Tag Archives: agriturismo

Il Cucciolo

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Agriturismo Il Cucciolo

This post is about a lovely 25-acre agriturismo in Italy called Il Cucciolo, which translates to “The Puppy”, but first I have to own up to the path that brought this place to my attention: the credit goes to my cat Ponyo. Yes, I said it, a cat. In the way that cats climb on bookshelves (and everything else), Ponyo knocked a book down that I had forgotten about. Crafty girl, it was a good suggestion. And that’s where I’ll begin.

I bought Philosophy Dog, The Art of Living with Man’s Best Friend by Breon O’Farrell many years ago in San Francisco at the now defunct Stacey’s Books on Market Street. It caught my eye because it’s beautiful and the topic is dogs. It’s loaded with great photography and typography, oh and it’s about dog training but clearly that facet was lost on me and mine. Maybe Ponyo was giving us a suggestion.

Philosophy Dog by Breon O'Farrell

 

Pages from Philosophy Dog by Breon O'Farrell

While becoming reacquainted with this book, I discovered that Breon O’Farrell had been a successful dog trainer in New York with talented dog-loving clients and friends like photographer Bruce Weber (which comes in handy when you’re putting a book together). Then I found that Mr. O’Farrell along with his Italian-born wife and kids now operates a great little gem of an agriturismo in the heart of Perugia called Il Cucciolo. You can take your dogs on holiday there for fun and training, with classes taught by Breon O’Farrell himself.

Breon O'Farrell and dogs at Il Cucciolo

I haven’t visited Il Cucciolo yet, but I sure plan to get there one day. I’m smitten by the whole idea of this place. Most of my trips to Italy (okay, pretty much all of them) are for business and I’m primarily up in the north, but I would love to venture down to Il Cucciolo, and why not? Cooking classes, mushroom and truffle hunting, yoga, hikes in the hills, hanging out with dogs! I’m there. Beautiful.

Il Cucciolo Agriturismo

I think Mr. O’Farrell had the right idea to leave the crowded city for a gorgeous place like this. I’m willing to bet there are quite a few people daydreaming of a life like this right about now. If that’s true and this post inspires someone somewhere to make a big life change, it can all be traced back to Ponyo’s bookshelf climb that day. Crafty girl.

If you’d like to contact Il Cucciolo, you can visit their website here. You can also check out their Facebook page with more photos and info here.

Other contact information:
Agriturismo Il Cucciolo, Vocabolo Figlino n. 31, Petrelle, 06010 Città di Castello (PG)
Tel/Fax: (From USA 011-39)-0758504138, (From Europe 0039)-0758504138
Cell.: (From USA 011-39)-3331877849, (From Europe 0039)-3331877849

Email: info@agriturismoilcucciolo.com

Agriturismo photos: courtesy and property of Il Cucciolo

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Erica Preo is CEO & Creative Director of Pantofola, pure luxury Italian goods for dogs.

 

Boh of San Gimignano

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Boh the dog lounging poolside

“Boh!” is what the owner of our agriturismo replied when I asked what was the name of their resident dog. I didn’t think she meant “Bo” or “Beau”, just because of the way she said it: hands on her hips, a shrug, raised eyebrows and “Boh!” like she was spitting something. So I asked her what it meant exactly and it’s one of those sound-words, for lack of a better term, that means “I don’t know.” She wasn’t saying she didn’t know, she was saying his name is “Boh” and what it means is “I don’t know.”

Okay, I got it. And as the week went on, it was apparent the name fit him pretty well. But then, maybe not. One day during breakfast he pushed his way into our room, jumped on our bed and rolled around for a while (on top of my white t-shirt). Another time he borrowed my husband’s Costa del Mar sunglasses for a while and we eventually found them near his doghouse. Luckily they were inside their bullet-proof case and now the teeth marks it bears serves as a hilarious reminder.

Once after a long day of walking around Volterra, we returned to find Boh lounging poolside on a chaise (so much work to do, finding mischief among the guests, hanging around the kitchen, etc.). After a few minutes the resident one-eyed orange cat showed up and Boh just wasn’t having it, giving him the cold shoulder in stages.

Boh notices the one-eyed cat has arrived

Boh gives the orange cat the cold shoulder part one

Boh curls up into a ball, cat persona non grata

If you’d like to visit Boh (or the one-eyed orange cat), I must warn you to bring pants with an elastic waistband. Dinners at the agriturismo are served at a long table family-style where the food doesn’t stop coming, and they don’t take no for an answer (I’m not kidding). The owners are nice, they make their own products there (no, you don’t have to help) like olive oil, saffron, cheese and wine. So if you’re looking for one of those friendly places where you end up meeting a lot of great people from all over the world (the three wild girls from Poland who live in Canada, the mother and daughter from Hawaii, the water polo player and his medical student girlfriend from Milan, the Australian couple with the woman who worked on Happy Feet, you get the idea), this is one of them.

And of course there’s Boh. But I’m convinced he’s a lot smarter than he’s letting on.

Agriturismo signage and grape truck

Agriturismo information: Il Vecchio Maneggio, Loc. Sant’Andrea 22 – 53037 San Gimignano Italy. Tel & Fax: +39 0577 950232. E-mail: info@ilvecchiomaneggio.com