It may be a honeymooner’s dream, but lets face it, once you decide to stay, Rome can be a rat race. The traffic alone can make you want to pack your bags and head back to Minneapolis, or at least yearn for the days when you first arrived and spent your days (and fast-dwindling savings) strolling the ancient streets listening to echoes of old men and children. But now that you’ve got to commute to work, the ravings and gestures of macho guys in suits and over-stressed soccer moms can be a bit much. The great thing about living in Rome, as hectic as life here can be, is that there are so many fantastic places to get away to just a little way out of town. And the other great thing is that even if you get away from it all to a small town or remote mountain, you can still find culture and great food the likes of which you can’t get even in larger towns in the US or UK.
The agriturismo concept is a great one, combining tourism with Italy’s great agricultural and gastronomic traditions. In short, an agriturismo is a farm where you can stay and eat food that has been grown right there. Many agriturismi also sell their products, so you can often take some good stuff home with you on your return to the city. In many ways, its better than having a country house because (a) somebody cooks and cleans for you, (b) you can go to a different place every time, and (c) you save a bundle on taxes. In Italy, where farmers can always use some extra income, the concept has really caught on and there are agriturismi in every region, with many books and websites devoted to helping you find the right one.
We discovered Agriturismo Calagrana (www.calagrana.com) a few years ago through the Internet and have returned there several times, each time leaving with a full belly and a desire to return as soon as possible to the tranquil serenity of Umbria’s Niccone Valley. Located about 30 minutes northeast of Perugia just outside of Umbertide (and just a short hop from Cortona), Calagrana is a special place that combines sincere and congenial hospitality with amazing food. Its proprietors – Chef Alberto Chiappa, who worked for years in London before returning to his native Italy, and his English wife Ely – run both an organic farm and an extraordinary on-site restaurant serving classic and creative dishes that will lull you into an ecstatic stupor before you literally tumble into bed in their restored stone farmhouse overlooking this pristine valley.
The place is great for holiday weekends, where tradition is always upheld with home made culinary touches like pizza pasquale that are appropriate to the season. In addition to weekend specials, Calagrana hosts cooking courses of various lengths. Try the pâté and prosciutto made-on farm from animals who were raised on better food than most of us – you can taste the difference. One thing’s for sure: you will not leave Calagrana with an empty stomach, but you can at least momentarily forget the mind-numbing screams of the Romani in this tranquil piece of heaven. From here, you can make day jaunts to Cortona as well as Gubbio, Assisi, Todi and Perugia itself and a million little borghi dotting these majestic hills.
Tell us about your adventures!