Kitchen and dining room where we spent many evenings cooking and enjoying wine
The beautiful alfresco dining area at L'Ariete where we enjoyed Martina's wonderful dinners and many sunny caprese salad lunches
Pathway to Montone
Firstly, the people we met at L'Ariete were what made it special. Our hosts Andreas and Martina, were always smiling and despite their long to-do lists (clean the pool, feed the sheep, drive to Rome or Florence for pick ups, harvest grapes, prepare dinner for guests, laundry, etc.) they were always willing to stop for a chat with us. Also staying at L'Ariete while we were there were two wonderful couples who became our good friends. Tony and Chris from Portland (so close to home, they're daughter goes to school at UBC!) were so much fun and we bonded over many conversations about delicious food and wine. We also got to know Udo and Dagmar, a couple from Hamburg, Germany who are blind, but clearly live life to its fullest. We were humbled and amazed on several occasions by Udo and Dagmar and learned a lot from them.
Us with Tony and Chris from Portland
Dagmar and Udo from Hamburg
In addition to enjoying the wonderful meals Martina made for us at her in-house restaurant at L'Ariete, we often made dinner in our apartment with ingredients straight from their garden. Although end of the season, we found several tomatoes and eggplants to cook up with pasta for dinner, caprese salads for lunch, and watermelons and figs to enjoy for breakfast. These were some of our favourite meals in Umbria. And yes, Mitchell ate lots of tomatoes! And for the most part, I think he enjoyed them!
Mmm, burrata from the market and tomatoes from the garden
Fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden in our pasta for dinner
We were so very lucky to have amazing weather the whole time we stayed in Umbria. For 13 out of 14 days we had sun and 25-28C weather during the days, which meant the pool was still open. Normally, a 68-72F pool would not be my cup of tea, but for some reason we embraced it, swimming about a kilometre most days. Must have had something to do with the beautiful sun, the fact that we were surrounded by the rolling green hills of the Italian countryside, and wanting to feel somewhat productive for at least half an hour a day after several indulgent weeks of travelling. We swam right up until October 6th!
Rachel doing her daily laps in the pool, joined by Udo and Dagmar
L'Ariete's land is home to grape vines that are about 40-50 years old. And while we were there they were ripe to be harvested. It's funny, planning for our trip we were hoping to volunteer at a winery in France or Italy for harvest time but didn't manage to line anything up, and then by chance Andreas mentioned he was going to tackle his vines on his own. Eagerly, we volunteered to help. Harvesting with Andreas was definitely a unique experience. He and Martina had only been operating L'Ariete since December, so they have no idea what kinds of white and red grapes are growing there, or how to make wine out of them yet. It was a very special first harvest to be a part of, and we have no doubt that in the years to come they will make some delicious wines, jams and jellies out of these grapes.
Mitchell and Andreas in the vines with Montone up the hill in the background
Some additional highlights from our day trips to surrounding villages in the photos below. More churches, art and history than we can sum up in a post!
Trevi - our first market we hit up on our arrival
Gubbio - meticulously preserved medieval village
Sienna's stunning Duomo, inside and out
Sienna's massive central piazza
Apparently, they grow them big in Sienna!
Terni's man-made waterfall, built around 300 BC
One of our favourite cultural sights we visited in Umbria was an exhibition of the works of abstract expressionist and conceptual artist, Alberto Burri. After seeing beautiful and amazing medieval and renaissance art and architectural examples in the churches frescoes and museums, of Italy, it was enriching to experience some contemporary art. His works are housed in two different exhibition spaces, one in the town of Citta Di Castello, and one just outside the town in converted tobacco-drying barns. Burri used one small area of these hangar-sized spaces as his studio, and once inside you can understand why...his works are huge! A native of Citta Di Castello, Burri's work has been exhibited all over the world and credited with influencing many contemporary artists. I think our favourite were works using his 'cretto' technique. You can see it in the black artwork to the right of gallery photo we plucked off the internet, although it doesn't do it justice.
The large tobacco-drying barns exhibiting Alberto Burri works in his hometown of Citta di Castello
Gallery space, and one of Burri's Cretto Nero works
We left L'Ariete and Montone with new friends, a case full of wine from the area, jars of wine jelly and chutney that Martina made from our harvest, amazing memories and hopeful plans to see our friends again sometime in the future. We have a couple more posts to come sharing our adventures in Umbria and Tuscany, including a very memorable truffle hunt and several wine tastings.
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