~House of Twang~: Genius Loci

we've been relaxing in the italian countryside for 4 days now. life here is certainly slower and more peaceful here than at home... and that's quite an understatement. our day to day routine has been sleeping in 'til 10am or so, and then getting up to enjoy the day. i've been keeping my butt in shape by running through the hills in the morning an working out on the porch overlooking the valley. last night we went to an old restaurant on the top of the hill Assisi is built on (as in saint francis of assisi) there is a huge cathedral built there in his honor and he he buried beneath the massive complex. we will we traveling back there (it's only 18 km from genius loci and the town is one of four medieval towns visible from the inn) in a few days to see more of the town. here's some photos:

this is the inn itself just after you come through the gate at genius loci. the main entrance is the double door on the right side of the narrow end of the building. mike tells us the complex is a former farm house that dates back to the mid 19th century. there are strict laws in italy regarding the preservation of older buildings and mike and his family have gone to great lengths to preserve and maintain as much of the original structure as possible. this is the southwest corner of the inn... the side not visible faces north across the umbrian valley.

this is mike's private house. this is a new structure built and designed by our host himself. in the foreground is a small herb garden which we raid for our daily meals. you can just see the northeast corner of the inn on the left.

inside mike's house:

across his kitchen, living room and dining area:

one of four fireplaces at genius loci that mike built with his father. the other three are in the inn itself. they're all fully loaded and ready to cook meat and veggies on.

mike and carolyn in the kitchen:

the view of the valley from mike's living room window. this photo probably doesn't give the slope of the hill justice... it's steep! we walked down in the genius loci vineyards yesterday and i would say the slope is at least 30 degrees. mike and his family produce around 7000 bottles of vino every year from these small vineyards... that's after they sell off the majority of their grapes to local wine merchants.