another perfect umbrian, fall weekend Nov 2012

one of many pomegranites on elizabeth's tree

modern "frantoio" (oil pressing) where we picked up the oil from the olives domenico had harvested the week before

nice fall view from frantoio

the garden filled with cabbages, cavolo nero, lettuces, radicchio and more

cabbage and cavolo nero

a future oil olive presser at work

many boxes waiting to be pressed

modern machine which separates out the leaves and branches from the olives, all automated

elizabeth at work

there it is, final product

90 kilos of oil ready for some lucky Umbrian

great looking oil

after a stop to pick up the oil we headed to the family who makes honey and picked up a few jars

honey making equipment

after a hard day of procuring oil, honey and veggies from the garden we get treated with another gorgeous view/sunset

and a great fire

on our sat a.m walk we visit the baby kid goats

and the proud father

starting our walk

we headed to asproli on foot to see the "old" frantoio. here is the village church and belltower which still rings out at noon

The old fantoio does it all by manual labor. the olives are first put in here and mashed up (that is done by the rotating blades. step 1

the mats have  the olive spread and piled on top of each other and the excessive water is squeezed off. step 3

the olive pate like substance comes out the tube and is spread by hand onto the mat. step 2

Lots of hard work awaits in the old frantoio

and who would know that this garage is really the frantoio where the olives were getting turned into lovely Umbrian oil?

in a nearby building an old style wooden rake like structure which separated the olives from the branches

waiting to be made into oil

old frantoio in action, wonderful old machines

one of our scrumptious meals all coming from the garden

the proud farmer with his little basket of mushrooms he picked in the field

the calm before the storm on Sunday

storm rapidly approaching with high winds,  torrential rains, thunder and lightning

frantoio in action

the welcoming mats were the mats the olives are spread on, loved this entrance

the proud farmer's morning harvest of mushrooms

It is always such a wonderful, relaxing treat to spend the weekend in Umbria with our very generous and loving friends, Elizabeth and Domenico. There is always something to pick or look for in the fields,  and we enjoy our country walks and jogs (Scott, not me). We do some physical labor, work up an appetite and get treated to wonderful meals from the very, productive garden and fruit from the fruit trees. Always seems like heaven.

walking tour rome villa patrizi oct 2012

main entrance of the villa patrizi, recently restored to its original color

family coat of arms, 3 bars represented 3 different roman families

very elaborately decorated rooms

wooden ceiling decoration

murano fruit basket

villa has a famous  china  collection

painting by Lucas Cranach the elder (16th century)

part of their hundreds of pieces of meissen china collection

some of the china place settings, plates had different  bird decorations on them

 Meissen china collection displayed

very pretty "tuscan" style room

papal flag before it became the yellow/white one. this is an original .

cool lamp in the wooden study room

copies of massaccio paintings inside a cabinet

another hidden door

pretty stained glass which looked out onto san luigi dei francesi church

facade of church of San Luigi dei Francesi seen from the villa patrizi

massaccio painting in one of the wooden cabinets

We were privileged to have had  a private tour of the Palazzo Patrizi by the owner Marchese Corso Patrizi himself. The original building was  built by Carlo Moderno in 1596. The marquises of Patrizi, who were originally from Siena but were related to noble Roman families, bought the palace in 1642 and made major renovations. Two members of the family were keen art collectors.  Many of the family paintings are on display. 

  The tour was of the 2nd floor rooms  of the Patrizi family. The Marchese was very gracious and forthcoming and it was an educational and entertaining morning. They do rent out the space on ocassion for small groups.