If you've already checked out the
website and read through the details, you'll know a little already about my friends' villa in Umbria and the lovely
they host. You'll have a sense of the loving details they put into restoring each room of the house, and how they make guests feel like part of the family.
Then you won't be surprised when I tell you how much I love visiting, and I thought I'd give you a few reasons to why I can't wait to get back there this summer. (Plus, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, you'll read this and picture yourself there with me this summer as well. *hint*)
There are so many reasons really, but let's start with the little ones. The small pleasures...Let's take a walk around the estate where the EAT.PRAY.MOVE yoga retreat will be held, shall we?
Heading out the villa, past the olive tree in front, and down the pebbly road we're greeted by Tartufo & Tiddly Feet, the resident pets ready to take an afternoon stroll as well. Tartufo is aptly named as, you see, he's of the specific breed of dogs trained to sniff out those Italian treasures in the Umbrian earth,
tartufi
(truffles). Funny enough, those types of dogs even look like truffles with their brown, uneven surfaces.
As we continue up the road the pebbles change to packed clay and on either side of us are sweeping hills of winter wheat and depending on the season, there are endless rows of sunflowers or red poppies, or even a freshly plowed field revealing orange earth. The layers of colors and textures are always changing, always beautiful.
Stroll past the lines of cypress towering over us, guiding us long the paths of the estate. Cypresses, which so iconically invoke images of Italian landscapes, are often seen lining the edges of drives and seem to welcome a traveler forward. As we head back over the last hill, the villa comes into view once more and we gather again for an evening yoga class during the sunset and the evening is topped off with a glass of wine on the terrace before dinner.
Won't you
?!