Full house

After Shane gets back from the Tour, it's nice to have a full house with Tania, John, Jack and Elly staying with us for a couple of weeks. Charlie and Sam have Elly and Jack to play with who are great kids, love their sport, and are a bit older too so the boys listen to them more than me!

Tania and I get into the running and the coffee in the piazza in Montecastello di Vibio is an appropriate reward for sweating up those bastard hills in 30+ degree heat. Johnny and Shane have loot from the tour caravans that the kids are still getting mileage from...check it out! Basically what happens during the tour is that cars/vans drive along the roads ahead of the cyclists throwing free promo stuff off the vans - the age-old equation of loud music, hot promo girls and free stuff keeps the crowd happy while they wait for the peloton for hours.

Days are filled by the pool, relaxing, cooking and drinking...after a few days Nath joins us too, making it a reunion of Shane's best mates from his childhood in Bendigo. We're lucky to be able to share this place with these guys.

It's not just our house that fills up. The owners, David and Jenny, live in a house on the property as well and are hosting a musical MasterClass in MonteCastello di Vibio. Their house is full of musicians from America, the UK, and their entourage which consist of their families & friends.

Shane makes friends with one of the musician's daughters who is also a jazz singer and keen bike rider - after cycling from London to Gibraltar in Spain she's pretty handy at changing his flat tyres. They head off on rides most mornings...nice work Jo.

Dinner in Todi is a hit, with a stellar view, an apricot tree right next to our table, and dessert at the local gelateria keeping everyone happy

Johnny enjoying the poolside shower

Jack, Charlie and Sam looking for frogs in the pond next to the pool & relaxing underthesun 

Mandatory day trip to Perugia and the Perugina chocolate factory...despite BACI chocolate production stopping for the summer (and at 43 degrees I can see why), the cocoa bean wall and tasting room kept the troops happy, and there were even people in white coats who at a stretch classified as Italian oompa loompas...

BEST RESTAURANT SO FAR

We found a great restaurant in Montecastello di Vibio called Il Grottino di Zio Totto where I'm going to do cooking classes in a few weeks. It's basically in the garden of Massimo's house where he cooks what he has and you can call ahead to have specialties like fresh rabbit, pigeon, truffle pasta. The highlight of the place, in addition to gorgeous Massimo, is the soccer pitch just beneath the restaurant balcony, making it a great place to take kids - woohoo, what a find!!!

Orvieto  Duomo

ORVIETO

An afternoon drive to Orvieto proves a worthwhile trip, it's a beautiful town and we will definitely be back. There are a lot of artisans and creative shopfronts, beyond the typical tourist spots that promote their ceramics and local produce.

The Duomo also impressed, especially with a little bit of wind in the afternoon, perfect kite flying conditions.

My driving capabilities in a manual car have definitely improved, the only stall(s) on that trip being at the car park boom gate which required a more experienced hand to take over so we could get in