18 more sleeps until we take off for Umbria! We are headed back there again (our third trip in four years to Central Italy) on May 16 - prime time for warm weather and POPPIES in nearly every field. We will be a group of seven, including our leader Linda (Letsgoitaly.com), and will be staying at Maridiana, an agroturismo near Umbertide in the Niccone Valley. Maridiana is home to alpacas who frolic in the fields near the farmhouses. If we are lucky, maybe there will be some new alpaca babies to see during our stay. Each day we'll head off in our van to another hill town, where we'll taste wines and olive oils, visit craftspeople in their studios, and explore Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval sites in the area. For 10 days we'll immerse ourselves in the Umbrian way of life, enjoying the food, wine, and most importantly, the sights, sounds and people of Umbria.
Please check back to this site around the 18th of May for more news from our first stop, Florence. Our plans in Florence include a visit to the Oltrarno section to see crafts studios that have been there for ages, and a day in Fiesole, setting for A Room with a View a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster. It is a small village about a half hour's bus ride from Florence with wonderful views over the city, and a Roman theatre.
