Before we start today’s recap, I realized that we didn’t show you the spectacular inside of the Brancacci Chapel, and a closeup of one of the artist’s portrait in a painting:
Fillipino Lippi
Saturday, November 14th
We decided on a quiet, close-in day today. The pace has been pretty hectic. Before headin off for the Citta di Castello (not too far away) we had a chance to take a look at the Sada Sat’s “new rooms” without getting in the workmen’s way.
Any of you who have been involved in any construction process should be duly impressed.
The new windows had to reflect the centuries-old ones in the historic tower. No drywall or metal studs here.
Talk about headers….
Talk about ceilings…
Talk about views!
The new living space is extremely spacious and filled with natural light. It will encompass a bedroom, large, modern working kitchen and a comfortable entry/living room.
After admirin the new addition we took the Yoga Borgo shuttle (Sada Sat’s 4-wheel drive) to our car now parked “premanently” in Lama. Here’s what a car looks like after making the trek to the Yoga Borgo –
The price you pay for beautiful, dry, no rain weather. Looking for a car wash now (before returning to rental company!)
We drove to Citta di Castello to take a look at the large outdoor market in the old part of the city (much larger than usual due to a festival that was occuring). It was so busy that it took us close to half an hour just to find a parking spot. We were focusing on cheese, olive oil and chocolate – the Milstein/Dowshen holy trinity.
On the way we saw the largest display of licorice I’ve ever seen – from licorce root in the raw to crocodiles.
Sada Sat told us about the special cheeses made by a local farmer who specializes in goat cheese. Hooray…he had his stand open in the market. We sampled delicious hard and soft cheeses, and restrained ourselves, buying “only” a goat blue, a goat brie, and a goat tallegio. It helped make a pretty, pretty nice lunch.
Another of the stands sold scary-good homeade chocolate. One of the huge bombs in the back was rich, smooth dark chocolate with hazel nuts. We got a big slice to share around, licking fingers as we walked. We also got a bag of dark chocolate with cafe truffles for tonight’s desert.
We moved on from there to a specialty shot that was selling newly pressed olive oil – olio novella. The Sada Sats were sharing a bottle given to them by a friend, and we wanted to get some for ourselves. The store had several kinds, the youngest pressed just a couple of days ago. We happily tasted and bought. The trinity was complete.
On the way out we saw this display of local, fresh-dug truffles (tartufo). Notice the lock. We didn’t buy…but we’re going back to the same restaurant we had the truffle pig-out on Monday. We’ll get our fill again.
We saw some of the charming architecture as we headed back to the car and the Yoga Borgo.
We had a delicious lunch, devouring much of the bounty we brought home, including some really great bread. We stayed home in the afternoon. Marsha and Linda took a long walk around and above the property while Josh took a nap and Joel worked on the blog.
The four of us were treated to a yoga lesson by Sada Sat Kaur at Marsha’s request – in the downstairs yoga room. It was a very special hour. It was a chance to get a taste of practicing Kundilini yoga and for us to experience Sada Sat’s master teaching skills. The physical excercises, the controlled breathing and the chanting were very new to all of us but Marsha (who had done a little kundilini). Sada Sat explained some of the history of this type of yoga, and we ended with relaxation…basically a nap (heard Josh breathing pretty heavily).
Off to Urbino tomorrow.