On Sunday we spent the entire day in Monte Melino. We woke to the bright sun beaming through our open windows and hearing many sounds of animals. We’re guessing that we heard cows and pigs, but not sure. Definitely seeing a lot of small lizards, and it’s cute to watch Ugo the dog stalk the lizards and try to catch them. According to Lino, hunters frequent this area for truffles and wild boar (chingale.) Yum!

The place is very cute and well maintained. On each of the beds there were Perugina chocolates and postcards of the area, and the family has made themselves very accessible to answer any questions we have.

The kids swam in the spotless, salt water pool ALL DAY – from the moment they woke up, before breakfast, til 6pm. They took a brief 15 minute break to meet the horses on the adjacent property, but otherwise they were little fish baking in the sun. They are slowly getting darker and darker by the day. Ugo the dog came to visit us throughout the day prancing around the pool, greeting everyone, entering all of the apartments to get out of the heat.

I did a few loads of laundry (washing machine in the main house and drying racks on the porch of La Casetta.) We spent a bit of time killing the hundreds of ants in the kitchen. D opened the fridge door with a lot of gusto sending a bottle of white wine crashing to the floor. That didn’t help our ant problem. All of our food is in the fridge….even the cheerios and loaf of Italian bread. We are in the country after all, so there are bugs EVERYWHERE but the ants are brutal. We’ve got lavender growing near the pool, so I may just sleep with a bunch of it by my pillow tonight to repel the bugs!

Paul and Papa went to Perugia in the afternoon, and Mary Ann walked up the hill to the local church for Sunday afternoon mass.

Food report:
Lino brought us a vidalia onion, shallots, zucchini flowers, a green pepper, and a tomato in the morning from his vegetable garden. Grandma used the vegetables to make us a frittata for lunch, and Paul pulled together an insalate caprese. We sat on the balcony and enjoyed the view with our homemade feast.

For dinner we returned to Lino’s restaurant Il Melino (which means little apple) in Monte Melino where unfortunately they were not serving the local wild hare on the menu tonight. However, we enjoyed a salumi plate, an antipasto with these yummy sausage bruschettas, the kids had pasta with butter of course. For primi I had “Mellino” (apple) shaped pasta stuffed with ricotta and a lemon thyme sauce. Paul enjoyed the same truffle dish. For secondi, we both had pork prepared two different ways: one lightly breaded with oranges, and one with balsamic on a bed of arugula. The kids enjoyed a cup of amarena ice cream in a hoodsie-style container. Lino ended the night giving Paul another gratis beverage…this time vin santo from nearby Lake Trasimeno.