Valdichiascio

Tag: Valdichiascio

A long day…

By Alec,

For some reason today was somewhat emotional.   Maybe it was the call from my ex, maybe it was so many other things going on in my head, or maybe it was just that this morning I was woken up at six o’clock and seeing the sky was red, a glorious resplendent sunrise, I had to go down with the dogs to the infinity pool and take photographs.  Now in the quiet of the night as I sit out on my terrace the owls are calling to each other, the crickets humming and the only other sound is that of the river Chiascio down deep in the valley below Bellaugello Gay Guest House, it is peace, a contented peace.

Bobby surveying the sunrise over the infinity pool at Bellaugello Gay Guest House in Umbria, Italy

It has been a long day, I worked hard, and am pleased.  Tonight we hosted dinner on the terrace for a large group of people from our local town of Gubbio.  They had heard about Bellaugello, and were keen to come over for dinner.   Monica and I decided to offer them a menu of typical Bellaugello dishes, our produce, and our recipes, they went down very well.  The guests chose to eat outdoors and were granted a glorious warm evening, the stars twinkling above.  Conversation flowed, until the dishes were brought out, then silence, only contented eating.  Afterwards many thanks to Monica for the great dinner.

I am delighted to have hosted this evening, to have some of the local people experience just what delights Bellaugello has to offer, also to be able to sit and chat with them and host them here.  It may well be the first of many such events over the coming months.

Lunch alfresco

By Alec,

Glorious morning here in Umbria so we are serving lunch outdoors for the guys
Today they have been trekking in Valdichiascio and return to Bellaugello Gay Guest House for lunch and then a well deserved rest and sunbathe at our infinity pool

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life is good!

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A: Gentile Sig.ra Commissario Prefettizio del Comune di Gubbio

By Alec,

Italy may well be in a poor state but this week I discovered just how community spirit is alive and well.

Significant and long-term lack of maintenance, recent large movements of timber, and poor weather have left  the road here in Valdichiascio in a terrible condition.  Last week one of my neighbours went to the roads department in the Comune of our local town Gubbio – them that are supposedly responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the roads to ask that repairs are carried out forthwith.  He was met with the usual, ‘we have no money, we can’t do anything, the Commissario has blocked all spending”  I hear you ask who is the Commissario?

Last year, the council or comune failed to agree a budget and so the mayor was sacked and the town was put into administration.  The person appointed by Rome to oversee the running of the city – but only until the next elections in April is a Commissario Prefettizio.

So the story is that the roads department cannot repair the roads.  Readers who follow my blog might remember me posting about my meeting with the roads director some years ago (‘you made a mistake buying a house where you did’) and subsequent meetings with the then Mayor.  The story was the same then…..  How come?…  Change the record please!

So, time to take the ‘bull by the horns’ and see if something can be done.  A few of us residents here in the beautiful part of Valdichiascio drew up a petition, had it translated and checked, and over the past week I, along with a couple of other neighbours have been circulating all the houses in the valley.  I calculate we are a population of some hundred and twenty adults plus a growing number of children.  Out with Apetto, Jenny hopping in expecting a walk down by the now flooded river Chiascio, but no we are off round the houses.

Nobody has refused to sign, indeed everybody is so positive about the petition, and grateful for the initiative.  It takes time to go round the houses, people are friendly and all want to talk.  A coffee here, a glass of home-made wine there, a slice of home-made cake. my diet is suffering!  Everybody is moaning about the current political situation, the seeming lack of future, hopelessness for youth, strangulation of businesses, never-ending form filling, lack of positive change and endless corruption, pocket-lining and self interest in all layers of bureaucracy and politics here in Italy, we all ‘sing from the same hymn sheet’.  A couple of hours pass and only a few signatures collected, it is time consuming, but very rewarding.

