Coloriamo i cieli - Lake Trasimeno May 2011

Let's colour the skies! From 29 Apr to 2nd May the skies at Castiglione del Lago at Lake Trasimeno will be full of kites of more different shapes, sizes and colours than you can imagine!

“In the kite I have always seen freedom and joy, a message of peace carried on by a wind knowing no bounds”.

This sentence by Jane Parker is the “manifesto” of the Coloriamo i cieli founders. It still represents the meaning of this 20th edition of the festival, fusing the themes of peace and protection of the environment.

It's a great day out for all the family with bouncy castles and ball pits for kids and loads of stands selling the latest in kite flying gear plus lots of places to get a bit to eat (this is Italy after all!).

Check out the weblink for the latest news: Coloriamo i Cieli, Lake Trasimeno

For a place to stay: www.villabastiola.com

Why I love Umbria!

There are things that can always surprise you in life and one of the wonderful things about Umbria and Italy is the spontaneous, generous nature of the locals! Having lived previously in London where everyone very much keeps to their own business, here it can be a little overwhelming that all of your neighbours know what's happening in your life!

As I found out yesterday though, this can have it's advantages!

I have some friends over visiting for a week and we decided to pop out for a quick drink (and I promise, I only had a non-alcoholic one!) in the evening. Driving home up the hill my friends spotted a porcupine! If you've never seen one, they're actually pretty big and it's amazing to see them in real life. I rolled the car back down the hill to get a better look and ended up slipping off the road down into the ditch!!!!!!!!!

As usual when you really need a mobile there's no signal, so my friend set off up the hill to walk the 5 minutes to our house to get help. She gave me instructons to stay in the car, lock the doors and close the window. Laughing, I told her that this is Umbria and that within 2 minutes somebody would come by that I knew.

And that's exactly what happened! One of our neighbours drove up, stopped, assessed the situation, went home to get his Panda 4x4 and came back to help tow my car out the ditch. In the meantime, 2 other sets of neighbours went by, all stopped for a chat and a laugh at the crazy English woman who drove into a ditch to look at a porcupine, made sure I was OK and then went on their way.

Most embarrassing of all, the following morning I went down to the local florist to get a plant to say thank you and found that everyone in the shop already knew about the porcupine incident, thanks to the fact that the florist was one of my neighbours that saw the whole thing the previous night.

What a great end to what could have been a pretty difficult situation!

www.villabastiola.com come and have your own adventures!

Weekend in Umbria

We had some friends over visiting from the UK this weekend, so finally took some time out to do some sightseeing and remembered just what is so special about this part of Italy and Umbria. It's always interesting seeing it through the eyes of others, like seeing it for the first time again. We didn't do anything particularly special, but the whole area is just so beautiful that even driving around is a treat in itself.

First off, we went down to Perugia and parked so that we came up into the old medieval town centre which belonged to the Baglioni family. It was filled in and vaulted over in the Papal salt wars with the Rocca Paolina built on top just to remind the Perugians who was boss.

Painstakingly excavated you can now walk up through the old medieval streets, and into the houses and imagine just what it might have been like in those times. Strolling down the Corso Vannucci from the Brufani Hotel, the architecture changes from Rennaisance (the Rocca Paolina was destroyed in 1860 with the Perugians stating their claim to their own city) to 12century by the Fountain, the Town Hall, the National Museum of Art and Collegio del Cambio and is totally breathtaking. Great to see the locals buzzing around just doing their thing too!

We did a small round trip the following day to Cortona (OK, it's just over the border in Tuscany!) which although is very touristy, still has so much charm and history and incredible views. We had a wonderful lunch in FuFluns (very reasonable, home cooked Tuscan food with a twist) and then drove through beautiful countryside down to Lake Trasimeno for a stroll and an ice cream at Passignano.

It was very relaxed and lazy! There was so much more we could have stopped and investigated, like the Etruscan tombs just outside Cortona or the site of the incredible battle between Hannibal and the Romans at Tuoro (by the Lake).

My friends were overwhelmed by the beauty and living history of this part of Italy and, I have to say, I was too! Don't take my word for it though, come and see for yourself!

We have special discounts on our lovely self catering holiday apartment for bookings made by Easter 2011! Look at http://www.villabastiola.com/ for more details or email me at info@villabastiola.com.

150 years of unified Italy!

Last Thursday saw Italy celebrating 150 years of unification! Berlusconi's government decided to mark the event with a bank holiday!

Although there were flags, bunting and banners out everywhere, the day itself was really quiet. People just seemed to enjoy being at home with family having a great lunch and maybe a stroll after. There wasn't a loud ringing of bells or huge parties to celebrate.

