Hello again! This time, we’re not writing while on the road but rather settled in the house that will be our home for the next month. Where is this house? It’s in the outskirts of the small village of Ficulle in Umbria, Italy.
Here, we were welcomed by Jordie and Jasmine, an Italian couple who already have a one-year-old girl named Nour. The three of them are accompanied by Rocco and China (two lovely dogs), three cats and ten chicken. However, this is not the complete list of current guests, as a young Belgian couple (Emily and Julien) have been staying here for a week.
This is the first house of our sabbatical. Initially planned and agreed to start in Scotland, our arrangement was canceled a month before it began, forcing us to look for an alternative with some urgency. The problem was eventually solved with Jordie’s invitation to come help with their new truffle plantation and also with the room of little Nour. This is the story that brought us here.
Arriving on Thursday afternoon and finishing the Friday morning work session, we had a whole weekend for ourselves. Both Rome and Florence are less than two hours away by train but require some planning. Therefore, we decided to use our free Saturday doing a roadtrip through some of the most iconic villages of Umbria.
The itinerary turned out to be Assisi, Spello, and Montefalco. The first is known for the saint who was born and lived there – Saint Francis of Assisi. Many tourists and pilgrims pass through this city and visit its main monument, the double basilica of St. Francis. It is truly a wonderful building, open to the public, and we even had the opportunity to witness a mass near the crypt of St. Francis of Assisi himself. Spello and Montefalco are beautiful examples of old towns that can be found scattered throughout Umbria. Built on hills, with excellent views and picturesque streets.
It was an enjoyable day, but our hearts would be even fuller with our last stop – the Moretti family’s house and shop. Recommended by Jordie, we came with the intention of buying a bottle of their table wine (they sell it by the liter for €2.2, €11 per large bottle) and ended up tasting their entire range at the invitation of Mrs. Moretti herself. Not speaking English was not an obstacle for this lady, and we will not easily forget how well we were treated on this day.
On this positive note, we conclude this blog entry. Sunday was a day of rest here on the farm, but this Monday and Tuesday brought us to total exhaustion. We’ll talk more about that in the next one!
Until next time!
Ricardo and Mar