Le Cinciallegre B & B and Farm Holidays

We came across Le Cinciallegre (Italian for the small bird, the titmouse) by accident. My wife and I had heard about "agritourismos" and were driving around the backroads of Umbria trying to find one when we saw a man in big black rubber boots out in a field tending to his vegetables. I asked him in my faltering Italian if he knew of any agritourismos in the area. "Yes," he said in heavily accented English, "I have one myself. I'm growing these vegetables to serve my guests." That's how we came to know Le CInciallegre and its proprietors, Fabrizio and Cristina. We spent the next five days at "le Cinci", staying in their very old (300 years?) but updated farmhouse, drinking their home-made digestivos (one of which was called "Tears of the Virgin"), and eating fantastic meals Cristina would create from Fabrizio's vegetables and neighbor's doves, pigs and grapes (excellent local wines). Le Cinciallegre is located about 5 miles outside of the Eutruscan city of Gubbio, a truly beautiful city where we had our first taste of truffles (the fungus, not the chocolate). Gubbio proved to be a great starting point for exploring the wonders of Umbria, from the grottos of Eastern Umbria to the majesty of Sienna. Le Cinci is a wonderful place for people who seek the quiet and the beauty of the Umbrian countryside, which is much less touristy than its neighbor Tuscany. Fabrizio and Cristina are worldly, entertaining hosts who maybe bring a little bit of the Italian farm life, in a sophisticated form, to travelers searching for the real thing. Far from the glittere and congestion of more touristed destinations, Le Cinciallegre offers a glimpse of the gentler, more rustic Italy.