Hi all,
Well, weve arrived in the "green heart of Italy" - Umbria- in the the middle east part of Italy, about 700 km from Milano. The landscape has changed dramatically as we moved south, becoming much more arid and dry, yet still rolling green landscapes and gorgeous big trees like cypress - and lots of fruit trees... it's the only province in Italy that is entirely landlocked with no water bordering it.
We are staying at this lovely renovated monastery, called the Relais San Clemente, which is a true country albergo, about 15km outside of Perugia, the capital of Umbria - complete with our own crowing rooster, right outside our window! It's a bit like a page out of Under the Tuscan Sun, except in Umbria. Anyway, its gorgeous here, the weather is very warm but not unbearable and there is a ton to see. There is an olive tree right outside my window! Oh, and the food continues to be fabulous... this mediterranean diet is definitely the best (Im up to 8 different flavours of gelato, and counting)
We headed out this morning with our guide, Eduardo, a retired professor from the University of Roma, who also has a Master of Art History and knows everything about this area - he lives in Assisi... we are spending the week exploring the small hill towns in the area - Assisi, Gubbio, Spello, Todi...
Today we visited Gubbio, a tiny village built in a steep mountainside - its not hard to imagine that you have stepped back into the middle ages as you wander the steep, narrow laneways of the town - Gubbio is know for its famous collection of Etruscan tablets, which date from the 3rd century BC and are the best existing examples of ancient Umbrian script - it's very interesting, kind of like reading a code - reminded me a bit of the DaVinci Code... The tablets were found buried in a farmer's yard and were this amazing discovery I guess..
We spent the afternoon in Perugia, the province's capital, which has a lively and bloody past of reglious wars. An interesting fact the guide shared with us is that Pope Paul III imposed a stiff tax on salt in 1538 and so the entire region boycotted using salt in their bread, so to this day, bread in Perugia is made without salt.. it also explains the invention of bruscetta, which was created to give bread without salt more flavour (just a little trivia there for you..)
We spent part of the afternoon at the Mueseo Nationalize, which had a lot of catholic and papal art (unfortunately I don't have a huge appreciation and could have used a siesta!) The upside is that we finished off at Perugina.. the maker of the famous Baci chocolates... nothing like a sugar-rush mid-afternoon..
Anyway, am using my Italian a lot b/c most local folks don't speak English and they really appreciate (and try to understand) us anglophones... so it's good practice... hopefully I'm getting better.
Passport situation is getting sorted out nicely and looks like it'll be all managed en route home. Still have not received my bank card or visa though... so continue to be the freeloading sponger... hopefully they'll arrive soon!
Ciao for now my friends.. A presto!
Nancy
Well, weve arrived in the "green heart of Italy" - Umbria- in the the middle east part of Italy, about 700 km from Milano. The landscape has changed dramatically as we moved south, becoming much more arid and dry, yet still rolling green landscapes and gorgeous big trees like cypress - and lots of fruit trees... it's the only province in Italy that is entirely landlocked with no water bordering it.
We are staying at this lovely renovated monastery, called the Relais San Clemente, which is a true country albergo, about 15km outside of Perugia, the capital of Umbria - complete with our own crowing rooster, right outside our window! It's a bit like a page out of Under the Tuscan Sun, except in Umbria. Anyway, its gorgeous here, the weather is very warm but not unbearable and there is a ton to see. There is an olive tree right outside my window! Oh, and the food continues to be fabulous... this mediterranean diet is definitely the best (Im up to 8 different flavours of gelato, and counting)
We headed out this morning with our guide, Eduardo, a retired professor from the University of Roma, who also has a Master of Art History and knows everything about this area - he lives in Assisi... we are spending the week exploring the small hill towns in the area - Assisi, Gubbio, Spello, Todi...
Today we visited Gubbio, a tiny village built in a steep mountainside - its not hard to imagine that you have stepped back into the middle ages as you wander the steep, narrow laneways of the town - Gubbio is know for its famous collection of Etruscan tablets, which date from the 3rd century BC and are the best existing examples of ancient Umbrian script - it's very interesting, kind of like reading a code - reminded me a bit of the DaVinci Code... The tablets were found buried in a farmer's yard and were this amazing discovery I guess..
We spent the afternoon in Perugia, the province's capital, which has a lively and bloody past of reglious wars. An interesting fact the guide shared with us is that Pope Paul III imposed a stiff tax on salt in 1538 and so the entire region boycotted using salt in their bread, so to this day, bread in Perugia is made without salt.. it also explains the invention of bruscetta, which was created to give bread without salt more flavour (just a little trivia there for you..)
We spent part of the afternoon at the Mueseo Nationalize, which had a lot of catholic and papal art (unfortunately I don't have a huge appreciation and could have used a siesta!) The upside is that we finished off at Perugina.. the maker of the famous Baci chocolates... nothing like a sugar-rush mid-afternoon..
Anyway, am using my Italian a lot b/c most local folks don't speak English and they really appreciate (and try to understand) us anglophones... so it's good practice... hopefully I'm getting better.
Passport situation is getting sorted out nicely and looks like it'll be all managed en route home. Still have not received my bank card or visa though... so continue to be the freeloading sponger... hopefully they'll arrive soon!
Ciao for now my friends.. A presto!
Nancy
2 comments:
Sounds like fun! I am so impressed with your positive attitude towards losing your purse...I lost my wallet once on top of Whistler Mtn in a blizzard and was an emotional wreck for the remainder of the day (until a nice guy found it and returned it to me intact!)
Then again, I suppose it's not hard to be positive when your on vacation in Italy...
ScottyO
Hi Chicklit! Aren't you the Blog-Goddess! I am now in charge of plant watering chez toi. Miss you here, LF
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