May 8, 2015 – Milan to Poggio Verde

Gretchen wanted to open up the house and make sure everything was ready for our little group so she took us up, which was so nice! We opened all the shutters, checked the kitchen garden, checked this and that and then she left us to head back to Milan.

Checking the kitchen garden

Ready for action

The 2nd terrace and the pool (under renovation)

View to the southwest from the terrace

Out the master bedroom window

Gardenias on the terrace outside the master bedroom

Checking the plants and the view from the terrace

The south terrace of the villa

All unpacked

I knew the Hannings had “James” (the Humphries’ GPS they had used there in the fall) but when the time got to be a bit longer than I’d expected I walked down the road to make sure they made the turn. The wildflowers in the field were in full bloom so I captured a few shots and was walking back when they turned into the road leading to the villa.

It’s always so thrilling to see friends arrive and actually experience the place for the first time. No matter how many photos anyone has seen, it’s impossible to get the feeling of the place (and realize how enormous some of the trees are!). We took a little tour of the inside of the villa and the headed to Rex Market for provisions.

They’re here!

Chatting on the terrace outside the master bedroom

Rex’s hours (for future reference)

Taking in the south side of the villa from the terrace

We discovered Rex was closed so to pass some time we drove on down the road to Montevecchia, the lovely little hilltop town nearby – a perfect diversion! After walking through the town and up the stairs to the church we stopped in at the little Gelateria, which makes a particularly tasty gelato and sorbetto. (There are more great pics of Montevecchia from our last visits there… click here and here.).

Garden by the parking lot at Montevecchia

Another view of the garden

There’s lots of nice walking out of Montevecchia

The villa in the center of town

This little arch had some wonderful views under there…

The Hannings

Our little group’s first selfie

At the base of the church at the top of Montevecchia

The stairs to the church at the top of Montevecchia

So many great options, and seriously tasty stuff.

Beautiful poster in the Gelateria

Bryan and Cindy in front of the villa

We headed back to Rex and picked up our groceries then drove back to the villa. The Hannings got situated and rested for a bit while Mark started a very tasty dinner… first course was lamb chops and the second course was a whitefish with tomatoes and fennel. One of my personal favorites. We didn’t linger long after dinner as there was some jetlag to overcome and a morning drive to Malpensa to pick up the Bursons who were delayed by a day due to weather in Oklahoma City.