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It was September, days were getting colder and nights were
getting longer. I was meeting my friend Brenda for dinner at her favorite
Italian restaurant. I had arrived early and was reading the current issue
of Conde Nast Traveler.
Brenda appeared, late and apologetic. I
assured her that it wasn’t a problem since it gave me time to do what I
enjoy most, with the exception of actually traveling, and that was reading
about travel. As Brenda sat she announced, " I want to rent a villa
in Italy."
That’s all she had to say and I was in.
"Want someone to travel with?" I asked hopefully.
"Absolutely" she replied.
And that’s how I came to renting a villa in
Italy.
Renting a villa is a great alternative form of
lodging. It can be a lot less expensive than hotels and provides all the
comforts of home. It gives you a base camp, so you can go on daytrips and
return to the same place every night. So you only have to unpack once. And
if you’re anything like I am, and love to wander around farmers’
markets and local supermarkets, wanting to buy everything new and
different, with a villa, you have a kitchen to cook these wonderful local
products in.
Over the next several months, Brenda and I
talked about what we were looking for in a villa. I said the most
important thing for me was a swimming pool. Brenda’s principal desire
was that the villa was in the countryside – not even being in a small
village would do.
So we read about the various regions of Italy,
looking for the one that held the most interest for us. We were looking
for just the right mix of duomos, museums and nearby hillside towns. After
hours of research and reading, we both agreed, we wanted a villa in
Umbria.
Why Umbria? Well, mostly because everyone we
talked to had never heard of it. It also helped that villa rentals were
much less expensive than in neighboring Tuscany.
 Umbria stretches along the eastern border of
Tuscany. Though the landscape is similar, with cypress tress standing
guard over softly rolling hills, Umbria is more rural than it well-known
neighbor. It is called the "green heart" of Italy because of its
verdant, untamed and mostly undiscovered landscape.
Major towns in Umbria include Perugia, famous for Baci,
little chocolate kisses, Assisi, birthplace of St. Francis, and Orvieto,
best known for its crisp white wine and beautiful duomo. However, talk to
anyone who has been to Italy and they will tell you about Rome or Florence
or Venice. But ask them if they have been to Umbria and you will draw a
puzzled look. This it generally followed by them announcing that they have
never heard of it.
It has both the history and culture of Tuscany
without being overrun by tourists. This is concurred by the fact that when
we arrived in Umbria, we found few people who spoke English.
So, one Sunday afternoon, we sat down with two
laptops connected to the Internet. We tried several search engines, each
time entering - villa rentals, Umbria. When the first search found only
twenty-six responses, we began to think maybe there was a reason no one
had been to Umbria. Undeterred, we thought, okay, so no one is as smart as
we are at finding this perfect place. Time would tell us just how right we
were.
After a few hours, we had a list of villas
that were okay, but none were perfect. Some were too small, some were just
right but too far away from the towns we wanted to visit. Some were
amazing but didn’t have my request of a pool.
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