November 15 - Friends and Neighbors

Monday dawns sunny and brisk, and I am, true to form, wide awake at 5am. I go for a quick hike to remind myself where I am. No matter how much I travel the world, waking up on a different continent is still a bit amazing to me. And anywhere that the culture and ambiance is dramatically different just makes it more surreal.

Such is the case this morning, when I remember that all I need to do is stumble 20 paces from the house for a morning espresso. But what's this? The bar is closed? I look around in a panic. A note on the door says that Paola is working the olive harvest today. But here is her mother Gina, coming back from the garden. I hail her, she shouts out a surprised 'Buon Giorno'. I tell her that I only arrived yesterday, and she says to call up the stairs when I come back.

So after my walk, I high-tail it back to Casa in Volpaia to pick up a gift I have brought for Gina from Oregon, a beautiful, fluffy, wine-colored afghan knitted by a friend in Oregon City, and walk back over to the restaurant, where Gina and her husband, Oriano, live upstairs. I call to her, she meets me downstairs, makes me a fabulous cappuccino, and cries as she hugs her gift. A nice warm way to start the day.

After meeting with our on site fractional and vacation rental property manager, Valeria, I drive over to Castellina, to try to hit the bank during their 3 hours of operation. I kid you not. Most banks open at 8:35am. Close at 11:35 for lunch. Reopen at 4pm for one hour. Okay, maybe it's 4 hours of operation. But there is only one teller, and each transaction has 4 forms to fill out.

The point is, I'm in a hurry. But as I drive through Radda, I just about hit my favorite pizza maker and friend, Luigi. In Italy, when you try to run someone over, you must stop and let them buy you a coffee. I just made that up, but that is what happens.

So I head off to Castellina a bit late, get to the bank with 10 minutes to spare, and of course, they cannot exchange all of my dollars. I must call ahead, they say. Okay. But the good news, Claudio informs me, is that my credit card is ready, 5 months after opening my account. But I need another appointment to get it, because they are closing for lunch.

It is now 11:30, and the list of 7 things that I wanted to do today is blown. Time for lunch. Time to throw away the list, and become an Italian again.

Ciao ciao!

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

November 14 - The Olive Harvest in Chianti

The olive harvest is in full swing when I arrive in Volpaia, Chianti. As I stumble over to Paola's Bar'Ucci for a plate of my favorite Spaghetti al Pomodoro, I look for my 'ladies', Gina and Lina. Lina, who is a beautiful, blue-eyed lady in her 80's (guessing), is not here. She is helping her sister harvest her olive grove. Of course. I try to imagine my mother out there whacking trees with long poles, and it just doesn't gel. Maybe this is why people live longer and stay healthier in Italy. That and…..the olive oil.

I ask Daniel if I can taste the 'olio nuovo', fresh pressed, and he says "Si, certo", and points to the bottle on the table. Then Paola comes out 5 minutes later, proudly bearing a plate of lightly toasted Tuscan bread drenched with fresh, bright green oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. It is amazing.

I unpack my 3 suitcases and 2 large boxes and can't resist putting some of it together. We have decided to offer our newest fractional home listing, Casa in Volpaia, for vacation home rental in 2011, and have tenants coming to spend the holidays in a few weeks. I am intent on making sure that it is luxurious, comfortable and welcoming.

I place a well-needed 55-lb king size memory foam mattress on the master bed, and put new linens on the day bed in the 3rd bedroom. When I start stumbling around aimlessly, I realize it's time to succumb to jet lag on that cushy new mattress, knowing that my body (if not my mind) will be awake around 5am when I call my kids back in Portland, Oregon.

Around midnight, I wake up from a strange, machine noise. What the heck? Are they paving the street in the middle of the night? It take me a while to realize that the olive press in Volpaia (Il Frantoio) was busy pressing the fresh harvest…right across the road from our back gate. And there is a bit of a party going on.

The walls are so thick, that once I close the windows I can't hear a thing. Tomorrow I will go to the bank (much better exchange rates here than at home) and go to Casi di Sotto to make sure the plants and pots are all set for the winter.

I fall asleep smiling.

