On The Move Again ....   With a little sadness we left Paris after really enjoying our 8 nights in this beautiful city.    We particularly enjoyed our apartment and its fantastic location.   We took a flight from Orly Airport to  Pisa in Italy, picked up a car at Pisa Airport and immediately started heading North towards our next main destination of Lake Como.   We had one unplanned day before we had to be at Lake Como and decided to head to the Italian Riviera to a town called Forte dei Marmi and what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be.  We selected nice accommodation called Hotel Goya just on the edge of the town and after check-in they lent us two bikes with which to go exploring.  Imagine our surprise when instead of being confronted with a small town, we rode into a very wealthy and high class village with marble pavements, marble gutters and an array of high class boutiques such as Gucci and Prada. This place really just oozed money with a continual stream of Mercedes, BMW's, Ferrari's and Range Rovers going down the main street.  Even the maid's car was a Peugeot.  A nice meal at a local bistro, a very good night's sleep, and we left early the next morning for Lake Como.

An Italian Paradise - Lake Como ....   The drive to Lake Como from Pisa is Autostrada all the way and you have to give it to the Italians.  They can really build bridges and tunnels as this high speed road passes through massive mountains and deep valleys and all at 140 kph.  A short stop at an Autogrill for a coffee and in no time we were in Varenna on Lake Como, ready for the short ferry ride across to Tremezzo and our hotel.  Our hotel, La Perla booked off the internet, is an absolute gem.   Perched high on the hillside overlooking Lake Como this near new, family run hotel is fantastic.   Great views with snow capped mountains, beautiful rooms, very friendly owners and only a short drive down to the township of Tremezzo.  Our three full days in Lake Como have been an absolute joy.  An all day ticket on the ferry took us to Bellaggio, Menaggio, Varenna and back to Tremezzo.  We had a full day trip to Como and another day driving along the winding coastal road towards the Swiss borders.  Lake Como really is a region in Italy where you could spend an extended period of time.

A Medieval Village ....  Montone has not really changed in the four years since our last visit and it was like meeting an old friend returning to this beautiful medieval village.  Carlo (our friend) was there to greet us on arrival.  He had been waiting all day and was so excited that we were coming to stay.  Carla is still the owner of the gift shop, Martine is the owner of the Tabacheria and runs the Erba Luna Restaurant along with Claudio.  Silvio the 84 year old man is seen wandering around the piazza every day.  He really misses Maria, his wife, who died just after we left last time.  John Marco is the owner of the restaurant in the piazza and there is also Guido the owner of the Alimentaria (delicatessen) who sells everything you need if you don't want to travel out of the village to the supermarket in nearby Umbertide.  There is the elderly couple  Luciana and her husband Carlo who venture down into the piazza and Christina who runs the hairdressing salon in the piazza.  Her mum and dad own the pizza shop.  All their faces are so familiar now. 

Stairs, Stairs, And More Stairs ....  Our villa is just 100 metres from the piazza and is in a very quiet area of the village.  It is on three levels which keeps both of us pretty fit.  The staircase is made of stone and from the front door there is a second bedroom, bathroom and laundry.  It is then up a steep flight of stairs to the kitchen and living area then up another flight to the main bedroom and bathroom with the windows looking out over the Umbrian countryside. It is a very nice, fully restored villa in traditional Italian style and we are enjoying the different experience to our last time in 2006 when our villa was located on the piazza.

A Change Of Pace ....   Our days here in Montone for the first week consisted of having coffee in the piazza with friends, talking to Carlo who would spend all day with us if he could.  We have some amazing conversations with Carlo...all in Italian but we get by.  We also have to fit in siestas when everything closes down from 1.00pm - 4.00pm. and so the day just drifts along until 4.30pm when people re-appear in the piazza for a chat or a drink before dinner and bedtime.  Our friends Luke and Alison and their three young children have been living here since January with their children enrolled in the local Italian school.   All lessons are conducted in Italian so it has been a very fast learning experience for the children from both a language and cultural perspective but they have picked up the language relatively quickly.  Alison attends the exercises classes here twice a week so Liz went along for a fitness routine.  The lessons involve a routine which consisted of a hula/belly dancing routine to very indescribable music, and at the end there were stretching exercises.  Quite different to Liz's yoga lessons at home!

Anzac Day, Italian Style ....   Liberation Day (like Anzac Day) here was interesting.  The Montone Brass Band commenced playing in the piazza at 10.30 am (yes on time which can be a bit unusual) so we rushed up to listen along with many of the locals and visitors.  After their concert we walked out of the village to the War Memorial and listened to the mayor of Montone speak through the megaphone, he and welcomed the only Italian survivor of World War 2.  He was helped to the megaphone by his grandchildren and he spoke briefly about his time during the war.  The afternoon at 3.00 PM saw the Montone Aries team play a game of soccer against a visiting team with Montone winning 4 - 2.  We found this to be quite amazing on such an important day in their culture and especially on a Sunday too.  It was interesting to note that the red poppy flower was just starting to bloom and now they can been seen along the side of the road and in the fields mixed with a white small bell shaped flower.  The leaves on the trees are now in full bloom whereas when we first arrived the trees were still in bud.  The beautiful crepe myrtles are also in blossom.  

