The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
April 22 - The Road to Umbria

We were on the road by 8am, skirting the Riviera coastline to Monaco before trading the scenic route for the fast lane of the autostrada. It definitely saves time but you give up a lot of "up close and personal" with the local countryside to save a few hours.

It was about a six-hour drive, fortunately fairly uneventful. We had planned to meet our housemates in the town of Umbertide at 4pm and we made it with about an hour to spare. When we arrived, we had more spare time than gas. $85 later(!), the tank was refilled and all we had to do was wait for the fearless foursome to arrive from their overnight stop in Verona.

I camped out with a cold beer at a local cafe and Margene kept an eye on the designated meeting place. (I love division of labor!) The Millers and the Rinderers arrived at 3:45 (I also love the Germanic precision!)

After a get-acquainted round on the piazza we headed off to terrorize the local supermarket. It had undergone a total renovation since our last visit and now has that fresh "market" look with much more attention to display and presentation. Italian supermarkets are not open on Sundays so we had to do a little fast menu planning on the fly, no small trick for three couples with rather different tastes.

Then it was off to Gudiolo to settle in and lay out a picnic dinner. Sitting outside with a glass of good wine and some good friends watching the sun slide behind the hills was a great way to end the day ... and begin our week in Italia.

Ciao for now.

Day one in Umbria

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