Bergen, Norway

Else and Harald Kobbe,

We had for years been visiting Italy, and dreaming of a place to be there, but came across Borgo di Vagli by pure luck. One evening, flying home from Oslo, we had picked up an English Magazine, ITALY, due to the abovementioned interest. Leafing through it, we both noticed the add describing this opportunity to get a fractional ownership in Tuscany. Home we wasted no time to get on the internet and the web-page, and thus we were hooked. We bought our share even without having the chance first to come down and see how it was. And we have never regretted.Through the years we have been there at various times and seasons. Spring, early summer, high summer and Christmas/winter. This year, 2010, we shall visit Borgo for the first time in the fall, in October, and look forward to taste of the first olive oil of the season.To us this is really coming home to something we did not even know existed. It is hard to explain. We love just being there, relaxing indoor in cold weather, or outside most of the year. We usually bring books, but rarely get to read all that we have planned. It is so much to observe and listen to from the forest and the Hamlet itself. One of our definite favourites is the sounds and smell of Dina and her daughters getting ready to prepare for making dinner and lightning up the wood stoves.We go for hikes, both down to Mercatale and up through the hills. The paths and roads are wonderful, even when snow covered in winter. And relax afterwards with some good wine and local produce, or by the pool in warm weather.Cortona has rapidly become a favourite, even among many beautiful Tuscan towns and villages. We have established our own routines; – where to shop and what, where to eat and drink and why. And when we would like to go a little further, there are so many other places to choose between. Sometimes we just let the road decide, and end up where we had no plans to be. One advice in this respect: Sunday morning at the piazza in Montepulciano may bring a memorable wedding to watch.Writing this little piece, so many good memories come, and we are already planning ahead for our next visits. We are so extremely happy that Fulvio was “crazy” enough to see the opportunities and possibilities of Borgo as it was 20 years ago. We, and our children, shall be eternally grateful.

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