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25th July  Sunday morning : my two boys are still asleep! Quite Sunday , just one arrival. Went to a great winery between us and Siena , called Felsina in Castelnuovo Berardenga. www.felsina.it Tel + 39 0577 355117 Ines cooked lunch as usual and did stuffed Tomatoes and I would like to share the recepe with you: Pomodori al Riso Ingredients : 8 ripe medium sized round tomatoes 8 medium potatoes 8 serving spoons of Arborio rice garlic clove, fresh parsley, basil olive oil salt and pepper to taste - Cut the tops off the tomatoes, remove the insides and put in a bowl and reserve to one side. - Keep the tops also. - Sprinkle salt over the insides of the tomatoes and put them top side down to drain the water - peel and cut the potatoes and put in salted water and bring to boil for 5 minutes. - Chop the garlic with the chopped parsley and basil and add salt and pepper. - Mix the inside of the tomatoes with the chopped herbs and olive oil(5 tablespoons) - Add the uncooked rice to the tomatoes and let it stand for 30 minutes to get the flavour. - Fill the empty tomatoes with the mixture and cover with the top of the tomatoes and lay in an a large and low oven proof dish. - Between the tomatoes put the potatoes - Drizzle some olive oil over the tomatoes and potatoes , and add salt and pepper on the top. - Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 180 24th July hello friends , another sunny day here in Tuscany . I have to say since the middle of June the weather has been fantastic. July is nearly over and Italy from next week will go on holiday . It is quite amazing that the whole country stop in August and go on holiday !! Philip and myself will join the rest of the country & will go down south for 4 days in Sperlonga. the little town on the coast between Rome and Napoles is fantastic , the many beaches very beatifull and the water cryatll clear. We will take the doggies as well and will do very little apart from going to the beach ,swimming , reading and of course eating some good food. love to all Paolo 20th July Happy to say that we now have WiFi upstairs in the rooms at Villa Fontelunga so guests can be connected all the time! Ines is here in Tuscany for 2 weeks and she is cooking like crazy all sort of things like jams , lasagne , peperonata , limoncello ! Lucy is growing very fast and she is very affectionate and loyal to me , and Olly and lola now accept her , no problem! 19th July for our week end off we went to Mirano , close to Venice , to visit our friend Alberta. it has been the hottest week end on record in Italy! apart from sweetings like pigs we had a great time relaxing , eating with friends and doing very little. I want to share with you a very refreshing drink called "Alberta". Fresh mint , slices of lemon , tonic water and sparkling water , lots of ice. Delicious! Last night when we arrived back at the Villa we were having early drinks on the terrace and i was so excited to spot again this season in the lavander bush two Humming bird!! Actually I fund out that it is not an hummingbird but a hummingbird moth: still they are super pretty and I am so glad that we have them all over the garden. love to all 15th July Our lovwly guests and friends Sean and Kyra are back at the Villa.The heatwave is still on and the weather is glorious! 8th July Hot Hot Hot !!! we are in full summer , super hot and sunny.As usual a have a summer cold due to the air con but I cannot leave without now ! my friends from Cape Town , Chris and various Peters are visiting at the moment: off to Cortona to La Loggetta for a lovly dinner al Fresco. Love to all P 2nd July  This photo is a must in Madrid and each year we take one at the Osito. Since they have done the works in Plaza de Sol, the statue has been moved on the far side of the square , close to the Tio Pepe bill board ! 2nd July  Me and Philip just outside the Prado museum in Madrid. Finally went to see Goya and Valazquez. Quite hot here as well but we had lots of rain in the morning as well. Great lunch near Plaza S.Ana. i love Madrid ! 1st July  Dinner time for Lola, Lucy & Oliver. I have to say that Lucy is been accepted quite well from the 2 older dogs , especially Lola. They are quite jelous of each others so if a stroke one i have emmediately do the same to the others. Heat wave in Tuscany , lovely hot and sunny and tomnorrow i wilòl join Philip ,Dean and Eric in madrid for the Orgullo week end ! besos a tods ! 27th June  They got married at 4 pm and after many photos were taken with friends and family they had dinner on the terrace with a catering company from Cortona called Preludio 27th June  What a lovely week end ! on saturday hayley and Rob got married at the Villa with a private blessing. As you can see from the photo they look lovely and in Love ! 