50 Shades of Delicious: 2 Chewsy for the Catwalk

Our first glimpse of Orvieto amongst the Le Velette vines Town of Orvieto Harvest Time Le Velette  One of the movies we watched before coming to Italy was Under the Tuscan Sun.  It gave us a preview of what life in the Italian countryside might be like.  But honestly, how do you imagine a week in a Umbrian country house on the grounds of a centuries old Italian vineyard?  Add fourteen American women, the guest of honor celebrating her half century mark and throw in a farm yard cat and you've got a recipe for a very unforgettable experience. Birthday girl! The star of this Umbrian story is Ms Betsy Bruce who hatched the idea of inviting her friends to share in celebrating her half century mark.  She contacted her former tour guide of Rome, Cecilia, whose family has owned Le Velette Estate for several hundreds of years and arranged to rent one of the homes on the property and host her friends for an Italian birthday celebration. ...

You may have thought, due to the gap between blogs that we’ve been away on vacation.  No, just self-inflicted busy with “normal” lives. Speaking of vacations we are just starting our Italian vacation.  Today is day one and it’s purely a travel day.  Up before the roosters and butt in seat for 20 plus hours (SEA to Chicago to Frankfurt to Venice).  We plan to blog about our overseas adventure as we are sure to find some delicious eats.   To get us in the Italian state of mind we rented movies that were either made there, took place there, or had some reference to Italy.  Here’s our top ten list in case you’d like to make a big bowl of spaghetti, grab a bottle of Chianti and take a cheap trip to Italy one night. 10.  Nine 9.    The Tourist 8.    The Wings of a Dove 7.    The Talented Mr. Ripley 6.    Eat, Pray, Love 5.    Three Coins in a Fountain 4.    The Ita...