Agriturismo Podere Ripavecchia Citta della Pieve

December 7, 2009



Didn't know what to expect of Perugia, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. It actually have a very medieval feel to it. It sits atop a mountain and I can see why it was originally located here as one gets a very beautiful view of the valley below….and any wandering mauraders! Italy is on a 4 day holiday since the Feast of the Immaculate Conception falls on Tuesday. The ...

... centaines de grottes qui se trouve sous la ville. Ces grottes auraient ete creuse au tout debut, quelques 800 ans avant jesus. Puis elle n'aurait pas ete reutilise jusque dans les annes 1300 ou elles ont ete decouverte. depuis, les gens on commencer a les agrandir , tellement que cela a mis la stabilite de la ville au-dessus en danger. alors maintenant il y a des pilliers dans certaines grottes pour soutenir la ville.

We ended up in Orvieto sa we saw a friends photos of the catherdral and thought it was a must see. The cathedral was like a mini Florence Duomo, but 100% cleaner as the one in Florence is nearly black on the outside with pollution. The front facade on the cathedral is covered in beautiful gold leaf frescos that were glittering in the afternoon sunshine. Had a wander through the old town which was full of life as ...

From the Med we drove inland to the east and into Southern Tuscany. We drove through some plain countryside and were about 2 kms from our destination when we commented on where is the town as we could not see it. Around a hair pin bend and we went wow! There in front of us was the walled city of Pitigliano nested on the top of hill surrounded by deep gorges. We found the perfect park for the night which looked across at the old city, with the highlight being its 16th ...

Down the road from Montalcino we popped into St Antimo Abbey where the local monks say their (7!!) daily prayers in Georgian chants. We caught part of the 12.45pm prayers and enjoyed some down time while listening the chanting. The afternoon was glorious and once again we were in tshirts, so we made the most of it and had a picnic in the sun beside the Abbey.

... just! We found a cute little coffee shop that had the best views over the valley from the toilet of all places!!! Oh yeah and the coffee was good too! Stocked up on some well needed groceries as Scooby's cupboards were bare, then it was time to sample the local Brunello di Montalcino. Brunello must stay in the barrel for 5 years ...

From Chianti went south to the Le Crete region. The drive provided us with more quintessential Tuscan scenery. We stayed overnight in Asciano as we could not make it to Montalcino before dark. We had vowed not to drive in the dark as the small windy roads and excessively erratic Italian drivers are not good for our nerves!

Hi Everyone!

This past weekend was the Perugia Chocolate Festival…It was amazing! Basically, I was in heaven. It was a chocolate lover’s paradise. We took a bus from Florence and arrived in Perugia by mid morning. It was a bitter day which gave me a perfect excuse to have some out of this world hot chocolate and churros. A bunch of my friends and I had lunch at a ...

... ends. Consume gelato. None squint-designer sunglasses. Friday left in afternoon for nearby Pisa. Pisa horrendous display of all unholy. More to be said: tourists galore, only outpopulated by vendors. Leaning Tower of same in every consistency, size, color, angle, etc. Author companion in high spirits with hope of concocting picture: companion pushing over tower by use of perspective. Discouraged on seeing dozens of others have same idea. Picture of ...

... I looked around this awesome apartment filled with tons of cool antiques, highlighted by a beautiful wood chest. When the man finished filling out the paperwork, he tried to tell us some things but since we know more Italian than he knows English, we didn't get too far. I paid him (EUR 65) but since he didn't have change, he asked me to come up to his apartment. We walked up 4 or 5 floors in this awesome building which I think he owned completely. When I got into his apartment, I was ...