24th June Today has been a difficult and stressfull day. We had a very difficult and arrogant guest, no manners at all , very rude and impolite to a point that i have asked him to leave the Villa. It upset me very much but life is too short and I dont need this kind of behavier at the Villa upsetting other guests as well. I cant wait to read his review on trip adviser !! better laugh about it 22nd June  hello to All , I m very pleased to introduce you to Lucy, our new member of the family , just arrived from Barcelona !Lola and oliver still not to sure about her but on the other hand they are not horrible to her. She is totally adorable 21sth June  21sth June  Even if the week end was really wet it was great to see Axel . the rian did not stopp us and we went to visit S.Giminiamo. The villa ge is fantastic , shame about all the crappy little tourist shops that nowdays are everywhere ! 19th June I was in london for a very quick sales and marketing trip. always good to go home especially when the waether was so warm and sunny! work was pretty busy but still managed to have dinne with friends in Soho one night. Our week end off and our friends Axel is over from Hamburg. what a shame that the weather for this week end is very wet! but still doing somesightseeing and going to S.Giminiano today ( we have brollies ) 14th June Still lovely weather and very sunny and hot week end! Lola is at the higest of her season and we have ALL the local male dogs outside our bedroom door! Oliver is frantic and between chasing the other dogs away and trying to be with Lola is going bonkers! Put the trellis up for the vine outside our house, actually philip did but it was my serious nagging for 2 years, so my job was done. Off to London Tomorrow for some marketinng but will be back for the week end. love to all 6th June  And here it is our 10th year anniversary celebration cake , home made by Elena! 10 years! thank you to all our friends and guests that in all those years believed in us and supported us! SMACK ! 6th June   6th June  It's a family affair! All of us together, a really lovely day , mum was over the moon to have us all in Tuscany 6th June The Surprise party for Ines was a great success! She arrived at the Villa from Rome at Lunch time and all her friends were already here. we had a great day with family and close friends and we celebrate Philip's birthday and out 10th year anniversary 5th June  The jasmin outside our bedroom door is in full bllom and the smell is intoxicating, really fantastic! Today is a lovely sunny and hot day and our week end off. it is Philip birthday and Ines as well and tomorrow we are having a surprise birthday party for her 80th birthday here at the Villa. Mum and dad , carolyne and Lynne flew in from London , we organize a bus with all here friends from Rome and of course my brother and sister and all the nephews and nice. I will post some photos next week. 5th June  After breakfast Philip and the other went to Arezzo antique market while I stayed at Villa pottering around and taking it easy( basically I wen to the pool for a while and soaked the sun ) off to La lodola to celebrate Philip's birthday tonight. Still have to give him his new Apple MacPro :I will tomorrow when the rest of the family will be here.Have a good week end ,warm kisses to all 31st May  The garden at Fontelunga is in full bloom! the Iceberg roses look incredible and will keep flowering all season. Lavander bushes around the pool are growing fast and soon they will be a lovely purple and a lovely smell from this fantastic plant will invade the pool area. I cannot believe we are already in June 2010. In 5 days time it will be Fontelunga 10th Anniversary: have a look at our special offers . Love to all , Paolo 24th May Ciao to all from a very sunny and hot Tuscany! this week end 29th & 30th May in our local villagge , Pozzo della Chiana there will be the historic re enaction of the Scannagallo battle. The valley of Scannagallo wa the turning point of the whole conflict with the final victory of the Florentines over the Sienese( they surrended in 1555) At this poit the Medicean took control of the whole of Tuscany! there will be people in period costums, typical food and local beer , a great day stepping back in time . ciao to all, To add your comment to this entry, click here 22nd May  22nd May  Fantastic weather finally , hot and sunny how it should be! Our first pic nic of the season and it went very well! 19th May  Offers will be available seperately or in conjunction with Villa Fontelunga for a two centre holiday in Liguria by the sea side and in Tuscany in the country side 19th May  Casa Colleverde - Opening offer 2011 From 2011 you will be able to book our sister property Casa Colleverde, an all Suites Bed and Breakfast in the colline del sole in Liguria (SP) opening 1st April 2011 www.casacolleverde.com 17th May Went to Padova for our week end off. Ines came with as as well. My mum is from Padova and went to see some old friends for the week end while Philip and myself stayed at Alberta in Mirano. Shame for the crappy weather but overall the we was fantastic and Padova is such a beautiful city, with amazing churches and art from Giotto. We love as well cocktail hour in Padova with Spritz drink : Ingredients 5/6 Prosecco, 1/6 Aperol, 2 squirts of soda water, a slice of orange . Preparation Mix direct in the glass , make sure that all the ingredients are very cold! 10th May busy week end On. Villa is full with great guests, lovely mix of people from all over the world. Did our first cooking class in the new kitchen and it works much better! Angela and James we have now put on the kitchen wall your present. thank you again ! 