New Hampshire, USA

Susan and Joe Gimilaro,

Last summer our family spent a month in Umbria and Tuscany. We had a wonderful trip! When we returned home, we spent many nights reminiscing about it (and missing it). The countryside was so beautiful, the people so welcoming, the food and wine divine. Yes, we missed it. Of particular interest to me, though, was Cortona. I hadn’t expected this hilltop town to be so lively! I wondered about its recent history – had it always been so lively or did Under the Tuscan Sun have an influence? I spent time reading the blog of Frances Mayes. It was in her blog that I found Borgo di Vagli.We read about Borgo and spoke with Lee, but we put thoughts of Borgo aside as the end of the year and holidays were fast approaching. Lee reached out to us in the new year just as the US dollar exchange rate was excellent. We thought it was a good time to schedule a Discovery visit, especially since it had been a long snowy winter of New Hampshire. We arrived at Borgo in April – and, of course, woke one morning to snow! It very quickly melted and became a glorious day.What we loved about Borgo was the history, the restoration, the beauty, and the peacefulness. Especially appealing was the sense of community and, as Fulvio says, the philosophy of life. We were here with interesting and likeminded people from various countries and different backgrounds. Yet, we had that same philosophy of life. We felt the sense of release from the day to day ‘stuff’ in our busy lives. And the staff and Dina’s cooking – well, that was just icing on the cake!Within a few months we became fractional owners at Borgo. We are so glad we did. While our children, Sarah, 28, and Joe, 23, have not visited Borgo yet, we know they will love it here, too. As I write this, I am enjoying a glass of wine in my Borgo residence, looking forward to Dina’s famous pizza night at this little hamlet in the hills.

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