Casa Baccianella

May 8, 2010

It wouldn’t be a train day without some extra stress to get the adrenaline flowing.  By sheer will and force, we were up early and out on the streets of Rome by 7:15 a.m. with our fully-packed bags and packaged-breakfast-to-go.   It was raining again.  A lot.  Even though we were only a couple of blocks from the train station, the heavy downpour of rain and a tearfully stubborn 6-year-old in need of lots of encouragement and rolling suitcase assistance cut our train departure lead time from 28 minutes to a mere 12.  We raced from the departure board in the station to a long flight of stairs, hauled the bags down, and ran through a tunnel to our designated train track platform, which was naturally up another flight of stairs.  With only a couple minutes to spare, we finally collapsed into our train seats and then watched as Rome gradually disappeared from our window view and was replaced with the lush green Italian countryside. 

Our friends the Taylors were on the same train, and via cell phone texting we eventually found them several cars away.  We were all heading to Perugia to meet up with our mutual British friend, Anna, who kindly invited us to stay in her vacation home in the beautiful Umbrian countryside (which neighbors Tuscany) for the week.  Did I say Anna was a friend?  Part friend/part fairy godmother.   J

After nearly three hours, the train pulled into Perugia, and we unloaded our bags and went to the front of the station to wait for Anna.   Before we found her, however, the kids spotted our other good friend, McDonalds, just across the street, and as Anna pulled up she was horrified to find most everyone happily gorging themselves on burgers and French fries.  It was not even lunchtime, and she seemed slightly miffed that we “must have thought she wouldn’t feed us properly.”   She is a fabulous cook, and I laughingly assured her that McDonalds could never compete.  Anna and I were sharing a rental car for the week, so we loaded our bags into her car and watched as Janice and her girls pulled up in a rental car of identical make and model (but in bright orange) and we headed off to Anna’s house 40 kilometers away near the medieval walled village of Montone. 

Anna and the kids, with an Italian Prosciutto (dry-cured ham)

Before

Casa Baccianella is absolutely lovely and far exceeded my expectations; it seemed surprisingly modern for its rural surroundings.  The house dates back to the 1500’s, and Anna’s thoughtful restoration preserved the original structure of the place as well as its charming character… but the thick stone walls and high beamed ceilings now provide the backdrop for conveniences and luxuries never dreamed of when the house was first built.   

After

Before

After

It is hard to imagine the many generations of inhabitants that once lived in this ancient space – and even harder to imagine that many of those inhabitants were farm animals who lived on the ground floor (which was apparently very common in a traditional two-story Italian farmhouse).  If one were accustomed to the noise and the smell, I suppose it would have been oddly comforting to have the animals so close at hand… assuming they didn’t figure out how to climb the stairs!  I was fascinated as I pored over the before and after photos, and marveled at the huge undertaking (and expense!) of managing the complete restoration and furnishing of a home in the Umbrian countryside mostly from Singapore, where Anna lives and works.   She is amazing.  

The house is spacious and beautifully furnished: five bedrooms (all with bathrooms en suite), living room, office, upstairs TV/play room, large and fully-equipped kitchen, laundry room, and dining room with French doors that open to the shaded terrace.   There is satellite television, wireless internet access and ipod docking.  There is a cupboard full of games for the kids, and several dozen kid-friendly movies on DVD.  The backyard is equally stunning, featuring a large swimming pool with deck chairs,  padded sofa and chaise lounge.  It is situated on about 2 ½ acres of gardens, fields and trees that slope down to the valley.  There is a small pond adjacent to the property.  It is tranquility personified.  It is perfect.

We sat at the outside tiled dining table and enjoyed bowls of delicious fresh tomato soup that Anna prepared, liberally sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  Even picky eater Reyna enjoyed it.  After lunch, we wandered down the road to the neighboring farm in search of fresh ricotta cheese, but only found a gigantic but friendly dog (sheepdog?) at home.  The girls reluctantly turned back with Janice, Nic and Lizzy, and Cade and I followed Anna on a three mile walk around the lush, green and gorgeous countryside.   I found it virtually impossible to keep up.  I couldn’t help stopping every few minutes to take pictures. 

We dined on Lasagna Bolognese for dinner, which Anna quickly threw together.  I am envious of her mad cooking skills and started taking copious notes.   As we settled under our down comforters for the night, the kids couldn’t stop talking about how much they loved Italy, Umbria, Anna (and her cooking!) and Casa Baccianella.   Me too.