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

June 24 - Practicalities

This morning I've set myself the task of consolidating the kitchen equipment. The kitchen at Casi di Sotto is an expansive, well-choreographed gourmet kitchen, set up with just about everything you could want. But for showing and ease of short-term use and inventory, we can put a lot of it in storage. Since everyone has been telling me where things should be kept, I've decided to eliminate all further debate by putting MY plan in effect. The trouble is, after looking at cooking equipment for a few hours, I am hungry! So I set off for Greve in Chianti with Linda, searching not only for lunch, but for a small armoir for one of the bedrooms.

We happen upon a specialty shop selling towels, linens, and antique 'dowry' linen sets. Linda is besotted. I am trying desperately to concentrate on unique hand-painted accent furniture and hand-woven towels that will be luxurious, up to American towel standards and yet I do not need to haul tons of them over in my suitcases! I strike gold. (So does Linda, but I am not allowed to rat her out).

And essentially, that blows the day. Home again.

This time we take the back road so that my daughter can feed the local 'piggies'.

Ciao!

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

June 23 - The 'Pool Police'

The day dawns hot and dry, and starts with another protracted discussion with Massimilliano. He is going on and on about the pool, and how we need to do something so the "La Politzia" are not an issue. I'm scratching my head and going….Pool Police? What the….? It's an above ground pool for now, no permits needed, or so I thought. After more exploration I realize that the word is "polutzia"….pollution, or basically, insects, pollen and leaves that need to be cleaned from the pool daily. Whew! Fun with languages. Again.

Speaking of insects, there is a whole world of insects here that we don't encounter in Oregon. There are not just 'zanzari' (mosquitoes), but 4 types of them. From tiny to huge (thank goodness we have screens in Casi di Sotto….we haven't had a problem at all). There are 3 kinds of biting flies (similar to deerflies, and horseflies, which have green faces here, and a huge, 2" long bugger that hangs out in roof tiles). These you just don't let land on you, they don't sting, they land and bite chunks. The large one is nasty. There are your typical bees, wasps….but no yellow jackets, really, which are the bane of our existence on summer nights in Oregon. But the ones that get me, are not dangerous at all. Centipedes….one of my friends here calls them "multi-legged creatures". Over a glass of wine one night, we all decide that they are not welcome in our houses. They are nocturnal, and they….scurry. Fast. So I'll be going downstairs to get a bottle of water in the late evening, and FLASH! Something out of the corner of my eye on the floor. SPLAT! Another one bites the dust. Don't like those guys. They are too furtive.

So, I digress. Today I must drive to the Pisa airport to pick up our next guests. I decide to take what I've been told is a shorter drive. It's not. But it's always fun driving through villages and towns that you haven't seen before. On one stretch of road, there is a guy walking down the side, obviously coming from the market, with bags in both hands and a bunch of wildflowers stuck into the top of his hat. I mean a whole bouquet. Laughing out loud, and wishing I could stop to take a photo, I keep going. I'm a little late picking them up, but we round up the suitcases and manage to get to my car before it's ticketed, and head back to Chianti.

It's always fun watching people fall in love with Tuscany. It doesn't take long. By the time we stop for lunch in Osteria alla Piazza, they are goners. Heavy sighs and deep breaths. I order Melone con Proscuitto and a fresh Insalata Caprese and I see Linda and Gene transform. Layers of stress peel off. A little Vernaccia, and 'ecco' (AKA voila!). Mission accomplished.

That evening we encounter Luigi at Pizza Pie, who proudly announces that his grandson was born late last night. Radda celebrates it's newest citizen.

Ciao!

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

June 22 - Here comes the sun

At 8am, you can tell that 'The Hot" is on the way this week. This is the summer weather I am used to here.

After my morning hill walk, I spend some time talking with Massimilliano about the well. Yesterday they put in a new pipe expansion, the well is 200 meters deep. Massi will be working this week to fill it with gravel up to the water level….this should stabilize the water from the old well site and make it accessible from the new.

In the meantime, we are still running on water in the reserve tanks and in the cistern until everything is connected, and with the sun, it's a little dicey for all of our potted plants and flowers. We agree to tough it out. I ask Massi and his assistant Stefano how they know there is water. They take a few rocks, pop it in the top of the well (which is about 5 inches wide), and count softly under their breath. After a while, we hear a "plop". "Of course that's how you would know!", I say. "Certo!"

When I come in for an espresso, I relate the story and everyone laughs and goes "One Mississippi, Two Mississippi". Then we decide that they would have a local name, and come up with "Uno Poggibonsi, Due Poggibonsi". A nice chuckle to begin the day.

