Learn Italian in Luxury … in Italy!

This month saw the first of this year’s Learn Italian in Luxury weeks, organised in conjunction with Real Italy at La Chiesa di Santo Stefano by Grand Tourist, a company which specialises in luxury travel.

These weeks are always a tremendous success, and this event was no exception. Guests have the opportunity to develop their language skills in the wonderful Le Marche countryside, whilst staying in a luxury Italian villa.

The level of ability and experience of speaking Italian varied from the novice to some who were wrestling with subjunctive clauses, but this really doesn’t matter. The atmosphere is one in which people are able to learn at their own pace, and when some of the more fluent speakers are talking to the ‘teacher’, it is excellent practice for the others to listen and then ask questions later.

Each day is divided into informal lessons – usually outside in the Italian sunshine - and trips to a range of different locations, from the stunning Basilica at Loreto to a lovely restaurant where the owner’s mother gives a demonstration on how to make pasta by hand (including rolling it out with the longest rolling pin you have ever seen!). All, of course, in Italian.

Food does tend to be a high focus for the guests, and each day they have a chance to sample some of the local restaurants (including eating some of the pasta that they have helped to make). All types of venues are selected to give a real taste of Italy – from very simple trattorias to elegant restaurants. In each case, the food is delicious – whether a simple plate of home made tagliatelli with tomato sauce, or a lovely risotto of truffle and courgette flowers. The other meal each day is taken at Santo Stefano, and lunch is a particular highlight with buffets of salads, savoury tarts, tiny Italian meatballs, freshly baked focaccia bread, local meats and cheeses - just a few of the choices.

And of course, there is always an opportunity to try out the local wines. A future blog post will focus on some of the wonderful wines in the Le Marche region of Italy, and most of these never see the light of day outside of this region. Italians like to keep the best for themselves!

The final day sees the ‘Treia Challenge’ – when each guest is sent in to the beautiful local hill town of Treia with a number of tasks to perform in Italian. From a complex task such as finding out about the famous ball game played locally (and only in Treia) to something simple such as buying 200 grams of cherry tomatoes from the greengrocer, the tasks are varied and test the conversation skills of the individual.

The next course is in October, and places are filling up quickly. More information can be found on our website, and you can follow the link from there to the Grand Tourist site.

A trip to Assisi

Believe it or not, Assisi is only 100 kilometres from La Chiesa di Santo Stefano – maybe an hour and a half of driving, and so easy for a day trip. And the scenery along the way is stunning.

We made the trip this week, and it was well worth it. Not just for the famous sites, but for the whole town - which is beautifully preserved.

Starting with the obvious, though, the churches are quite superb. We found a car park above the town – and the first place we stumbled upon more by accident than by design (not having – as yet – bought a guide book) was the Cathedral di San Rufino. The cathedral itself was interesting but not that memorable in my opinion, but the crypt and the museum have been well designed with particularly effective lighting. As we were the only people in there (perhaps a bit early in the season) it was very atmospheric. We’re not big museum goers, to be honest, but the style in which it had been created and some of the paintings made it worthwhile.

Of course, the star of the show was the Basilica di San Francesco. Even in April, though, it was very busy indeed. Hoards of school parties and people talking quite loudly (despite gentle reminders of ‘Silenzio’ over the speakers) ensured that any real atmosphere was lost. Despite this, when we saw an entrance to St Francis’s tomb, we decided ‘Oh, whilst we’re here we may as well’. The door was well hidden at the back of the Basilica, and could easily have been missed. That would have been a real shame! Down on the lower level there were fewer people, less noise, and some incredible frescoes. And it was so much more than a tomb – it was in fact the ‘Lower Church’ (we still hadn’t read the guide book!).

A separate stairway from this lower level led down to the tomb itself – another journey worth making. A smattering of nuns and monks were there – perhaps on a pilgrimage – but at last there was a sense of respect and a genuine atmosphere.

And then back out into the sunshine to explore the rest of the town – in itself a real jewel of an Italian “città”. Steep and narrow cobbled streets lead from the Basilica up to the main piazza, but from here there are little lanes going in all directions. And along each lane, you can glance up small alleyways and get a glimpse of what life in the town must have been like before the invasion of tourists. Even the shops are more interesting that the average tourist shops of Umbria and Tuscany (although you don’t find many in Le Marche, it has to be said).

A relaxing lunch in the early April sunshine was, of course, a necessity. We took the trouble to find a little taverna off the beaten track – one that didn’t have a tourist menu – and the quality of the food was excellent.

Finally, fortified by a couple of glasses of the local wine and some delicious pasta, we made our way up to the Rocca Maggiore – an old fort with magnificent views of the surrounding countryside. I have to admit that we didn’t venture inside, but it was worth the hike up the hill just for the panorama – and in particular the view down onto Assisi itself.

For visitors to Le Marche, particularly those who are on the mountain side rather than close to the coast, I would say that this is a trip well worth taking, especially if you are visiting outside the main tourist periods of July and August. Just one tip – wear comfortable shoes! Cobbled streets and steep slopes don’t really work well with sandals or flip flops!

Making a headboard

During the winter months, we always find plenty of jobs to do at La Chiesa di Santo Stefano to just add little touches of comfort, and last year we were faced with a problem. More people were requesting twin rooms, but not everybody wanted twins. So we clearly had to create rooms which could either be twin or double.

The big problem was - what to do about a headboard?

We wanted something comfortable, and something that matched the lovely new cushions that we had bought from Lombok - so decided to make a headboard ourselves. And it was so easy!