Not To Be Missed ....  We have returned to a few of our favourite towns which include Monte Santa Maria Tiberino, a small village right on top of a mountain with fabulous views of the surrounding countryside including Cestina and Monterchi.  Anyone reading this website and planning to visit Umbria should not miss this tiny little village which has only one cafe/alimentari to service the entire village.  

Oh Those Eyes ....   Another trip was to Perugia with Luke & Alison to see a fantastic exhibition of photography by Stephen McCurry, an American photo journalist.  The exhibition was quite confronting showing photography from Afghanistan, Iraq, 9/11 World Trade Centre, India, China, and other Third World Countries.  He is known for the insights of the people in Central and South East cultures and the well known "Afghan Girl", a beautiful piece of photography.

A Day Doing The Tourist Thing ....  Another day we returned to Cortona and repeated the steep climb to the Santa Margherita Cathedral on the top of the hill.  What a climb from the bottom of the town to the top.  Definitely not for the unfit, but the older Italians living in this village seem to manage albeit at a slow pace. Cortona remains a popular tourist attraction in Tuscany because of the book "Under The Tuscan Sun" by Frances Mayes. Castiglione del Lago was another trip for us where we had lunch in a fantastic alimentari (delicatessen).  A platter of cheeses, different salamis, prosciutto and wild bore all washed down with a local vino bianco.  Castiglione del Lago on Lago Trasmeno remains one of our favourite towns in this region because it is not on the main tourist trek and has a number of great alimentaris selling local produce and wines at very reasonable prices.

A Holiday On Our Holiday ....   In our second week we left Montone to spend a night at a town called Rimini on the Adriatic Sea.  We booked into the Aqua Hotel, a really modern hotel close to the beach.  This is an amazing coastal resort town, one of many along the Adriatic Sea coastline, where in the summer Italians by the thousands come down to the seaside for their holidays and stay in the huge number of apartments and hotels.  A bit like the Gold Coast but far more populated.  It was a quiet time of the year here as it is Spring and the commencement of the Summer peak is still a few weeks away.  The workmen are preparing the sand, bathing boxes and deck chairs for the influx of people.  Even the Italian waitress in the bar said "Italians are crazy....they come here and stress because it is so busy".                                                                                      

San Marino, Just Magnificent ......  After an overnight stay in Rimini we drove the 25 km to San Marino, the only self governed province (besides the Vatican) in Italy.  This perfectly preserved fortress town sits on the highest mountain top in the area.  A duty free province so Italians come here to shop for household appliances, clothes and other items.   It was free of the hordes of visitors that come in the summer so we were able to wander the town on a beautiful sunny day and enjoy lunch in comfort.

A Sad Farewell To Montone ....  Our return trip to Montone has drawn to a close and it is with some sadness that we leave this beautiful medieval village in the heart of Umbria.   It was really nice to be able to catch up with the local villagers that we became acquainted with on our first visit here in 2006 and even nicer that they fondly remembered us.   Our only regret is that we have not been able to communicate effectively with them in Italian to better appreciate their culture and unique lifestyle.  We are reminded of how simple the life is here in the village.

It was also terrific to be able to spend more time with Luke, Alison, Meg, Will & Ned, our friends from Dubbo whom we met here in 2006 when we last visited Montone.   We have had so many luaghs and great experiences with them over the last 3 weeks which we will fondly remember.  It was also nice to make some new Australian friends; John and Margaret and their daughters Mary, Katherine and Bernadette who spent a hectic week here in Montone.  I am sure their week here in Montone was enriched by being able to meet with us and Alison and Luke and we very much enjoyed their company.

We have no doubt that we will someday return to Montone to again enjoy the rich ciltural experiences, great foods and wines and beautiful countryside that Umbria has to offer.

Our Final Day in Italy ....  We were up early on a wet Thursday morning and departed Montone for Lucca which is about 25 km from Pisa and the airport.  Arriving around lunchtime, in pouring rain, we spent the afternoon walking the historic town of Lucca. The origins of this town stem back to about 200 years BC and over the centuries it has had four fortification walls built around the city, each one of a bigger diameter, to cope with the growing city.  The outer wall is 4.2 km long and is a major construction of tiny bricks reinforced by an earth backing about 8 meters thick.   It is a massive construction and had the weather been better we would  loved to have walked its entire length.   As you would expect Lucca is very old with many museums and church's but unfortunately the weather and time did not permit us to visit any.  Our final dinner was at a restaurant recommended by the hotel (Restaurant Antica Drogheria established in 1895).  To our surprise we obtained the last table and they were actually turning many people away.   The meals and wines were excellent.   Up early the next morning for the short drive to Pisa International Airport and off to England.   A fantastic 4 weeks in beautiful Italy.