Middle Ages in the Middle Ages

Many of the towns here in Italy have yearly festivals to celebrate their ancient past.  The event for our town of Avigliana took place in the middle of June.  The town is fortunate to have a several neighborhoods that remain with significant number of structures dating from the medieval period between.  Particularly between 12th and 14th century.  There is also  the remains of a  caste that overlooks the town which dates from the 6th century.  We're told that the structure that serves as our apartment is from the 14th century.

So with the narrow cobble streets and these structures as a backdrop for a historical event, all it takes is a town full of citizens in costume to make you feel you have been transported back in time.

The format of the festival is a competition between the neighborhoods within the town.  Each section of the town is decorated with the neighborhood banners.  The one above is for our section "Borgo Vechio (or "old town").    

These three young ladies on horseback back are a very convincing trio of nights on patrol.  It would be easy to imagine the one on the right as a Joan of Arc prepared for battle.

On Saturday there was a parade through one of the old sections of town to the Piazza Conte Rosso in Borgo Nouvo (new town...  not exactly "new" by our standards....).   Representatives from each part of the city paraded in neighborhood costume and colors.  Most neighborhoods included a drum corp, people carrying neighborhood banners, people in costumes representing the typical range of society from wealth to worker as well as military representatives.  And each neighborhood had a horse and rider that would represent them in the ultimate contest of the weekend. 

Following the parade there was a historical reenactment in the piazza.  We didn't really follow the story but it was clear that the arrival of Conte Rosso himself (more or less Prince Charming in this case) was central to the story. 

In case any local maidens got ideas, his countess arrived very shortly after.

Below we see the full royal court observing the festivities.

The final event was another parade with everybody in full costume again.  This time directly down our narrow cobble street and our front door at about eleven in the evening (actually Queen Bee and I were about to go to bed when we heard the crowd begin to pass by).  I was only able to grab my little pocket camera an snap a few shots before its battery died.   (sorry... even if I got this turned the right way in i-Photo, Goggle loads it the wrong way...).

The really amazing thing is how many of the towns citizens put in the effort and investment to prepare for this event.  I am guessing there was nearly three hundred people in that final parade.  The costume are consistently remarkable and seem very authentic.  As I mentioned before, with so many people dressed convincingly and the architecture of the surroundings, it is very easy to imagine you are living in the past for a weekend. 

Jerry's Beach and Bar

We managed to get to Jerry's Beach and Bar (Cala Juncu) twice in our Sardinia trip this July.  This is really our favorite beach in Sardinia (which means it is our favorite beach...  period.)  Similar in size and shape to the "Albany" beach in east of Cedarville but with warm sea water, no black flies and Jerry's.

As with most beaches in Italy, there is a concession that rents beach chairs and umbrellas.  From our perspective this is a nice option.  We're not so inclined to drag 60 pounds of coolers and beach items across sand dunes simply to save a few bucks.  But Jerry's really kicks it up a notch.  Rather than the typical range of sandwiches and small salads that most of these concessions offer, Jerry makes real Italian meals available.

So when you have gotten bored with your book and people watching, you can simply walk up to Jerry's little snack bar and have a wonderful plate of food along with a cold beer or nice glass of wine. On our last visit I had a wonderful shrimp scampi pasta.   On our first visit in 2010 I had an octopus and potato salad.  Actually I was a little apprehensive ordering something like that at a beach bar more or less in the middle of nowhere...  but I was really impressed.  It was amazing.

Of course we don't want to get in a rut so we do like to explore other beaches while we are on the island, but if we have the opportunity to return for a week in Sardinia, we will definitely spend at least two of the days at Jerry's.

2012 June 21 to 25 Umbria Long Weekend

We wanted to get at least one more visit to our favorite destination in Italy before we return to the US.  Borgo Di Carpiano is a small resort located in the hills of Umbria a little north of Perugia.  The countryside is rolling and a mix of the greens of woods, orchards and vineyards, and the gold of fields of grain and sun flowers.  Along the paths and roadside, wild flowers add to the range of colors in the scene.

I am not sure if you would call this a hotel or a B&B.  It seems a little of both.  It is relatively small, 4 cottages and some rooms in the manor house.  It has a very nice pool and access to services like message.  So in some sense it is like a small hotel. But the ambiance is more akin to a B&B where the owners are very involves in attending the guests and the atmosphere is pleasantly social.

The buildings formerly belonged to the church.  It property includes a large manor house which was the living quarters of the priests, a church, and several other small buildings.   The priests' residence has been converted to a number of guest rooms.  The church is now a great room for visitors to congregate over tea.  The out buildings are now converted into cottages.   It sits at the end of a ridge that overlooks a valley that raps around the west, south, and east parameter of the property.  The views give a very nice sense of the surrounding Umbrian countryside.

The resort is owned and run by Marilisa and Ricardo who have extensive experience in hosting guests from their former restaurant and guest house in Antigua.  Borgo di Compiano opened in 2008 and we first stayed there in 2010.  We have returned there every year since.  It is really the perfect place to completely relax.  We if you want to explore the Umbrian hill top towns that are nearby, there are many great day trips within an easy drive, but this time we decided to immerse ourselves in total relaxation for three full days.

We arrived Thursday evening just before the daily social hour that occur before dinner.   We met several of the other guests on the patio that overlooks the valley to the west.  The following day I fell into a agenda that would be standard for our there days...

-Wake up an hour or so before breakfast (while Queen Bee slept a little longer).  Walk around and take some photos or read a book outside.
- Have some tea with a book while Queen Bee got ready for breakfast.
- Breakfast
- Hour walk with Harmony (the resident dog from Antigua)
- Several hours at the pool
- Lunch
- Pool
- Social hour
- Dinner
- Bed

We had originally planned to do some exploring of the region on Saturday.  But the weather was hot and the pool was cool and the food was consistently wonderful so it was hard to convince ourselves to get in the car...  so we didn't.

Hopefully we get back again even if we return the the USA at the end of the year.

Borgo di Compriano viewed from the opposite side of the valley.

The is the main street between the cottages and the main building.  On room is directly below the bell tower.  The shower looks up the tower for an interesting view.  Baby bee used stayed in this room when we visited last year.

The patio is the site for the evening social hours where beverages are served with an interesting little snack each evening.

This pool is perfect.  It overlooks the south valley from the edge of the infinity style perimeter.  This is where we spent out time when we weren't eating something.

Another view of the pool and the view to the south.

Our walking companion taking a rest in the afternoon.

The outside dining area.  Every meal was wonderful.  Ricardo has a great talent for planning great meals, whether for lunch or dinner.  The daily breakfast buffet is very good as well.

The olive oil used in the kitchen come from the olive trees up the hill as do much of the vegetables used for lunch and dinner.

A few photo's of the Umbrian countryside.

An old wagon greets you as you arrive.