6th May Sorry I did not write for a while but we have been busy as usual and the Volcanic ash does not make our life any easier. Weather as been pretty awfull , wet and grey . we MISS the sun so much. For bank holiday May went to Barcelona to see Eric and had lots of rain there as well: it seems that the sun will arrive soon! 26th April Our week end off went very quickly. Suturday was a lovely sunny and warm spring day and spend it all day out and about doing very little with Oliver & Lola. In the evening went to see the new movie of Ozpetek mine vaganti ( in UK and USA just come out as well with the title loose cannons)Brilliant movie! Sunday Philip and myself went for lunch in Siena: another lovely day we had lunch in piazza del campo , watching the world passing by. on the way back home we stopped to see our friends Massimo & Luca in Castelnuovo Berardenga. This village is very pretty and advise all of you to go have a drink at Enoteca Bengodi in Via della società operaria tel 0577 355116. Great selection of wines from all over the best winery around Tuscany. We finish the day in another small , gorgeous hamlet called San Gusme'. The hamlet/village is well restored and very weel kept Here we had dinner is the famous place called Sira & Remina www.siraeremina.com tel 0577 358060. overall a fantastic week end off 17th April  Hello people! I m pleased to present you Jack. Philip and myself bought it for our nephew Luca for his 14th birthday. Jack is 5 weeks old and will be able to join his new family in another 5 to 7 weeks! Isnt he adorable ? 15th April  Finally the pool is finished and full of water! we are very happy with the final result . it looks great! Still a bit cold for a dip but visually is fantastic. 12th April Good morning to all , A bit chilly todaqy but it should warm up for lunch time. Great initiative in Arezzo: guided tours in english for individuals every Thursday from 10.30 to 12.30. Tickets Euro 10.00 per person, children under 12 yro free. Groups 4 people , 1 free. Departure from the turist office in Piazza della Repubblica. As well Cortona is doing something similar: guided tours in english for individuals every Monday from 11.00 to 13.00. Tickets Euro 10.00 per person including entrance to the Eruscan museum. Have a good week 9th April Sunny Sunny Sunny ! today is sooooo nice at 24 degrees.The new kitchen is a great success.The space is used 100% now and it works much better for breakfast, early evening drinks as a bar etc etc. We serve dinner ( a light dinner ) every night now, apart from Saturday (arrival day at the villas) when the kitchen is closed . Light dinner are served from 19.00 and 21.00 and guests have to book it at breakfast time. The dinner parties are still on Tue and Fri with the same formula : Prosecco with fried vegetable and crostini + a 4 course meal including water, 1 bottle of wine per couple and coffee. Off to Rome for our week end off and really look forward to it. Have a good week end , Paolo 8th April  As you can see we are still short of a gallon of water or two! I m sure in 2 days the pool will be full and for the more adventurous one ready for a swim 7th April Easter has come and gone and our house is back to normal, children free! Glorious sunny day and quite warm at 23 degrees. Pool still filling with the hose from the local authority: our bill will be so huge ! Mum and dad are going back to London tomorrow and Philip, Ines and myself will be in Rome for the week end: we have not been in Rome for few weeks and will be nice to see our friends. 6th April Wet , wet , wet!! Bloody weather : it has been the wettest Easter on record . we had to do the easter eggs hunt with brollies, but the children had a good time anyway! 1st April Our friends Angela and James are arriving for Easter week and we are happy for them to be back again at the Villa. Our families as well are arriving from Rome and London ( our house will be full!), many little children will be here running around ( I m already stressed).This week end there is the antique fair in Arezzo: i hope the weather will be OK ! 26th March We have bought the lovely puppy for Luca , our nephew in Rome that will be 14 years old in May. A little Jack Russel , white with a brown head, at the moment only 5 weeks old. I cant wait to see his face when we will give him to him ! 