THE PROFESSOR'S APARTMENT, CITTA DELLA PIEVE

Its time to return to our eventful weekend in Citta della Pieve in February 2013.

The hotel Vannucci, named after Citta della Pieve's most famous son, the Renaissance master Pietro Vanucci  and better known as Perugino - turned out to be a gem of a place to stay right in the middle of the old town. It had been booked for us by Laura our estate agent - she'd previously worked there several years ago and was able to get us a good rate. This thirty bedroomed boutique hotel, with every modern convenience and a wonderful setting right in the middle of town, is still privately owned. It was intriguing to discover that the core of the hotel (as opposed to the more recent extension at the back) was in fact a late nineteenth century villa set in private gardens, built for no other than King Vittorio Emanuele II in 1887. It was to be a holiday home for himself and his mistress. The hotel still reflects some of that late nineteenth century aristocratic charm and ambience and it wasn't difficult to understand why the site was chosen, sitting as it does, in a private landscaped garden overlooking the old town. It was easy to shut one's eyes and imagine balmy, summer evenings to be spent sipping wine on the terrace of the villa admiring the lovely view. It must have been a perfect retreat from frenetic Rome and the summer heat of the capital at the end of the 19th century. Today, it provides a quiet retreat for all who choose to savour its charms and we warmly recommend it.

THE HOTEL VANNUCCI - CITTA DELLA PIEVE

After our first night's stay at the hotel in a quiet room at the back overlooking the winter landscape of Umbria we enjoyed a wholesome breakfast and contemplated the itinerary for the day. We were to meet our estate agent at 9.30am and revisit a couple of the properties we'd liked in the previous visit and one or two new ones as well.

DINING ROOM AT THE HOTEL VANNUCCI

We went back to the village house (still liked it but it felt removed from where we now wanted to be) looked at the house with the three studios (still a very interesting property but decided it was too much work) and looked at a couple of other properties out of town - one in an amazing palazzo that had an impressive entrance hall and staircase and a wonderful loggia - but totally without a view! Back in Citta we looked at a town house that had splendid valley views but seemed pokey and another that had been renovated to a high standard and had the same view of the apartment we'd visited on the last trip but seemed expensive for what it was. Finally, I asked Jon if we should go back and look at the two bedroomed apartment we'd liked last time but dismissed it for being too big. Krister said yes this was possible and told us that it had in fact gone under offer since we'd been there last time, but had fallen through because of legal difficulties relating to the timing of its sale - it was thus back on the market. We took the short walk back to what we'd nicknamed the professor's apartment and our agent opened up all the windows so we could see it again in the glorious daylight of a sunny winter afternoon. We were both taken it with it again - just as we had been on the first visit. After a thorough look round we thanked Krister and walked back through the atmospheric narrow alley ways of Citta to the Hotel Vannucci on the other side of town. Co-incidentally Krister was going off to meet from the airport the lady who was one of the beneficiaries of the professor's estate and dealing with sale of this flat.

THE PROFESSOR'S APARTMENT - TOP FLOOR WITH THE CREAM PAINTED BALCONY

Over a cup of tea, we got down to reflecting on what we'd seen and  the business of discussing what we should do - if anything. We seemed to be left with one obvious choice - the lovely flat we had just seen. Though a wee bit tired - it hadn't been occupied for nearly a year - it seemed a natural thing to do to make an offer and we decided to ring Krister and try making an offer in pounds sterling which we knew it was possible to do given the beneficiaries were all based in England.  He said he'd speak to the vendor and get back to us and we assumed we would hear the news the following morning.

That evening we decided to eat in town and about 6.30pm made our way over to a restaurant Krister had recommended called Serenella which he said was a well kept secret and much frequented by locals and those :'in the know'.

TRATTORIA SERENELLA - Citta della Pieve

Tucked away down a narrow alley between the Via Vannucci and the main square of the town, this unpretentious little trattoria was another interesting discovery. Krister had told us that it is run by two hard working, not so young sisters, one doing all the cooking and the other serving the customers in the small two roomed establishment. We soon discovered there was no menu - just a list on a blackboard near the counter in the first room. We ordered pasta with ragout sauce which turned out to be wonderfully home cooked, robust and delicious - so much so we couldn't face a main course so we had tiramisu instead. We were just thinking about leaving and had paid the very modest bill, when in came Krister, Laura and the lady called Jackie who was over from England to deal with the legalities involving the flat we'd made the offer on. To cut a long story short - she'd decided, on behalf of all the beneficiaries, to accept our pounds sterling offer if we were prepared to sign the legal documents before she left for England. By this time we'd decided we definitely wanted to go ahead with the purchase of the apartment so we said yes, on the proviso we could visit it again the following morning and also get a survey done the following day as well. This was all mutually agreed and we all sat down in the little restaurant to celebrate. We'd made the big decision and things were moving forward quickly - unless we changed our mind overnight.

The following morning we hadn't changed our mind and we went back to the flat to have another look round and to meet Jackie again. It turned out she'd also invited a couple, Michael and Fran, who'd looked after the apartment for the english professor during some of his time there. We all got on well and decided to go out for a coffee in the town. Krister had organised the survey with a geometra for early that afternoon. By 4pm we had the preliminary results. The surveyor had been up on the roof as well as in the roof void - everything was fine with the flat. So the upshot was - we went to the estate agent's office at 7pm that evening and did the deed - jointly signing the preliminary contract to purchase the apartment - we to purchase it and Jackie to sell it to us. The documentation had all been translated into English for us and we went through it slowly, page by page; each time we all had to sign the page that had just been read. We agreed we would pay the ten per cent deposit to the sellers as soon as we arrived home and that a completion date would be set, probably in May, as soon as the professor's estate had finally been settled on the Italian side. It was a done deal as they say and I'm pleased to say that though we felt we'd been just a weeny bit reckless in the way we'd approached it all - there were no second thoughts. I now feel sure it was the best thing to do - recognizing that if we'd gone home without agreeing the purchase we'd probably have talked ourselves out of it and done nothing. After the hour long signing session we all went to another restaurant near the office for a joint celebration paid for by Laura and Kirster. It was a raucous and fun evening enjoyed by us all.

VIEW OF THE CHIANA VALLEY FROM OUR "NEW" APARTMENT

The following morning we felt slightly hung over but we were ready to meet Krister and Laura who  picked us up at the Hotel Vannucci to take us to Perugia airport to catch the flight home. It had been an eventful weekend.

QUOTATION;

"Once more on my adventure brave and new."

ROBERT BROWNING (1812-1889) from "RABBI BEN EZRA"