Montone

Village Italy 2007 - Friends, Experiences, and Memories
A Journey through the real Italy on a Rick Steves' tour

Montone

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View out the bedroom window of our Romantica suite. Score!

View from the terrace of our Romantica suite.

View of the Umbrian countryside from our terrace in Montone.

View from the terrace of our Romantica suite.

Street scene in Montone

Locals enjoying a drink in Montone

Karin and Cathy looking gorgeous in Montone

Clock Tower in Montone

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Mid afternoon, we arrived in Montone. Montone is very old, but pristine, beautiful, and well preserved. And it’s incredibly clean. Since the only hotel in town, Locanda del Capitano, has only a small number of rooms, some of us got to stay in “apartments.” Cathy and I “scored” one of the Romantica suites (on the top floor with the best views). We had incredible views from our bedroom window and from the private balcony off the main room. Our bathroom even had a “cave” (a reading or meditating nook with a small window). Our view was of the remarkable Umbrian countryside. We took this opportunity to do a little laundry in our room.

A short walk up through the town to the church courtyard provides the best view in town. Karin asked us to form a circle to play the “name game”. Cathy got to go first, because she already knew everyone’s name. I know it sounds corny, but it really did help to learn everyone’s name, especially since we were spending two weeks together. Cathy started and all she had to do was say “I’m Cathy.” I was next, so I said, “This is Cathy, and I’m Jim”. We got off easy… Basically, we went around in a circle with each person naming everyone that came before them and then adding their name. There was a lot of “loud whispering” and other “helping” going on, all part of the fun. Karin went last, and did pretty well.

After this, we had Prosecco as an aperitif at a local bar in the Piazza Braccio Fortebraccio. (Prosecco is basically white wine with fizz similar to Champagne but grown in the Veneto region of Italy.)

We headed back for a group dinner at the hotel prepared by the famous (or perhaps infamous) Il Capitano. It was a beautiful evening, and they had set up to serve dinner at tables outside. In addition to running the hotel, Il Capitano (John Carlo) is the chef. He’s scheduled to be a guest on the cooking channel or food network sometime soon. Since we had other plans for dinner the next evening (on the Captains actual birthday), we sang Happy Birthday (Tutia Guiora a ta) to him. The Captain loved our birthday serenade and made us a special dinner. Il Capitano is a huge character and a talented chef. He wears those funky chef pants that match his eclectic personality.

With our window open to the Umbrian countryside, we heard many dogs barking during the night. We later learned that it was the first day of wild boar hunting season. They typically hunt the boar at night (and with dogs).

For dinner, we had Ravioli with truffle and walnut sauce, wild boar and fennel. Dessert was poached apples and vanilla ice cream. It was all very satisfying!