24th March  Phase one & two(take off the old mosaic tiles and replaster the entire pool area)completed: now we have to wait for the plaster to dry off completely and do the final phase , 2 coats of special coloured resin and surely fill the pool with water! Off to Siena this afternoon to have a look at a Jack Russel puppy that Philip and myself are buyng for our nephew birthday. Considereing that JR can be quite viivacious we want to see the mum and dad before making the final decision to buy him or not. I will keep you posted. Happy week end to all Paolo 24th March  Different angle same new kitchen. We will have more space to do our cooking classes and enjoy a glass of wine with our guests! 24th March  This is the first photos of our new kitchen at Villa Fontelunga. philip did a fab job again and personally I love the new space! i took the photos so not really the best. Happy Spring to all. 20th March The work on the pool is started and we said goodbye to the old mosaic tiles: they will be replaced with a smooth cement surface with a resin finish in the same colour as before. The kitchen is nearly finished : just waiting for the marble top to be delivered week. 16th March Here we are again back in Tuscany after a our sting in London last week. we drove to London via Brussels (I know , not really on the way but we went to see some good friends for the week end). Tiem is London , was great , frantic , emotional ,cold ,expensive , exausting , in other word we had a good time seeing our friends and family. If you ever in Angel area in Upper Street go to have lunch at the Afghan kitchen, the chicken with yougurt is delicious. we drove back in two days and we stopped in France ( again a bit off our direct route home )to see Philip's aunt Sue and his cousin Caroline. They bought a beatiful farm ( in need of LOTS of teder care and attention9 : once restored it will be another fantastic palce in the french country side. 4th March just one more thing for today.I was playing around with Google Maps and I found out that our exact location is LAT 43,289037 and LON 11,806226. Quite amazing what technology can do ! ciao PAolo 4th March Forget what I said few days ago, crap weather again wet wet wet! We are doing some rennovation work at Villa Fontelunga: Philip redesigned the kitchen and we builders doing it at the moment: it will be a fantastic new room! as well this year we are resurficing the pool a sort of facelift (as expensive as well). Philip and myself are off later today for the week end in Brussels and on Sunday we will take the ferry to go to London for the week. yes we are going with the car for 2 reasons : 1) we need to take with us the Prop for our stand at La Dolce Vita exibition in islington at the Design Center (have a look at the following web page http://www.ladolcevitaevent.co.uk/2010 and if you fancy it come over to have a look and say hi to us ) our olive oil and wine.2) Philip's mum is thretening to burn all of Philip's architectual books that have been in her garage and attic for te last 10 years! So we are driving over to London , a little adventure that we have not done since we moved to Tuscany. Love to All 1st March Had a great week end at Fontelunga: finally mild weather , quite sunny.We spent time in the garden, Philip actually doing some gardening and myself chatting to him. Good news for our olive grove: it survived this terrible winter,the snow and the really cold weather.Today went to the market in Foiano and bought lots of Herb plants, Thyme,sage,lavander,rosemary. we will plant them in the herbs garden when we are back from London in 10 days time. ciao Paolo 27th Feb  Finally a lovely sunny and warm day after the torrential rain of the last few days. Took Oliver and Lola for a walk into the village(this ona is the twon hall sqaure)and had breakfast al fresco.Today we have the day off from the builders: yes we are doing some rennovation works at villa Fontelunga and in our cottage , but this is going to be another entry. happy sunny week end to all. Paolo 20th Feb  We went to Paris for the week end to visit our friend Massimo(in the photo with myself).As usual weather was crap , cold and wet but Paris always beautiful. We did many turist things that we have not done for ages and met some interesting people.Sad to go back But Massimo you can be sure we will be back in few months.Paolo 15th Feb  Finally some sun so yesterday we went to Todi for lunch with some friends. Please please if you are ever in the area go for lunch at la Mulinella , just outside Todi in Umbria. We had homemade fettucine with Goose ragu , follwed by pork fillet with mushroom! Delicious! paolo 14th Feb  Hello my friends , we are back in Tuscany after a fantastic Holiday in Mexico. we went all over from Yucatan to Quintana Roo and Jalisco. Went to visit many Mayan Temples and finished our holiday in Puerto Vallarta.I m busy in the office sorting out my mail while Philip is supervising few decorating jobs we are doing at Fontelunga: we will have a new kitchen this year ! Weather today was lovely and sunny but since we arrived back last week we had lots of rain and snow at the week end. Happy San Valentine ciao Paolo |
