Deruta and Beyond

The day began with a phenomenal breakfast with frittatas, prosciutto, ham, cereal, Sicilian red orange juice, fresh fruit, expresso and 6 different freshly baked breakfast breads and muffins.  The co-owner (wife and mother of the other parts of the team) spends hours baking and preparing this fantastic spread.  We spent a leisurely morning with her, talking about the history of the place, the 980 rose plants she put in this year, the effect of the world economy on their business and hopes for the future.  

In the side pic - can you guess which is probably our car?  It is either the red Alfa Romeo or the grey Nissan.... 

Today we had originally planned on going to Assisi for the day.  However, breakfast was so good and conversation with our host was interesting, so we were later than normal getting ready.  Our host at the villa said Assisi was jam-packed by noon and so we decided to do Assisi Friday and hit Deruta and Perugia today.  Deruta is a town known for their majolica (fine ceramics - pottery) and have over 100 stores, including several factories in town.  Our hotel gave us a couple leads for starting - the best quality places.  

After the first few stops we were getting tired and less impressed.  Then we found a small shop with the owner who also was the artist.  He took lots of time to explain the details and complexity of his work and what made quality work stand apart.  Our eyes were opened and we found a couple pieces that are representative of the best of Deruta art.  Next we got into Grazia and Co., which is the most famous local factory, being a family run producer since the 15th Century.  They sell in the US to Williams-Sonoma, Saks 5th, and several other top line sellers.  It was a fascinating tour of the place.  The sales person showed us every aspect of the production process.  We also met Dr. Grazia who is the current president and has been friends with lots of the world’s interesting folks.  Because we had been in Napa last summer, he talked about his friendships with Julia Child and Robert Mondavi, both who had died in the past couple years.  We found something to buy (that we could afford) and felt like we had been richly blessed by the afternoon.  

Dinner was in Montefalco, another hill town close to our hotel.  The restaurant was recommended by Mr. Grazia.  It turned out to be another fine meal even though the exterior was not promising.  

Home, home, back to our villa.  Tomorrow it will be Assisi.  

Ciao. 

Bob and Chris