Visit the photo set Città della Pieve on Flickr.
After four days in Rome, we returned to the Aeroporto Internazionale Leonardo da Vinci di Fiumicino to pick up a rental car for the rest of our trip. Our destination: southern Umbria and an agriturismo (a farm-based bed and breakfast), Agriturismo Madonna delle Grazie near the town of Città della Pieve. The day itself was not the best for driving; we experienced a steady rain all the way along the autostrata.
Arriving at the agriturimso, we checked in and spent a quiet afternoon reading and playing Carcassonne on the iPad. We took the half board option and joined the few other guests and the owner’s family for a delightful dinner. We had a bottle of the house vino rosso, made right on the premises, along with a simple bruschetta made with garlic and olive oil, a bean and pork dip, penne with a cream sauce and beef with peas. The owner shared a glass of his homemade lavender-flavoured grappa afterwards.
The next day, the weather had cleared and the sun had come out. Robin and I decided to hike uphill to the town of Città della Pieve. We strolled through the old city and had a wonderful lunch of pizza and wine at the Ristorante Taverna del Perugino. I had a truffle pizza, a specialty of the region and the caramel panna cotta we had for dessert made us want to try to recreate it at home.
Coming down from the town, the skies started to cloud over and we were treated to a hour of Jacob Ladders over the main valley which made for some fun photography moments.
Dinner on the second night at the agriturismo was as good as the first night. This time, we had a tagliatelle for the primi and Parma ham and roast potatoes with rosemary for the secondo and a simple cake for the dolci.
All in all, Robin and I were both charmed by the location and would certainly like to visit the area again and perhaps do some hiking or cycling as well.
