Our First Two Weeks - June 24 to July 9 , 2006
Our First Impressions..... As we drove up to Montone we were a little apprehensive as to what was ahead of us, but as we climbed up the hill we looked up and saw a beautifully preserved medieval village which overlooks the lush valley where the Tiber and Carpina rivers join. We had been told that we could drive in to the village and unload our belongings, which we did, and came across the end of the dress rehearsal for the festival called “The Crown of Thorns” held on the third week of August. The people politely moved aside and we drove into the Piazza unloaded our luggage and the results of our first food shopping expedition.
Undiscovered..... Montone is a small medieval village undiscovered by large amounts of tourists and it remains unchanged throughout the centuries and beautifully preserved. Surrounded by sturdy walls, the town is a network of narrow streets, alleys and steep stairways dominated by its imposing bell towers. There are four churches in the village, one has been converted to a post office and apartment, one does not seem to be operational and the other two are in regular use. Sunday is a day where everything closes including supermarkets in the larger towns. Click here to see a map of the walled village of Montone.
A Birds Eye View..... Our apartment is on the second floor and is in a prime position overlooking the main Piazza Fortebraccio. It is very comfortable and larger than we thought. We have a large double bedroom with en suite, a very big lounge that has two three seater couches that convert to beds, a fireplace with a mantle piece stretching right across the room, plus the TV, X box and DVD. The two small balconies overlook the Piazza. Our kitchen adjoins the lounge with table and chairs for six and a good area for cooking. There is also another bathroom including a laundry and an entrance hall. In the picture to the left our apartment is the one with the shutters open on the second floor and below us is Aries Cafe & Bar.
Our First Visitors ..... Two days after arriving, our friends Jan and Eric who had been travelling for 5 weeks in Greece and southern Italy joined us for two days. They arrived in Perugia by train from Rome so we did some exploring of the surrounding area including Castellione de Lago. Here we walked the main street and were beckoned into sample the various salamis, cheeses, red and white wines. Of course, we had to purchase some of these very tasty foods. We walked the streets of Cortona where Frances Mayes 
wrote "Under the Tuscan Sun" but our favourite place was Monte S. Maria Tiberina. This very small village is 688 metres above sea level with stunning views over the Tiber Valley. It was siesta time when we arrived and we walked the peaceful and beautiful laneways of this Medieval village.
We went to Taverna del Verziere, a restaurant 80 metres from home to celebrate Jan and Liz's birthdays. There was no need to catch a taxi back home either. After a World Cup memorable night with the locals, we waved goodbye to Jan and Eric who returned to Rome by train.
World Cup Fever.... We arrived here to find that Italy would be playing Australia in the 1st semi final so of course, we had to put up our Australian Flag on the balcony on the night of the big match. It was a real hit, but as we all know Australia unfortunately lost on the night. The Italians were ecstatic and along with our friends Jan and Eric from Melbourne, we were invited to an outdoor celebration party. We were made very welcome, became gracious losers, and helped them celebrate their win with wine, limoncello and nibbles. They were very hospitable and merry.
An Italian flag now flies from our balcony along with the Australian flag. Italy then went onto beat Ukraine. Naturally the talk of the village is the football. Our third match watching Italy was at Bellagio, Lake Como. We joined all the Italian supporters in the park and watched the match against Germany on a huge screen that had been erected. At the end of the match there was a small number of disappointed Germans fans.
Umbrian Film Festival.... During the summer there are festivals everywhere in Italy and we were lucky to be in Montone for the Umbrian Film Festival. It continues for five nights and a big screen has been erected in the piazza. From our balcony we look across to the screen and down below us approximately 250 people sat on chairs to watch the outdoor movies. Over the five balmy nights we always had the best seats “in the house” and we saw some very interesting movies from around the world.
Our First Excursion.... Having settled in to life in Montone we were ready to take on our first extended tour of Italy to Lake Como, approximately 500km north of Montone. An early morning start saw us leave Montone and by 2.00 pm we had arrived at Lake Como. In Varennon situated on the lake, we caught a car ferry which took across to Cadenabbia. We found accommodation in Cadenabbia with a room overlooking the lake and spent the next couple of days thoroughly enjoying this beautiful and spectacular part of Italy. Lake Como has a network of passenger and car ferries and it is very easy to travel the entire lake by ferry so on our second day we purchased an all day ticket and went off exploring the small villages situated on the lake including Varenna, Menaggio, popular with the English, Bellagio and Lenno. Lenno had a market day so of course we had to stroll around all the market stalls. Again the weather was fine and warm.
Bellagio was one of our favourites. It has very quaint little cobbled lanes full of some exquisite shops. It is popular with the Milanese and the tourists and you hear the accents of the Americans and English, so English is frequently spoken. We enjoyed dinner sitting on the balcony of the Metropole Hotel overlooking the water at night. So romantic. Our time there was too short and we would love to return one day and spend more time exploring.
Day Trips around Montone..... Our days quickly pass by and trying to fit everything into your day including a siesta can be quite difficult at times. Some of the days we have just gone off driving and come across some smaller villages. One such place was Castel Rigone. Just before the village we came across an outdoor eating area set under pine trees in the mountains. We stopped for a cappucino and soaked up the atmosphere then continued on to Lago Trasimena, a large lake popular in the summer as a holiday resort for the Italians. Our closest town is Umbertide 8km down the hilltop. Here there is our supermarket, banking, internet, plenty of shops and everything you need, but very much a working town.
Citta di Castello is about 20 kms on the autostrada. It is a much bigger town with walls around the "storico citta". These towns are more interesting. We have only been there in siesta time and will return to explore it further. Liz went to the hairdresser here and three hours later came out looking a million dollars. It was quite a different procedure from Australian hairdressers and quite involved.
Such a coincidence happened in the hairdresser. The only person who spoke English happened to be an English woman who had been living in Italy for 5 years with her husband restoring an old villa. Her surname, believe it or not was "Jackman" and her husband is involved with the "family tree". She is convinced that there is a connection and will keep in touch with us. She explained that there is not a lot of "Jackman's" in England from where Rob was born. It is such a small world.
In the weeks to come we will explore more of the area, but there is no rush and some days we just relax around Montone.