In the meantime, that appears to be all that can be done today. The trucks leave, and our peace and quiet returns. I have an appointment in Castellina at my bank and with two real estate agents. My daughter comes with me, and as we are driving up the hill towards Radda a cinghiale (wild boar) runs across the road! So quickly it took me a while to figure out what it was. It crashes into the bushes. It's the first time I have seen one and we are both excited. Not a particularly attractive creature, though.

In the afternoon we drive up to the IKEA near the airport in Firenze (Florence). Here it is pronounced (ee-kay-ah). Always an experience, it is made more challenging by everything being in metric and Italian. I buy pillows for Casi di Sotto, and try to find box springs for the 2 double beds (niente) and look at bedframes (none will fit an American double). But we have fun and buy some needed supplies.

On the way home, the kids want pizza (duh) at Luigi's (Pizzeria Pizza Pie) in Radda. Luigi is waiting for a new grandson any day, and we need to check in. Luigi is always a joy, and they have a great 'Toscana' pizza and nice thin crust, and they are only mildly freaked out that my kids don't like tomato sauce. And killer lasagna. In the winter, his was one of the only restaurants open, and it's my home away from home with I am on my own or with colleagues. He ruffles the childrens' hair and teases them about playing their DS.

Back home to straighten up the house…tomorrow one of the owners of the Keller Williams office in Portland (our broker for Carrara's fractional shares) is coming with her husband to see the house. They will be in Italy for 3 weeks, using Casi di Sotto as a home base. It's a great central location for touring Tuscany and Umbria. And goodness knows, we have plenty of room. I set up the master en suite bedroom downstairs.

Time to turn on the fans tonight. The birds are chirping away, the night is warm and soft.

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

June 21 - Time to find my groove

After a week in Casi di Sotto, Carrara's showcase home in Chianti, it's time to get to work. Summer vacation is over for this entrepreneur.

To begin with, I decide that a little exercise is in order. I decide to tackle "The Hill", a repetitive, grueling uphill circuit around the vineyards, imposed on me via email by my trainer at home.

Upon returning, sweaty and silently cursing all trainers in the known universe, I encounter Massimilliano, our caretaker, gardener, guardian and all around savior, sitting in his truck in the rain, arguing vehemently with Telecom, who once again stood him up in connecting the Internet at the house. I would not want to be on the other end of that phone call.

Needless to say, that meant a trip to the Internet cafe in nearby Radda…which was, of course, closed on Mondays. So, in town and hungry, I pop into another bar for a cappuccino and a custard-filled "cornetto" (hence the morning walk…). I am beginning to be recognized about town, and sit down in the midst of tourists and locales, exchanging pleasantries that I barely understand, but it feels good.

After the tourists leave, the proprietor tells a joke about all of the Americans wandering around town saying "Sa dove un INTERNET CAFÉ?" (Do you know where there is an INTERNET CAFE?). The joke is good-natured, and he mimics their panicked faces. I'm in the same boat, but it's hilarious to me and I laugh along with them. I tell them not to worry and that Americans can live without the Internet for a day or two. But not without phone or email! They slap their thighs, and roar. Who ever heard of anything so ridiculous?

I find myself smiling because the "sea-change" has begun. I'm turning Italian again.

Ciao from Gaiole-in-Chianti.

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

June 20 - More rain at Casi di Sotto

There are days when rain is exactly what is needed. I constantly feel the need to be working, or going somewhere, or doing laundry, whatever. But today the temperature is so pleasant, there is a storm on the way. My son helps me pick some fresh 'ginestra' (scotchbroom) for the vase in the ingresso.

Then we go to the market in Panzano not really to buy, but to watch people.

When I get back to the house, it is pouring down rain, loads of lightening and thunder, and it's a great day to just chill out. Watch the Italian version of Avatar with the kids. Read "Shutter Island" (a truly creepy book). Eat.

Casi di Sotto has not one, not two, but three living rooms. One, we will convert to a large master suite, but the other two are furnished with large, overstuffed down cushioned couches. I sink into one of the couches so far that getting up is not an option.

The flowers are getting the water they need (no dishwater for them today!). The well can wait until tomorrow (as if I had a choice). I don't care about the Internet. Dinner will be pizza at Michaelo's in Radda-in-Chianti.

A gratifying, relaxing day.

Ciao!

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