We chose the property with a wish list in mind: Scenery, tranquility, food, and wine. And we got it all, in spades.
We had most meals under the rustic lean-to because we could look at the hills and mountains to the west, north and east.
The garden is beautifully kept. There were trees with apples, pears, figs, olives and Giancarlo has a tomato vine which he encouraged us to pick. I mean, we are talking real, big, funny-shaped proper tomatoes. Delicious.
As if that wasn't enough there were large rosemary bushes that went on the chicken on the BBQ and a sage that found its way into the vitello escallops we fried. Marsala wine at under 5 euros a bottle made it for an amateur's saltimbocca.
Giancarlo, the host who lives next door (I use the term next door loosely) is a great fellow. Often checked to see we were ok but not in the least intrusive.
The house is a restored farmhouse and all the plumbing, electrics, water, gas etc is bang up to date. TV is good and the wi-fi is excellent
Shopping is easy in the huge Conad supermarket down the hill in Gallicano. The local restaurant, Il Totto, we went to four times in the week. They don't run a menu, just what they have fresh on the day. I had the best ever sliced steak in oil and balsamic sauce and we still savour the home-made ravioli with spinach and ricotta.
The track down to the house is interesting but totally do-able. Our hire car, a humble 1.2litre Lancia which I dubbed "entrail-free" (gutless) made it up and down every day.
In many ways this review doesn't do justice to the property. That's because it is so hard to describe serenity and mountain views. We were totally smitten by the variety of wildlife: goats, deer, friendly lizards, butterflies. In the evenings we liked to hear the owls call to each other and the sound of crickets after the sun went down.
