There was a parking space on the street right in front of
the villa, so I ran over and moved the car.
This worked well as we only had to drag the suitcases out the door and
through them in…….one in the trunk and one in the back seat. While I was doing this, John and his wife
left there house and stopped to say good-bye.
They have been very nice and we have both enjoyed our
Boston/Cambridge/MIT/Sasaki connections.
After that I dropped our keys off at the gatehouse. As we were driving up Angelo Masina we saw
Joe returning from his powerwalk in Doria Pamphili……and waved another good-bye
out the window.
The route over to the Autostrada went easily, as I think we
had just missed rush hour traffic. We
were on the road by 9:30. We got gas
after about 45 minutes at an AGIP on the highway, then navigated slightly off
the autostrada to the town of Orte. Andi
had picked up a good article on off-the-beaten track towns to visit when
driving from Rome to Firenze, and this was the first one. It was a very cool hill town with amazingly
skinny streets at the top……a true medieval quarter. We drove right into the old town square and
parked in front of the church. The main
reason for stopping was to track down a nice café with outdoor seating and a
cappuccino! We found the perfect spot.
From Orte we meandered over some amazingly beautiful back
roads through the countryside about 30 miles to a town called Civita di
Bagnoregio. Along the way we also
happened to drive by Bormarzo (Garden of the Monsters) and Capraola (Villa
Lante), both of which we had visited years ago with a group from the Academy
and once when we had a rental car. We also saw some amazing fields of poppies.......it is hard to describe the impact of the color.......quite beautiful and so dramatic!
Civita de Bagnoregio is sited on a remote promontory……more aptly
described as a large rock outcropping.
You cannot drive there and must take a tortuous pedestrian bridge and
uphill climb. We opted not to expend the
effort, as the drama of the location is actually more visible from the
’embarking’ point. We had driven to a
small parking lot just before the bridge, and within 5 minutes several busloads
of Japanese tourists arrived, so it seemed prudent to avoid the crowds and head
in another direction. Some of the people
coming back from the long walk up the hillside were in tough shape……panting and
almost not making the lasts few steps……..so we jumped back in the car!
As we continued on the back roads we drove around Orvieto. We wanted to stop but just did not have the time. Even on prior visits we remembered that it was tough to navigate and bigger than it looked, so we stayed at the periphery.
The next stop was the town of Cetone, which appears to be a
very well-heeled weekend getaway from Rome.
The travel article told us to look for Valentino’s estate. It was beautiful, steep and wonderfully preserved. The strange thing is that nobody was around. We arrived at lunch time, so a bit of this is
understandable……and it was Monday, so a lot of shops were closed…….but this was
eerie! We did a fair amount of walking
and then settled at an outdoor café in the main square, which is owned by a
Ristorante next door which has a Michelin start. It was the busiest place in town. We grabbed two tremezzini and a bottle of
water and had a nice lunch.
Off again, this time for Cortona. This is the Tuscan hill town made famous by
“Under the Tuscan Sun.” Most of the day
we had been driving in the Tuscan sun, but as we arrived at the upper level of
Cortona, the clouds started to move in fast.
From the height of the old historic zone of the city we could see the
rain coming. The old center of the town
is vehicle free, so we parked, but then though better of it and headed back to
the car. Going down the hill, the rain
started about 5 minutes later.
I also need to mention that Andrea’s allergies had now
transitioned into more of a head cold…..complete with a range of coughing,
congestion, throat discomfort and sneezing.
She is an amazing trooper, but we were clearly pushing this travel stuff
a bit too hard (admittedly, I need to take the blame here…….) so we headed
directly for the hotel in Il Borro, in desperate need of a late afternoon nap.
We arrived around 4:30……..which added up to 7 hours of
driving. The hotel was a wonderful
surprise. We knew it was going to be
nice, but it was more than we had anticipated. It is a unique combination, providing the
country residence for the Ferragamo family, while offering a Relais & Chateaux resort for guests. It is a
combination of a 19th century palace with the restoration of a
medieval hill town, where all the old buildings are now renovated for guest
accommodations. The village itself is
relatively small, but picturesque beyond words.
There
is a large spa, tennis, a 3-hole golf course and (of course) horses and a polo
field. You leave your car at the entry
and we were given a quick tour of the grounds by car. There are 750 acres and a lot of very steep
terrain. The cobbled street up to the
village is just wide enough for one car……and we were delivered to the front
door, which faces onto a small piazza.
Our suite is on the second floor and is called “Principessa” (for
Andrea!). It is newly renovated and has
a sitting room, a bedroom and a huge bathroom.
The views are spectacular.
We did only a small amount of exploring in the afternoon and
thoroughly enjoyed a long nap. The
large, new king bed was much appreciated after the rather dilapidated double
bed we survived at the Academy!
For dinner we ventured out to the Bistro. It is one of two restaurants here, and the
more informal one. It was a great dinner
with a nice sunset. Rather than attempt
climbing the hillside back to our room after a bottle of wine, we opted for a
driver to take us. There is also the
reality of wild boar on the property (i.e. nocturnal). Andrea had heard a couple of them get into a
fight in the woods off our balcony!
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