GP’s Italian Scrapbook

With only about a week to explore Italy—and a detour to Rome for Valentino’s haute couture show in the middle—packing it all in became an impossible-to-solve Rubik’s Cube. The mandate? Maximizing every day and every meal with a little road-tripping thrown in for good measure. Momentum, who put together GP’s sail-of-a-lifetime through the Indonesian Archipelago a few years ago, stepped in to stitch it all together, bringing together two of the Italy’s most incredible properties (Castello di Reschio, Villa Treville), Michelin-starred meals, and all sorts of extra-credit adventures, like a truffle hunt and cooking classes. The details, below.

SCRAPBOOK

• Umbria

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  The truffle-laden woods where we searched for ‘shrooms.

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  Nero, the hunter,
  found a treasure in the rocks.

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  A big black funghi.

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  Fresh fichi.

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  The day’s bounty.

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  Sticks and stones.

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  A view from Citerna, a stunning medieval village in the Upper Tiber Valley.

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  Back at Bianconi homebase, they turned our loot into lunch.

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  A fig and truffle salad.

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  The harvest, four ways.

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  Citerna is walled and fortress-like, and named after the ancient tanks that were excavated below ground for collecting rainwater (seven still remain intact).

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  Maybe the world’s chicest wine shop, on-site at Reschio.

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  Dinner selfie.

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  That specific Tuscan green.

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  Count Bolza’s incredibly chic cabin by the lake.

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  The magic of an outdoor living room.

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  Organic lettuces from the Countess’ gardens (see below).

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  A bento-esque picnic box done noble architect-style.

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  A private lake for picnic lunches.

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  Pasta making class.

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  Bolognese.

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  Tagliatelle with fresh tomatoes and basil.

• Rome

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  Con mi chica Delfina Blaquier Figueras. #wearefigueras

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  A wonderful post-show dinner.

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  The original gangster, flanked by two ladies in red. (Rosario Nadal.)

• Positano

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  I found flipper. #LiGalliIslands

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  A view from Villa Treville.

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  A gorgeous little cove, visible from the hotel.

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  Fresh sardines at Da Adolfo.

THE DETAILS

Castello di Reschio

[Perugia, Italy]

In the early 90s, Count Antonio Bolza and his wife Angelika came across Reschio—a largely abandoned and derelict estate from the 11th-century that had once guarded the Umbrian/Tuscan border—and began the process of slowly breathing it back to life. Now under the care of their architect son, Count Benedikt Bolza, and his wonderful wife, Nencia, Reschio is once again thriving: There are numerous meticulously restored and stunning palazzos—complete with private pools, tennis courts, and fridges stocked with the harvest from the adjacent olive groves, vineyards, and biodynamic garden—along with a restaurant, wine shop, and stables, where you can ride the family’s Andalusian horses. At 2,600 acres, there are private lakes, vast oak forests, and rolling hills in every direction.

The Count’s design firm has an office on-site in the restored Tabaccaia from the ’40s, which also functions as a gallery—in addition to being on Architectural Digest’s list of the world’s top 100 architects, he produces a lighting and furniture line that’s made by area artisans from local materials. It doesn’t hurt that these craftsmen some of Italy’s best, as evidenced by the incredible restoration: In the main palazzo, the vaulting was created with plaster board in the traditional style, the semi-spiral staircase was assembled with hand-cut travertine blocks (no cement or metal rods hold it in place—it’s all step key), and the wash basins were carved from marble by the marble workers Vaselli Marmi on the road to Siena.