PhotoHunt: Road - Bramasole, the villa of Frances Mayes

One of my favorite stretches of road, is the one that runs past beautiful Bramasole. Standing there, looking up at the apricot colored villa, then looking across the blackberry thickets to the grey mists of olive groves and the distant Umbrian hills, is a poetic moment.

Do you know your Robert Frost?





I first went to see Bramasole in 2001, then again in 2005 - and these pictures are from my 2006 trip.

This is my latest PhotoHunt entry.

Bramasole, Frances Mayes' house

I hadn't been to Italy for a few years when I went with my sister in 2001. One of the first places we went to was Bramasole, in Cortona. I'm a big Frances fan. Her friend Antonio who is in all her books showed me around her garden while she was out. I had the time of my life.

I went back to gaze at her house during two of my other Italy trips.
It's something VERY special!



Bramasole ancora - Bramasole again. It's such a beautiful villa.
I was saying to Antonio that there used to be two palm trees in front of the house. You see, the frost got one.

This is Frances Mayes' villa in Cortona, Italy. Seven years ago, I was standing at the gate looking in at the garden when Antonio walked out of the front door (he is one of her friends) and then he asked me if I wanted to speak with Frances. No! I didn't want to intrude - I was just admiring her roses!

We had a long talk in Italian, and he was so impressed that I had come all the way from Australia to look at her garden, that he gave me a quick tour of the front part of it.It was an experience I will never forget.

Next time we went to Cortona, after looking up from the road at the villa and garden again, we went to say hi to Antonio at his shop in the town. When we walked in, he said, " Ahh! Australia!" He remembered us!

PhotoHunt: Colorful - Frances Mayes' garden

This is my latest PhotoHunt entry.

I've been to Cortona three times - and always make the drive around to Bramasole, the beautiful house with its colorful garden belonging to Frances Mayes.

Meeting Alessandra Federici in Cortona

I met Alessandra last October at her store in Piazza Signorelli called Il Girasole. She's well known in town. A smiling shop keeper nearby pointed across the square to where she was standing in the entrance of her store.

If I had longer on my upcoming trip to Italy - I would have liked to get an apartment for a week, in Cortona. So much to do, so much to see... such a special place.

The garden of Bramasole

The garden at Bramasole is so peaceful and tranquil... it's a place for reflection.

Full-blown roses, drenched with scent are side by side with lavender bushes, trailing geraniums, masses of daisies and lemon trees.

Terracotta pots, spilling over with blossom adorn hand-built stone walls.

Views of the Tuscan countryside appear from all aspects of this beautiful garden. It's very special.

My first view of Bramasole

I'll never forget the day the first two Frances Mayes books came in the mail. They were a birthday present - and they gave me a new path to take, a new direction. And they made me long to return to Italy.

In three previous trips, lasting six months in total, the closest I had ever come to Cortona was a day trip to Arezzo. But over the next four trips, I managed to get to Cortona on three occasions. Thank you Frances for opening my eyes to that very wonderful Etruscan hilltown.

I need to go back and spend a week there in an apartment. I would like to see the orange haired angel by Fra Angelico in the museum, and I would like to get to know the town really well.

The trip in 2001 was probably the most special. I have just reread my travel journal. We parked near the exquisite rosy apricot, tall villa - Bramasole. The small shrine with the Madonna was just as described with a fresh posy of wildflowers in a jar underneath it. I looked up at the Polish built wall and the one remaining palm tree standing to attention outside the shuttered windows.

Then I heard voices and caught a glimpse of two people standing outside the door. When the man called out buon giornio, I answered, and he then initiated a conversation. This was Antonio, from the books, who keeps a small store, La Nicchia Cornici, in the town. He came down to the gate to speak with us and then invited us in to look at the garden in front of the house.

The rosebushes and lavender were so beautiful. It was a real highlight of my trip.





It took another two years to return to Cortona, but Antonio remembered me when I visited him in his shop. "Ah, Australia!" he said when he saw me.