What has come across is the warmth and community spirit of my neighborhood.  Although it is nearly seven years ago, I am one of the most the most recent arrivals, and the latest foreigner to the valley, and with Bellaugello Gay Guest House as my home and business, I guess it was not without a bit of consternation and concern at the outset that the locals greeted my arrival.   If it was so they never let me know, they have been quietly supportive, I am real lucky.  What I discovered in my giro of the houses collecting signatures, of which we now have some 96 signatures (bravi!!) and  there are still a few houses to visit, is  just how warm the welcome is here, and how some of the older residents who I thought might be sceptical or reluctant to engage with me are instead those that want to join me in presenting our petition to the Commissario.  They too are tired of th constant manual hole-filling repairs and want something more substantial done.  It will be a good representation that presents our petition in comune this week, and even if we do not manage to achieve our aim of a comprehensive remaking of the road, and that we are trying very hard to do, we have all discovered that cutting across all social levels we are a cohesive united community.

How to beat the rain

By Alec,

Not cold, but wet, damp and grey, this Sunday morning in Umbria, the sort of day for not getting out of bed, or just slopping around the house in pyjamas, lighting the fire and snuggling up with a good book and gently dozing.  It was not to be…

A flurry of emails, bookings are coming in thick and fast for spring and summer stays here at Bellaugello Gay Guest House, and each needed to be replied to swiftly.  In the midst of all a WhatsApp message:  “Hey Alec do you fancy coming to the Terme at S Rapalano?”  A text: “Alec come over to dinner tonight we are going to open our own Champagne and want you to be with us”

Neither offer could I refuse.  I packed my rucksack with towels, trunks and havaianas and drove up the road to meet my friend.  We nattered constantly on the journey into southern Tuscany and the spa town of San Rapalano.  The windscreen wipers squeakily un-enthusiastic in wiping the rainfall off the windscreen.  The spa was busy, the first car-park full of camper vans (families – young kids – noise – commotion) the second littered with smart shiny high spec cars (young Tuscan’s Christmas presents??).  The spa was busy, but as ever the water was warm and inviting.

Since my last visit they have remodeled the outdoor pool.  No longer is it a stark rectangle, gone the small deep plunge pools that lead to the giant but cool swimming pool on the lowest terrace.  Now is all sensual curves.  The serpentine curves give privacy, even the entrance steps of which there are many are set into small intimate basins.  The water inside was real hot, that outside cooler but very comfortable, the terme was indeed full of families, the beau monde of Toscana nowhere to be seen, unless they were all in the deep recesses of the pools….

Three hours later we were back on the road towards Perugia and Gubbio and then to drink champagne.   Bubbles, sublime bubbles – No! there were none, the cork just feebly fell out of the bottle, what a disappointment.  My host apologized then noticed the white collar around the bottle… “No” he exclaimed!  “this is not my champagne it is a friend’s wine and I put the white collar on to remind me but I forgot wheat it meant” (I so know the feeling – why, what is that, why did I do that, does it mean anything or is it merely decorative??)  Down he went to the cellar and swiftly back brandishing another bottle.

A flourish, off with the wire capsule, thumbs under the cork and pop!  the cork flew across the room hit the ceiling, and bounced along the entire length of the dining table.  The wine was ruby red, softly sparkling, dry and refined and without chemicals or sulphates. Utterly drinkable, divinely so……

A spa day followed by champagne dinner, wet on the outside wet on the inside, the life of an adoptive Umbrian peasant is not half bad.

Pranzo per Valdichiascio

By Alec,

Since arriving in Italy nearly five years ago one of my greatest delights is the closeness and friendliness of my neighbours here in Valdichiascio, near the beautiful medieval town of Gubbio.  I am real lucky with my neighbours, they are great, supportive and very welcoming, here there is a real sense of community, something fundamental to me.

I am told that traditionally there was alway a summer valley gathering, a picnic with all familes bringing abundant dishes and in many cases their own valley grown wines.  In recent years this has faded, but for the first time last Sunday a large group of neighbours were rallied and met for lunch at a restaurant owned by the family of my nearest neighbours.

