mile, Lake Trasimeno, and had a very nice lunch on the street outside an Italian vineria specializing in meats and wine. I believe we were the only Americans in the small town as it is not on the tourist trail. As we were enjoying our wonderful charcuterie board of local meats and pecorino, noon time bells started ringing above.

Upon arriving at the cottage, Villa Vinciluna, located in the small town near Cortona, called Montanare, the owner and her son showed us through the renovated residence that has a breathtaking venue of a large pool and patio nestled in an olive grove.

Once unpacked, not much surprisingly, we hustled to the food store returning with pasta,salad, bread and wine for tonight‘s dinner, and considered the “basic necessities” for Italians!

We had a romantic and relaxing dinner under the Tuscan Sun, obscured by heavy cloud layer! The relaxing has begun!! Monday, we take an easy drive to the town of Arezzo and have a wine tasting at Agriturismo Santo Stefano!!!

Non la Grecia – La Bellissima Italia

ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2021 BY MARYELLEN61

Our return visit to Greece and the Cyclades was scheduled for June of 2020. Due to the global pandemic, we transferred all our plans to October of 2020 …. Then to October 2021. But while things improved for a few months, it became impossible to visit Greece as their covid numbers increased as summer 2021 concluded.

Instead of scrapping the entire idea of a trip, we canceled multiple Greek plans and turned to another country we love – Italy! The early epicenter of the pandemic took covid measures seriously, and the opportunity to distance in our own house in the hills of Italy proved maybe WE COULD TRAVEL OVERSEAS!!

With negative covid tests, required Italian “passenger locator forms” and our CDC vaccination cards, we will be returning to Italy. This visit will include the hills and coast of Tuscany as well as the “green heart” of Italy, Umbria.

Saude, Lisbon! Obrigada!!!

ON OCTOBER 19, 2019 BY MARYELLEN61

Our final day in Lisbon began with a little rain, but cleared up as we went. We decided to visit the hillside villages Bairro Alto and Chiado. We took the tram up to the top of the hill to tour the gritty, yet beautiful village of Bairro Alto, with views back over Lisbon.

After strolling through the neighborhood, we stopped at Sao Roque Church, one of Portugal’s first Jesuit churches. Built in the 16th century, St Roque with many side chapels, the Chapel of St John the Baptist was shipped right from Rome! Built at the Vatican and then disassemble, the chapel has lapis columns and is the costliest chapel is Portugal. Side displays on each side of the altar house bones, skulls and other relics from various saints. Yes, it is very creepy!!

Next stop was that Cervejaria da Trinidade, the oldest beer hall in Lisbon. Once a dining hall for monks, built in the Masonic tradition, the mastery became a brewery in 1834. We each had a beer and enjoyed the beer hall mosaics and vibe.

We continued our walk through the Largo do Carmo, a tree lined square filled with people and cafes. Now in the Chiado neighborhood, we stopped at Our Lady of the Martyrs. The beautiful basilica was named for all the soldiers who fought the Moors for the conquest of Christianity.

We stopped for lunch, then take a tram around the city for a last look. We did a little final shopping, stopping to try the ginjinha, the cherry liquor, a glass of wine at the Wine Hotel nearby, before returning to pack.

Our final dinner in Portugal was arranged by Heidi and Oliver, at a wonderful nearby restaurant. Rain had returned, so no roof top cocktails this time, but ended with after dinner drinks at the Tivoli Hotel.

Lisbon is an easy and beautiful city, one which we would love to return to. Portugal is a wonderful country, and its capital shines in the warm glow!!

A Beautiful Day in Sintra

ON OCTOBER 18, 2019 BY MARYELLEN61

Wednesday, Maryellen had booked a tour of Sintra through Greenwalk’s, as recommended by her sister, Patti. So we made the 40 minute trip via Uber to Sintra.

Our guide, John, who was from Sintra, was quite knowledgeable in all the details about the city and its history.

Our walk began through the small town of Sintra, passing the oldest hotel in Europe. Sintra had several recently created Moorish styled monuments, as a testimony to the Moors who occupied this area before being run out by the Portuguese.

Located on a mountain, Sintra has a very pleasant climate, and beautiful views. In the 1800s, the royal family built a very large summer resort called the National Palace with an unmistakable pair of cone shaped chimneys.

A Portuguese billionaire built a magnificent residence, Quinta da Regaleira. John, our guide, walked us through the gardens, the primary residence, and number of unique features built into the garden.
A spectacular experience was walking down a well that went nine stories deep with stairs spiraling around it’s wall used by Masons as a ceremonial site.

We were then driven to the backside of the Pena Castle, built in the 1800s. It began initially as a monastery before an expansion by Portuguese nobility.

The park surrounding the Pena Castle had stunning views of foliage and trees from around the world. The park was a rainforest on top of a mountain in the middle of a dry Portugal.

Exiting the garden we ascended to the castle, that included a walk along the outer castle wall, with magnificent views as far to Lisbon and the Atlantic Ocean.

We returned to the hotel in time to change and go to a Fada restaurant that was a real delight. The restaurant was in a quiet quarter of Lisbon, it’s walls and ceiling must have dated back hundred of years the original construction. There were four performances throughout the dinner service, each with either a solo or group of Fado vocalists. The music and performances were exceptional!

Beginning In Baixa

ON OCTOBER 16, 2019 BY MARYELLEN61

We started Tuesday, after leaving the hotel around 10, with a morning walk through the Baixa neighborhood. Baixa is the lower town, Lisbon’s historic downtown.

We strolled to the Praça do Comércio, which is riverfront. Ships used to dock and sell their goods from the Square. Now, the government ministries ring the Square. Cruise ships, riverboats, city buses and tram tours, all begin in this neighborhood along the Square. It even has its own Arch of Triumph, which we walked through, to enter the neighborhood streets of Baixa.

We explored The streets which were aligned with post earthquake buildings. All with different colors, the buildings gave a Parisian feel to the neighborhood.

We continued walking through Baixa, stopping at the Church of Sao Domingos. The church, which was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1755, houses a chapel to Our Lady of Fatima, which was ringed with candles.

After leaving the church, we stopped by a hole in the wall, where we tasted ginjinha, which is a liqueur made from the ginja berry. For 1.50 euros, we each had a shot glass filled with the liqueur and two sour cherries, from the oldest ginjinha joint in Lisbon!!

We had a late afternoon food tour with Ruthy from Treasures of Lisboa in the Alfama neighborhood. There were 14 other hungry patrons on the tour with us, roaming the very hilly section of Lisbon.

in the first restaurant, we sampled olive oil and bread, and cod croquettes with Sagres beer, followed by sardines on crostini. I was surprised at the size of the sardines, which were very tasty!! No bones, as the sardines are steamed and canned, and the bones become soft.

The next restaurant had pork sandwiches, salad and green wine, which is young wine from the northern region of Portugal, and ferments in the bottle adding fizz. Green wine is native and unique to Portugal. We also tried a tart with cod and onion jam, which I did not like as much.

The third restaurant was an old cozy neighborhood restaurant that specializes in sausage. We had cheese and sausage, as well as red wine and another shot of ginjinha, which we already discovered earlier in the day!!