ITALY!

Last friday Mitch and I returned from one of the most chilled holidays I've ever had. Deep in the Umbrian countryside, near a small village called Collazzone, my v.good friend's parents built a beautiful villa on top of a hill and this summer she v.kindly invited us to stay.

Even with 11 of us there it never once felt over-crowded, the villa was huge: 6 double bedrooms (3 en suites), the master bedroom was about three times the size of my entire flat, a kitchen about 6 times the size of my parents', a basement complete with a second kitchen and a games room (home of the ping pong table), balconies, a terrace and of course the infinity pool. Oh and the views were spectacular.

Due to the amazingness of the villa, and the fact that all cooking was done by my friends' sister, brother and his girlfriend, we never really had cause to leave save for a little wander around their olive grove and vineyard (yeah, they make their own red wine and olive oil) and a drive to Assisi - as in St Francis of.

Assisi was a v.beautiful town full of windy narrow streets, where all the buildings seem to be built from the same stone. It was a rather holy place with numerous churches and plenty of shops for priests to buy their robes and the like. We took a look inside the Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi - a vast structure build into the side of the hill, it's ceilings and walls are covered in frescos and patterned tiles (the tiles were a-mazing and I would've taken pictures if we were allowed). Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Basilica is also home to the remains of St Francis - visitors are permitted into the crypt to see his coffin (which is tiny btw).

I also took a little trip to the wine shop near the villa where they dispense wine from what looks exactly like a petrol pump! As with almost everything around where we were staying it was super cheap but v.tasty - 5 litres for 6.5 euros? Dangerous.

Basically I spent the entire week eating (so much good food - the wild boar sausages were probably my favourite and the pink grapefruits were delicious), drinking, reading (I got through 3 books), sunbathing (as well as chilling out on the terrace) and swimming in the pool. Can you see why we were particularly reluctant to come home?

Bit of a picture overload but it was hard to pick just a few. *Sigh* Fingers crossed for an invite again next year!