Had a nice shower followed by a complimentary breakfast downstairs. There was no butter out so I used orange jam on the bread with the ham – if it rhymes it must mean they go together (ha ha).

Left for Papiano at 10:00 so Colin could meet the real estate agent and see the inside of the house. We got there a bit early so went into Poppy Bar for a cappuccino (and it was delicious). Colin met the agent in the main square – she was driving a different car than she’d said but he knew who she was right away anyway.

We followed her up the winding road to the parking area then walked the rest of the way to the house. It was even better inside than outside – tile on the main floor with nice counter-tops and a washing machine, really great fireplace too. The windows seem much larger from the inside than they did from the outside.

The bathroom was fully tiled and seemed fairly new, and the two bedrooms that were upstairs were lovely. Again no carpet, but wood laminate, and a couple of the windows had decent views. There’s a nice little terrace out on the side – space enough for a table and chairs and a couple of planters – perfect for sitting and enjoying a cup of coffee or perhaps a glass of wine.

I took a bunch of photos so Colin can show Neil the general state of the house and what work might need to be done if the purchase is completed.

I left with the doggies so Colin could talk numbers with Danila and went back down to the main square for a glass. Colin arrived awhile later and while he was inside the bar a small cat tried to sneak by our table – but of course not much gets by the ever-alert little ones. They took off so quickly they almost knocked the table over – I had their leash wrapped around my leg but when I lunged to grab the glass-topped table and glasses the leash slipped off me and away they went after the poor cat at full speed and volume.

I saved the table and glasses, as well as my camera, and took off after them – running down the middle of the road and calling them, waving my arms like a madwoman at an oncoming car while the dogs completely ignored me. The cat made a dash thru some garbage cans and up the side of a hill while the dogs got caught up on the cans – being that they were still tethered together. I finally caught up to them and grabbed the leash – a car that had been behind me as I made my mad dash after them stopped and had a good laugh at me as I walked the doggies back up the street to the bar.

In the meantime Colin had come out of the bar and wondered where we had gone. My heart was racing and I was shaking, but the doggies were just fine, if a bit disappointed.

We went back up to the house so I could take some photos of the outside, which needs a little plaster-patching at the bottom, then left the village. It was still early in the afternoon and we weren’t ready to go back to the hotel, so we went for a drive over the hill towards Bevagna.

I had always wished to return to Pian di Boccio, the first campground I stayed at (for 10 days!) and where I had met Colin in May, and we had talked about popping in for a visit. The GPS guided us up a small side road, and I said that the road looked familiar and I thought I’d ridden on it before, and then lo-and-behold we were beside the lower part of the campground. We pulled in and the gate-arm was down so I got out and went onto the terrace and there at a table was Maeke with her kids, and grandpa Vincenzo nearby.
She recognized me right away and got Luisa on the phone to come say hi. The two little boys opened up the gate so Colin could drive in and we sat on the terrace and had a really nice visit. Luisa made tea and served us a local dessert roll with fruit in it that a friend had made for her. It was so good to see them and they were so friendly and seemed happy to see us and hear what we’d been up to, and that I hope to come back next year – maybe I’ll see them again! And there was good news about Maeke’s husband (Luisa’s brother) – his leg is on the mend and he just needs a bit more physio – at least he’s not going to lose it, which was a possibility back in May.

After our visit we drove as far as Bevagna, then turned around and made our way back to the hotel.

Had a nice salad for dinner in the room, and actually found an english-speaking program to watch out of the 187 channels – cheerleaders vs couch-potatoes on a silly obstacle course.

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