Uncovering Your Soul

We’ve just finished our last art/culture trip. We’ve sold the business after 15 years. The last 13 of the 15 we married a variety of art courses to the inspiration of Italian life. It has been transformative.

When we began we knew only that the way Italians lived and the intimacy and beauty of Orvieto’s streets, piazzas and buildings touched a cord in us. Over time we discovered that this pairing of art and place reconnected people to their souls. It has been beautiful. Humbling. Evocative. Renewing. Affirming. Yes, transformative.

Changing times and particularly the way technology erodes the ability to be in the moment have had an impact. But even through this very last trip art, Orvieto, and staying in one place absorbing for a week resulted in many people recounting to us how life changing the experience was.

It is a struggle for people to stay connected to their souls, to that inner compass always there to guide us, to stay true to who we individually are. What we have been so privileged to witness is how a week here with us in Orvieto reconnects people to themselves. We have received countless letters, postcards and emails telling us how the trip was a blessing, a milestone, a life changer. It’s not us. It’s this place and way of fulling engaging life, interpreted through a creative medium, that opens eyes to truly see.

Orvieto as seen from Palazzone vineyard

It touched Kristi and me early. Four years in we returned to the U.S. and knew we had to make a change. After four years of biannual visits where we were deeply connected to people and life we could no longer live an anonymous, American suburban life. We began the search. Two years later our house went on the market and we moved to to a connected, soulful, rich life in a small town.

We are lucky. The people who traveled with us are lucky. We’ve all found – or more accurately – uncovered our soul – for it has always been there waiting patiently. For this we have Orvieto, her people, her way of life, and the creative pursuits that helped see it better to thank. There is no way to adequately say thank you. The many soulful lives growing out of the experiences here however, bear testimony to what a great gift this place has given.

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Seasonal and Local

One of the things I love about Italy is that it’s seasonal. We have grown so accustomed in the U.S. to having everything available all the time that we have forgotten how we once flowed with the seasons experiencing and appreciating things in their time.

Buffalo mozzarella from Campania

This is of course obvious with produce where we get tomatoes, albiet the tasteless, soulless fruit that it is in the U.S., all year long. When you come to Italy you find artichokes in the spring but not the fall. In the fall you find fall fruits and veggies you never see in spring. These seasonal variations are reflected in the menus at restaurants.

3 pecorinos with lemon, orange, pear and fig jellies

There is the less obvious. Chocolate can’t be found in the warm months. We won’t be able to give chocolate welcome goodies to our guests for a week or two more, and then only if the temperature has cooled down. Americans often complain, yet I think it helps us be more in tune with the season and to enjoy each season’s bounty and character all the better.

12 year old balsamico to gave the cheese

Then there is the incredible diversity of regions, of being local. We are getting more this way in the U.S., but the Italians take it to an entirely different level. We did a cheese tasting with Cristian Manca at his deli Gastronomia. What an eye opener. We had buffalo mozzarella from Campania, the area around Naples. It is specific to the area. We had 3 pecorino cheeses, each aged a different period of time. The one year old was from Grosetto. It was distinctly better. Then we had a 5 year old pecorino. Very strong but good. And he put a drop of 12 year old balsamic vinegar on one piece – balsamic from Modena. Unbelievable.

Graziella and Cristian

We finished with a Gorgonzola like none I’ve ever had, again specific to it’s area. It is so creamy you have to spoon it out of the 5 kilo wheel it is aged in. He sprinkled chocolate shavings on it and served it with a sweet wine I’ve never had before from Palazzone winery – a winery I have been visiting for 15 years. Even our foodie friend and sommelier Graziella Gasparri, who was explaining the wines we had with the cheese, had never had Gorgonzola with chocolate.

Gorgonzola, shaved chocolate and Palazzone’s wine

These foods all came from distinct geographic areas that are quite small. Beautiful variety and character specific to the locale. Palazzone wine maker Giovanni Dubini has always insisted that his wine taste like his vineyard, that it not try to be like every other wine of the same variety out there. He succeeds, and his wines are sublime.

Italy is full of wonders. I think the seasonal, local aspect of it’s culture is every bit as impressive as it’s art and architecture. Indeed, it is art.

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Orvieto Images

From the last few days.

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Light and Entries

Our last day in Orvieto for the fall 2016 season was one of beautiful light and welcoming entryways. This really is a beautiful city. It is worth getting off the main streets and wandering the back lanes. Charming, quiet, delightful. Too few people do it – sadly for them. Enjoy!

Already looking forward to 2017!!

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Walking the Rock

Today has been cloudy with some rain. But there is still much to see. After a walk around town I dropped down to the mid level walk that circles the city half way down from the top. At times you feel like you are in the country!!

Entry to the fort

Entry to the city through Porta Maggiore – nature and man-made

Monastery in the background

A private olive orchard and vineyard

Another olive orchard

Bucolic!

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Stellar Light

Wow! What an evening. We have been having gorgeous fall weather with amazing light and this evening – Mamma Mia.

Manhole cover on the street

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Sunday morning walk in Orvieto

Hitting some streets we don’t often visit as well as the familiar.

Don’t see much brick in Orvieto

Sweet, particularly the bus

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Pieta

Ippolito Scalza’s Pieta inside the Duomo always, always moves me.

Hope one can evoke such emotion out of stone amazes me. And a couple more shots from inside the Duomo.

The Baroque organ

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The Duomo

In the Duomo this morning.

Never fails to wow me!

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Welcome Home!

This is such a welcoming town! Just so wonderful to be back. We arrived yesterday to find many new restaurants begging for us to try them out. 

Of greatest interest was Cristian’s new venture. It is right next door to his restaurant and is a combination deli and place for apperitives and light food. Exquisite. He asked is to join him for complimentary apperitive before going to his restaurant for dinner. So good! Of course we thought we were done after the first plate. But then came a second. Mamma Mia. We now have plans to do a cheese and salumi tasting at Cristian’s with one of our food groups next fall.

The store – called Aronne

Cristian

For those of you who have traveled with us, you will remember Scarponis where we always had coffee. And Mrs. Scarponi who we had a time getting to smile. This morning at Capitano Popolo, the replacement to Scarponis, we ran into the retired Mrs. Scarponi and she was all smiles! She bought our coffees. So sweet, and so typical of the welcome here.

The best coffee in the world!!

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