Our only problem was that the headboard has to work whether the beds are set up as singles or a double, so the board had to be wide enough to allow some space between the twin beds. Given that the resulting piece of board was too big to fit even in the back of our Discovery, we had to have it sawn into two pieces, which did mean that we had to create a wooden frame on the back of the headboard to create support.

But if you don't have this problem, all you need is

• a piece of board the right size, (you can use MDF - about 12 mm thick, or you can use plywood - something that isn't going to lose its shape and bend, though). It's up to you how high you make the headboard
  
• a piece of foam about 5 cm thick the same size as the board
• some cotton batting, about 20 cm bigger than the board (see below)
• a piece of fabric which is at least 30 cm bigger all round
• a staple gun
• some contact glue to attach the foam
• two brackets to hang the headboard on the wall (you can buy these here)

With regard to the batting, I actually bought this in John Lewis - but in the dress making department. I don't know why - but that's where it was. You can use a thin wadding, but this tends to tear apparently - so whilst the cotton batting is expensive, it is really good.

Attach the foam to the board with the glue, lining up the edges carefully. Stretch the batting over the whole board, taking great care to make the corners as neat as possible. Attach the batting to the back of the board with a staple gun.

Now stretch the fabric over the whole thing. You need to get the fabric tight, but not so tight that it is distorted. It's best to put in a few staples in strategic positions first, to make sure that you have any pattern completely lined up. Then just run round with your staple gun.

Be prepared to spend a bit of time on the corners. It's tricky to get them straight - but worth the extra effort. We also sprayed the finished article with Scotch Guard, just in case there are some gelled heads resting on it!

Then attach the brackets to the back, measure them very carefully and line them up perfectly - then the other half of the brackets to the wall - and voilà - a perfect headboard!

Happy Easter from Italy

As you would imagine here in Italy, Easter is quite a big thing - and being Italian, there is no such thing as an ordinary Easter Egg! They are generally chocolate eggs, decorated with exquisite confections of flowers, all made with a sort of sticky icing.

The supermarket versions are not so elaborate, but even these are wrapped in beautiful coloured foil - and there is no such thing (or not that we've found) of the typically branded Smarties or Chocolate Buttons eggs (unfortunately!).

Things are a little different here - each of the more expensive eggs contains some sort of gift - and not just lots more chocolate (which can be a little disappointing).

The egg in the picture is the glorious (and very large) egg that my husband bought me for Easter. It will hopefully take me many evenings to get through all the chocolate, but I have to admit to being rather amazed at the gift contained inside. It was - and I promise that I'm not making this up - a small model of a motor scooter! Not only was this a strange thing to find in an Easter egg - but the scooter is bright pink, and when you press the seat, it lights up and makes 'scooter noises' (two kinds of sounds, apparently), and has 'friction power'.

The words on the back perhaps explain this rather bizarre choice of content for an egg which is clearly aimed at a woman. It says "Dream girl has inside herself to be confident, fulfilled, happy and healthy. Dream girl power is the power to speak your mind, to stand up for yourself and to know what's right for you. We want every girl to know: you are unique, you are valuable, with your girl power you can succeed. The future is yours."

I struggle to understand the significance of the words in relation to a pink motor scooter, and even less see their relevance to an Easter egg - but one thing you can say about Italy - it's full of surprises!

Spring has arrived!

I thought I should just write a very quick update to say that I spoke way too soon. Yes - we had a bad week. But the sun is now shining, and yesterday reached 18 degrees in the shade. And the sun - as always in central Italy - was very warm indeed. Definitely tee shirt weather for working in the garden.

The roses are bursting with new growth, the daffodils are pushing through (and yes - they do have daffodils in Italy). It's beginning to feel that summer is on its way at last.

What's happened to spring?

So here we are, in the middle of March, in central Italy ... and it's snowing! That is just bizarre.

Normally at this time of year we'd be having lunch outside, working in the garden, and getting everything ready for the first clients of the year. But this year, things are a little different. It has been exceptionally wet for the last couple of months, and when the snow fell heavily a couple of days ago it settled on some of the roadside trees, and actually pulled them out by the roots, because the soil is so waterlogged.

So the next few weeks - as soon as the sun decides to make an appearance, it's going to be all hands to the pumps to get the garden ready and looking as stunning as it usually does in the summer. It's hard to believe that in less that two months the roses will be in full bloom, and will provide a mass of colour, and that we will all be starting to complain that it's too hot! The sun loungers will be out, and the umbrellas up, and we'll all be ready to jump in that swimming pool!

But it is one of the joys of Italy. We love the fact that the summers are usually glorious, but we do still have winters - although it has to be said, this one has lasted rather longer than we'd hoped!

Another wonderful wedding

Last week La Chiesa di Santo Stefano provided the perfect romantic wedding venue for a beautiful Italian style wedding - with endless food and drink, and dancing until the small hours.

The couple on this occasion chose to get married in the town hall in Treia, which has a lovely room for large groups, and Treia is a truly beautiful small town. They hired a vintage car to bring them to Santo Stefano, where their friends were waiting for them.

Canapés and champagne or Pimms were served at the front of the house, so that guests could mingle and chat to each other, and photographs could be taken. And then it was round to the back of the house to sample some of the delicious antipasti that our chef had prepared.

An hour of selecting from dishes such as courgette flowers stuffed with ricotta cheese, tomatoes stuffed with prawns, smoked turkey with a melon salad - and a host of other dishes was only the preliminary course to what proved to be a splendid feast.

The formal part of the evening began with the risotto and pasta course, followed by a delicious choice of beef fillet or guinea fowl, and then a laden dessert buffet table to finish off an incredible meal. Dancing continued until 2 am - and nobody wanted the evening to end!