Italian Beds

It's Sunday, and this morning I leave for my walk at 7:30 or so. As I pass Bar-Ucci, the door is already open, so I poke my head in to say "buongiorno" to Gina. The steamer roars to life the instant she sees me, and she says, "Ecco". I guess I'll be having my cappuccino before my walk:) The familiarity makes me smile. She's like..."drink it, I made it for you, I have things to do". A very busy lady, is Gina, always helping her two daughters in their respective restaurants and bar. It's totally cool by me. I'll do just about anything for her coffee.

Today's walk is wonderful, up the hill this time, and no llamas in sight! I have a full days work ahead of me.

Which brings me to the subject of...Italian beds.

Anyone who has traveled in Italy knows what I'm talking about. Italian mattresses are hard, hard, hard. Worse than the Marriott.

In Casi di Sotto, our guests and owners are very lucky. The owners have imported U.S. California Kings and memory foam mattresses over the years. It is heaven. I've replicated that comfort in Casa in Volpaia.

There are four steps to this "conversion", though...

First, make them comfortable. Foam toppers here are outrageously expensive and hard to find. So I haul one over on the plane.

Second, bring nice, high thread count sheets from the US. Because in Casi di Sotto, Italian sheets do not fit the American beds there. In Casa in Volpaia, it's because there are two types of sheets in Italy. Really bad ones, in very intense colors; and Fine Italian Linens, which cost a fortune (and I'm sorry, Frette, just don't last long enough to justify the price). We will reserve an Italian set for the owners, but for rentals we need something nice but durable as well.

Third, make everything fit. I've got my scissors out, cutting the King-sized foam to fit an Italian matrimonial mattress. I'm using fluffy mattress covers (also hauled over on the plane) to increase the depth to make the deep pockets work. I'm washing a bed cover in hot water to make a U.S. Twin shrink to fit an Italian "Singolo".

Fourth, make it look wonderful. Making bed skirts, which are a pain in any country, look good with the help of Bed, Bath & Beyond "Bed Skirt Pins". Thank you, Lynn Stanek at Ambience Staging Designs, for this and other great tips! I'll bring over a bed cover on the next trip, but we are almost done!

After this, Valeria and I share a bottle of wine while we stage the study at Casi di Sotto, she goes home to her daughter and I head to Osteria le Panzanelle, which is a story for another day.

Ciao for now!

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties. We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

For more information about our properties:

Casi di Sotto

Casa in Volpaia

Turbo Shopping in San Gimignano

Always a crowd-pleaser, San Gimignano is hard to resist. Famous for it's many towers, for me it's like a big candy store. It is true that it can be crowded with tourists, but for a woman on a mission, I can think of few places were you can buy any type of local product (with dozens of stores for each...ceramics, leather, art, wine, olive wood products, linens, etc.), it's the Tuscan version of power-shopping in a mall. The prices are really no higher than in Firenze or Siena, and the shopping is on a single main street...much more compact.

My favorite ceramics store (Il Borgo Ceramiche) never disappoints on that score, and I've become a regular.

Not always the case, tho. There is a wonderful store that sells exclusively bowls and other items made of beautifully marbled olive wood. It can be "cara" (dear, or expensive). As I buy a small wooden salad bowl as a gift, I ask for a discount (Ce un sconto?), the owner gives me what amounts to a 2% discount. He jokes and says "Here's for your coffee" as he hands me my 2 Euros. But hey, that's parking, and at the end of the day it all adds up. So I tell him it is to pay me to visit his store. I get a laugh out of him, and ask for a restaurant recommendation for lunch.

Family-owned La Stella is two doors down. The diet is down the drain, I'm starving for some great food. Tagliata (freshly grilled steak), fresh "insalata verde" (in Italy this means lettuce only...but it satisfies due to the fantastic freshness). Vernaccia (called the "Pope's wine) always pleases me, and after last night and this morning in the Siena hospital, I determine that it is well-deserved:). La Stella is a find.

Making my way home, I stop in Panzano. Panzano sits on the saddle of a road on the way to Greve, of Chiantistrada fame. The famous wine-producing region spreads out on both sides. It is a quiet day, and I walk up to the old church at the top of the hill, searching for an iron workers' store that I had heard about. A stop at Dario's famous meat market and a bit of his meatloaf for dinner. Dario is famous. Not only does he run a successful butcher's shop, but 3 restaurants in, above and across the street from the shop, where he has been known to quote Dante while extolling the virtues of beef! And yum. He has a point.

I take the local dirt road from Panzano to Volpaia. This local road follows the high ridge, not the valley and hillside, and offers stunning views. I pass the pig farm where my children and I took all our table scraps during our summer stay.

It's a nice reminder of the simplicity of life here, for residents and visitors as well. It is a replenishing, reflective, warm feeling, and a perfect way to end the day.

Ciao for now!

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties. We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

For more information about our properties:

Casi di Sotto

Casa in Volpaia