Roberto and his team fed us a veritable seafood banquet, it was a delightful lunch, a time to catch up on news – although relatively small the valley is big, or at least houses are well spread out, so often apart from passing in the car we have little opportunity to meet,  it is a working valley, populated with people with real jobs, so we are all always busy.  There was also time to discuss things that we need to do communally, talk of a new community library in the tower of a recently restored house, deep discussions on the serious lack of water,  and crucially the appalling state of public road surfaces that meander through the valley, including that to Bellaugello Gay Guest House need to be resolved.

In an attempt to have them repair the road, I recently had a meeting with the Commune of Gubbio.  The road is public all the way to and beyond Bellaugello.  The office informed me that the commune do not repair the road – I know – it is public – I know – I can pay to fill in the holes and repair it with a private contractor – why? it is a public road and in the winter, the most damaging time used at speed by hunters at speed in their 4x4s…….  Today Roberto and I go back to once again plead our case.

On a bright side, it was agreed that we revive the Valdichiascio Summer Picnic gathering, of course guests staying at Bellaugello at the time will be welcome (but not forced) to attend, and just maybe that will be a suitable time to report on the delightful state of the roads!

Bygone values – real friendships

By Alec,

Yes, unsurprisingly we still have snow here in Umbria, central Italy, at least places like Gubbio, Gualdo, Norcera and Norcia in the foothills of the apeninnes.  The cold wind continues to blow from the east, and the road to Bellaugello Gay Guest House is blocked by a snowdrift.  So, to quote a line from one of my favourite Eartha Kitt songs ‘no-one was allowed to come in and no-one was allowed to leave the hotel’ – by car that is, however it did not stop me accepting an invitation to lunch at good friends’ farm on the other side of the valley.  I have been blocked in for almost a week and done little but eat to excess and sip on delicious Sagrantino di Montefalco, the ruby rich wine of Umbria, so a good walk and the chance of a chat face to face with a human being was not to be sneezed at, on with the winter gear, and armed with a pair of walking poles off I set for the 1 1/2 hour trek across the valley

Bellaugello Gay Guest House sits on a south facing elevation at some 500 meters of altitude, which has meant that we have not experienced the very worst of the weather, however the road through Valdichiascio has some parts that are completely open to the east, and the altitude rises to some 630meters and with wind straight from Siberia, it is no wonder the road soon gets blocked.  Yes somebody is paid to clear  the road, but they are not always as assiduous as they should be.

The road side is littered with wonderful wind blown snow sculptures

I had just turned into the track leading down to Pratale, the farm to which I was invited to lunch, and to which some of you guys who have stayed at Bellaugello have also been fortunate to visit when I saw Martin and his faithful Camargue horse Papu on snow clearing duties.

And so on the way back down the hill I hitched a ride – or rather was asked to add my now considerable weight to the plough to better clear the track.  I used to be a very keen skiier, but this was a new and slightly alarming experience and not the most dignified way to arrive for lunch

A warm welcome awaited, lunch in front of a blazing fire, divine home-made sheeps’ milk mozzarella and pasta rich with sauce, all from home grown ingredients, washed down with organic wine from the Pratale vinyard.

On the way back up the hill, no offer of a lift this time I noticed! I passed close by the donkeys and sheep sheltering beneath the snow covered olive treesAs I walked past the sheep, the lambs ran to keep up with their mothers, some leaping high into the air, it always amazes and delights me how they can just spring so high in the air and then run off with a skip and a jump.  The route home took me to stop off at two further houses, a chance to catch up on valley news, discuss the various calorific values of different types of wood and efficiencies of various wood-burning stoves, lack of water in wells, lack of road maintenance, and at Monica’s to be once again spoilt with tea and delicious home-made cakes.  My 3 hour walk which was supposed in part to be burning off the excess calories of the past week, ended up being a gourmet trek, what an utter delight!

