Unwinding in Umbria

Morning Sun in Umbria, Italy

The main reason for our stopover in Italy was to get a little work and a little writing done, so our definition of “unwinding” isn’t the same as the typical holiday traveler looking to unplug and do nothing. Still, the tiny little B&B near a tiny little village in Umbria was the perfect place to unwind in any sense of the word.

Umbria is the region of Italy to the south and east of its better known and slightly larger neighbor, Tuscany. We found Umbria nearly identical to Tuscany in every regard that really matters, namely food and wine. That’s not true: the rolling countryside also very much matters, and Umbria might actually excel a bit in that regard with a few sharper mountain peaks. In one additional regard, Umbria most definitely excels: price. There’s a cost advantage to traveling in the lesser-known neighboring areas.

Our B&B was Podere del Buongustaio (poderedelbuongustaio.it). It is nestled into the hillside in the shadow of the village of Montegiove with a splendid-looking castle with a commanding view of the Umbrian countryside. It’s a tiny little place offering only a large, self-catering 2-bedroom apartment occupying the bottom floor, and 2 double rooms on the upper floor. The small size means owner Adje Middelbeek can devote great personal attention to her guests.

Dinner at Podere del Buongustaio

Adje is a Dutch expatriate. She was a chef and B&B owner back home in Utrecht who came to Italy seeking what any casual visitor to this part of Italy seeks, a bit of the La Dulce Vita. She just gets to enjoy that sweet life every day in between looking after her guests and her three friendly dachsunds. As you can imagine, her cooking is a major attraction at Podere del Buongustaio (which, I think literally translates to “Gourmet Farm”). Her B&B guests get to enjoy her famous breakfasts (she was co-author of a Dutch book on breakfasts), and both B&B guests and self-catering apartment guests can optionally avail of her dinners, which she describes as Asian-influenced fusion.

The tiny village of Montegiove is an uphill hike of 20 to 30 minutes from Podere del Buongustaio and offers terrific views of both sides of the valley. If you’re lucky enough to track down Johnny, he’ll open his wine bar just for you. He doesn’t speak English, so just remember wine is “vino” and beer is “bira”. Halfway up the hill, start reminding yourself the downhill walk is much easier.

Speaking of hikes, the nearby La Scorzuola is worth a look. On TripAdvisor.com it’s listed as the #1 attraction for the nearby village of Montegabbione (Montegiove is closer, but Montegabbione is a metropolis by comparison). La Scorzuola is an active convent originally founded by Francis of Assisi himself. In the chapel there’s an early painting of the saint, who founded the Franciscan Order and is the namesake for our current pope. We went on a Sunday afternoon without planning and unfortunately it wasn’t open to the public so we could only admire it from the outside. We’ll put it on the list for next time.

Also on the list for next time is the village of Castiglione del Lago. We got to spend a few hours in this picturesque village town by the lake (lago), enough to know we’d love to stay one day in the future. We suspect there are quite a few such villages in the area, including the “big city” of the region, Perugia, as well as Assisi, Saint Francis’ hometown. Ah, so many Italian villages, so little time.

A Market in Castiglione del Lago

The villages and the hills and the vistas and, yes, the food and wine of Umbria should put it on any traveler’s radar, but a particular joy is running across fellow travelers and making friends. At Podere del Buongustaio we met Jeff and Erin, a couple from Michigan taking a “gap year” of travel after more than a few years, like us, of life and kids and careers. We compared notes on where we’ve been and where we’re going, and enjoyed a few evenings of wine and satellite-spotting with them. Happy travels, Jeff and Erin! We hope to cross paths with you again.