Bella Giornata Tours
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • BLOG
  • Tours Booking Now!
    • Booking NOW! Rome and Tuscany!
    • Booking NOW-Amalfi Coast!
    • Girlfriends on the Go!
    • Rome, Lower Tuscany and Umbria
    • Build Your Own Tour!
  • Client Buzz
  • Irene's wine rack...
    • Italian Wines
    • Pacific Northwest Wines
    • South American Wines
    • French Wines

Why Umbria?

11/19/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
People often ask me why I am so enamored with taking people to Umbria when most tourists want to go to Tuscany. Maybe it is because I am so comfortable there. While living in Rome, Umbria was the closest place to get away to for the weekend. Its hill towns are so incredibly charming. Its food is so delicious. Its lesser known wines are incredible. Every area of Italy believes (and rightly so) that their specialty foods and their local wines are the best, but I fell in love with Umbria’s first and they will always hold a special place in my heart. 

Umbria is chock-full of great places to visit, but on this particular trip most of my time was spent on the eastern side with the bulk of my time in Spello, the area around Bevagna and Trevi. 

Spello is a little gem of a hill town. For some reason, it seems to have more than its fair share of great restaurants. Poor me. It’s so hard to make a decision on where to eat; they are all so good. And for such a small town, it seems to have an incredible number of great shops as well. Start at the top at the store that sells all things made from olive wood, and work your way down the hill, through ceramics, linens, and fabulous food products. Below, you will see some of the many great dishes I have been lucky enough to partake of in Spello. On the left is a delicious plate of mixed bruschette. In the middle is a fabulous molded appetizer filled with potatoes and porcini mushrooms and topped with a sauce made with cheese and truffles. And on the right is a wonderful mixed grill plate, cooked right in front of me in the open fireplace. Fabulous! PS: These three dishes are from three different restaurants.
Bevagna and its surrounding countryside is filled with wine opportunities. I was able to fit in two wonderful wine tastings on this trip; one at a place I’ve been to sooooo many times before (and love going back to), and another at a winery that was new to me though I’ve drunk their fabulous wine sooooo many times before. Ahh….Sagrantino and Montefalco Rosso; two of my favorite wines on earth, along with passito, the sweet dessert wine made from sagrantino grapes. Sigh. The third photo below, is a serving of homemade cookies with a glass of passito at a restaurant in Spello.
On this trip, I also stumbled across a couple of new and wonderful places to return to. One is a beyond-fabulous mill/bakery which I will be writing more about in a future blog post. Another is a factory outlet for cashmere clothing. I now own a green cashmere cape. Yes. It’s green. And it’s a cape!
Picture
My last bit of time in Umbria was spent in wonderful Trevi. I’ve found a “new” (newly refurbished) hotel for my future clients to stay in that is simply so charming; I can’t wait to bring people there. The people who run the hotel are incredibly nice; I know my travelers will be so happy there. Trevi is fast becoming a great food destination and hosts an abundance of food related festivals. The countryside is filled to the brim with olive oil trees, making it one of the “olive oil capitals” of Italy. I am so excited to return.

My research trip has come to a close. Where did the time go? With a final night in Rome, my trip will be over. As usual, I either start, or in this case end my trip to Italy at my favorite pizzeria in Rome.  I share a fiori di zucca (zucchini flower) pizza with an old friend and top it off with an incredible gelato at a nearby gelateria. The pizza from this place never fails to make me swoon. I have told the owner in the past, "When I eat pizza here.....I know I am truly in Rome." Do you see the little green flecks in the gelato? They are pieces of real, fresh mint leaves, making this THE best mint chocolate chip gelato I have ever had!
Italy. It has stolen my heart.....yet again. And each return trip only further strengthens my desire to share my favorite spots with first-time travelers. Return with me, won’t you? Let’s eat, drink and sightsee our way through Rome and the countryside together. Don’t be surprised if Italy steals your heart as well. Drop me a line at:mailto:irene@bellagiornatatours.com

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Instagram

    RSS Feed

    Follow Me on Pinterest

    Italophile......
    are  you one?

    According to Webster's, if you are "friendly to or favoring what is Italian", you are one! Interested in Italy?  Me too! Follow my ramblings and recipes if so inclined.  I'll try to visually capture memories of Italy and share some of my favorite recipes.  Want the real flavor of Italy though?   Then.....let me take you there.

    Archives

    January 2018
    November 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All
    Amalfi Coast
    Art
    Assisi
    Bagnoregio
    Bevagna
    Bomarzo
    Capri
    Carnevale
    Chocolate
    Coffee
    Culture
    Deruta
    Drink
    Florence
    Food
    Girlfriends On The Go!
    Gubbio
    Lazio
    Lecce
    Markets
    Montalcino
    Montefalco
    Naples
    October 2013
    Olive Oil
    Orvieto
    Perugia
    Pienza
    Pompei
    Positano
    Praiano
    Puglia
    Recipes
    Rome
    Semproniano
    Shopping
    Sicily
    Spello
    Spoleto
    Spring 2013
    Todi
    Tuscany
    Umbria
    Walla Walla
    Washington State
    Wine
    Wine Tour October 2012
    Wine Tour October 2014