Sunshine – but still green

By Alec,

The sun continues to shine here in Umbria as it has done for the past month.  Despite the lack of rain the garden and surrounding countryside at Bellaugello Gay Guest House near Gubbio is looking lush and verdant.  We are lucky to have our own spring, which up till now is still pouring forth cool clear water, enough to keep the garden maintained.

I am just back from the vivaio with a car load of summer bedding plants which I will spend the afternoon planting into the pots and putting on the various terraces, as tomorrow we are all off to join in the annual celebration of the ‘Festa dei Ceri’ or ‘race of the candles’ in Gubbio.  More about that and some photos on tomorrow’s post!

Valley walk – Sentiero Francescano della Pace

By Alec,

A beautiful sunny day here at Bellaugello Gay guesthouse in Umbria brought with it blue skies and Apricot trees bursting into bloom, thus pressaged a walk.

Bellaugello is situated in a commanding position facing south toward Monte Subasio, the large hill on the other side of which nestles the rosy pink city of Assisi.  It was from there that Saint Francis set off to Gubbio where he famously tamed the wolf.  His route has become a delightful and well trod walk and passes close to our gay guesthouse.

Walking is for the most part on easy gravel roads and tracks, and takes you through glorious tranquil countryside skirting ancient abbeys, hamlets and farms.

Hedgerows were abundant with wild flowers, We passed ancient ruined farm housesand headed on toward the abbey of San Pietro where the track drops to the valley below before rising again to make the summit of the abbey of Biscina, today too far for us, lazily as the light began to fade we headed back and passed by the tiny chapel of the Ripa, an ancient rest place, and thence back to Bellaugello seen in the distance in the last photograph for tea and cake in front of the fire!  A splendid peaceful afternoon….

Sunshine for the farmer

By Alec,

Yesterday heralded a glorious cloudless blue sky and warm sunshine and the final day of the olive harvest here at Bellaugello Gay Guest-House in Umbria, central Italy.

The Apennnes glistened bright with a dusting of snow on their summits from the recent snowfall.  The Chiascio valley filled with birdsong in the golden hued oak trees, and we set to work to pick olives from the trees below Belluagello House.  Accompanied by Milo, Edo and Jenny we trotted off to harvest the final trees.  These trees are a little bit wild and un-pruned, but this year heavy with olives that I just could not resist picking even if it was a bit of a challenge. It seemed a shame to leave these delightful black and deep red fruit to fall to the ground, the dogs all looked on in wonder as ‘dad’ climbed higher and higher showering olives down on them and the pickers below!

The delight of climbing a ladder high into the branches of the olive trees, warm sun on my back and sensual shiny black fruit coming easily from the branches and falling into the net below is hard to describe, but was one of the pleasanter farming jobs of recent days.

Tomorrow the olives go for pressing to the frantoio,where they will turn as if by magic into wonderous green piquant oil, and yes we will be eating bruschetta brushed with garlic and our own Bellaugello Olive Oil by that evening.  However not all, as we have reserved some particularly fine large specimens for salting.  Following a traditional recipe thirty days of washing the olives are followed by salting and then flavouring, the resultant olives to be served with aperitivos sipped here on the sun filled terraces next summer, a perfect accompaniment for the local Grechetto, the crisp white wine of Umbria.

Vendemmia

By Alec,

A still, slightly cloudy and somewhat magical day saw me off to neighbours Martino and Etain who have the most lovely farm on the other side of the valley here in Valdichiascio.  It was the second day of their ‘vendemmia’ or grape harvest.  Martino farms  a totally organic traditional system, and it was a delight to be able to assist in the picking of grapes and to see them being carried off in a traditional manner to the old press.  Nice to know there are still traditions still being carried on in this glorious part of Umbria..

and Martino’s  wine is always fabulous, light, fruity and additive free…