Many travellers to Italy dream of buying a house and moving there to live the life of Diane Lane. Well we've gone half way, buying a historic eight bedroom farmhouse in the tiny farming village of Cannara, situated in the shadow of Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis. Only half way, because we haven't moved there (yet). 

Our loss is your gain. The villa, la Fattoria del Gelso, is available for rent by the week, Saturday to Saturday, throughout the year. Since we bought the villa in March we have spent many weeks fixing it up and preparing it for guests and we can tell you something - you are going to love it! The villa has it all - large, comfortable bedrooms, inviting sitting rooms with all the modern conveniences you could want (satellite TV in English, high speed internet, a computer, fax, copier), a restaurant-style kitchen for cooking your meals and taking cooking classes, a beautiful and relaxing pool and acres of private grounds, surrounded by a working farm. And location, location, location.

We can't tell you everything about it here. Check out the website of our sister company, Experience Umbria, for more details.

Buon viaggio!

October is the peak of the harvest season in Umbria, the hills afire with brilliant reds, oranges and yellows, while workers toil to pick grapes for crushing and olives for the first pressing of the year. What better time to visit Umbria with Experience Umbria, our sister company, to discover the food and wine of Umbria.

Join us for a seven day, six night excursion to some of the region's best vineyards, where you will learn the secrets of winemaking and taste the best wines the area has to offer, including the renowned Sagrantino di Montefalco. Visit the award-winning Cippolini olive estate and watch the crushing and pressing of the season's first olive oil, tasting the green elixir as it pours from the press. Go truffle hunting with the region's best known truffaio, finding these precious tubers with the help of trained dogs. And visit the Eurochocolate Festival in Perugia, an annual trade show featuring dozens of Europe's finest chocolatiers.

This all inclusive package is priced at only Euro 1,500 per person and includes deluxe accomodations at our private villa, La Fattoria del Gelso. If you like food and wine, you won't want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime trip.

Click here for more details or contact Suzy Menard at suzymenard@aol.com or (202) 957-3811.

One of our favorite jobs at Bella Italia has been writing daily trip reports when we go abroad.  Bill and Suzy's Excellent Adventures have provided us a great deal of enjoyment, and judging from your comments, you like it too (apologies to Sally Field).

We have migrated our user-not-so-friendly reports to a simpler blog interface, which can now be accessed by going to www.bellaitaliaonline.com/blog/travel.html. This page will be updated daily during our trip, so check back often to follow our progress.

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