Maybe because, Italy still doesn't feel very unified. The social and economic differences between the north and south of Italy are still very marked. Even in this area of Umbria where we live, everything is very local, dialects can change from one village to the next and although formal Italian is taught in schools, youngsters still speak dialect at home as well.

That said, the appeal of Italy, the "thing" that we all dream of when we think of holidaying here, exists from north to south. A love of great food, amazing wines, beauty, talking, discussing, arm waving, family celebrations, sunshine and an open, take-you-to-their-hearts-manner exists wherever you go.

We tried to make the Italian flag with some cupcakes but it came out long and skinny (see the photo)!!

Alistair Sawday's Special Places to Stay

The lovely self catering holiday apartment at Villa Bastiola has been chosen as a Special Place to Stay by Alistair Sawday!

We are over the moon about this as there is a very tough selection process to get through. First you have to submit on line with a detailed brief about what makes your holiday home so special.

Then they send an inspector to visit! We had our visit at the beginning of March, which isn't the best time of year as it can look quite bleak here, but luckily the inspector can see beyond the winter and imagine how it will be during the season for our guests!

The inspector then submits a report to head office who make the final decision on selection. We are just waiting to hear the details to set up our page on their website and from next year we will be in the new 2012 guide book for Italy!

PS The photo is of one of our early summer visitors! Can't wait to see them again!!!

Perugia - Stansted with Ryanair

Low cost flights to Perugia from the UK

Door to door in under 6 hours (from my home in Umbria to Hitchin, Herts)

I came over to the UK last Friday for the first time in over a year, leaving Umbria from Perugia airport, and am still crowing about how easy it all was!

Although Perugia airport is undergoing expansion (to be finished in June they say...), check in was really efficient. Travelling with a toddler, I left it quite late to arrive at the airport to save too much hanging around in the departure lounge and was expecting to tag on to the end of a very long queue. Far from it, in less than 10 minutes, suitcases and car seat were checked through, we'd waved goodbye to daddy and were looking out the window of the departure lounge waiting to go!

I put this down to the efficiency of the lovely staff at Perugia airport and the fact that all the check in details are now done on line at home. I have to admit, online check in wasn't the easiest process, but if you take your time and don't rush, it's OK!

We were overjoyed to see the incoming flight land at 3.30pm, well ahead of schedule and by 4pm were safely in our seats on the plane awaiting takeoff. Two hours and 10 minutes later we were touching down in Stansted and by the time we had walked about a mile of corridors and passed through customs, our suitcases were already waiting for us.

Coming out into the arrivals area, the only disappointment was that we had arrived so early that my brother hadn't made it to the airport in time to meet us!!!!!

The only negative I could find (and there has to be at least one!) was that I wanted a cup of hot water to make some decaffinated tea for my little one on the flight but was told that wasn't possible. They have hot water but don't have a cup to put it in unless you are going to buy one of Ryanair's instant teas or coffees. Hey ho!

Will let you know about the journey back - can't imagine that getting through Stansted will be as easy as this.

Montone, Umbria, Italy

Montone, Medieval hilltop town, Umbria, Italy

Voted one of the 10 prettiest hamlets in Italy, Montone is an absolute jewel! Only 10 minutes drive away from the apartment at Villa Bastiola, this medieval hilltop town is beautiful preserved with stunning views over the Upper Tiber Valley.

It is host to the annual Umbrian Film Festival when a huge silver screen is hung in the centre of the piazza and films are watched in the warmth of a summer evening under the Umbrian skies. In 2004, Colin Firth was awarded the status of Honorary Citizen of Montone and given the key to the town by the Mayor as part of the Umbria Film Festival.

The cobbled streets wind their way up to the top of the town, passing through Piazza Fortebraccio (pictured left), where there are stunning views every where you look!

At the top of the town is the excellent restaurant, Erbaluna, well worth the walk up.

In the autumn, the narrow streets are packed with stalls for the Festa del Bosco (Woodland Fair), selling everything from Porcini mushrooms, to cheeses, olive oil, hot chocolate and home-made crafts and the wonderful smell of roast chestnuts abounds.

Montone revels in its medieval history and every year, the villagers dress up in wonderful medieval costumes and parade through the centre to celebrate the holy relic, the Santo Spino (Holy Thorn), given as a gift to the legendary mercenary, Fortebraccio, ruler of Montone in the middle ages. The Sbandieratori (Flag Throwers) of Sansepolcro demonstrate their skills in a colourful spectacle not to be missed.

All in all, a fantastic little village, perfect for a days sightseeing and only 15 minutes drive from the apartment at Villa Bastiola.