Orvieto and goodbye to Italy

Oct 10
Packed up and left our agriturismo for our return to Rome. Our car, a Lancia, decided to make all kinds of weird noises and was doing some serious skipping/jumping of the engine that gave us pause. We soldiered on and eventually the trouble seemed to subside but we still were a bit uncertain about whether we would make it to Rome. Our original plan was to visit Orvieto with a couple of stops on the way at Bagno Regio and Civita’, sites that were recommended by our agriturismo hostess. It was a beautiful drive through some mountainous countryside along a big canyon. Once close to Bagno Regio, we somehow managed to take a wrong turn, gave up on Bagno Regio and went directly to Orvieto. Orvieto is a really pretty hill town built onto a tufa bluff. The cathedral at Orvieto may be the most beautiful cathedral I’ve ever seen. It’s a gothic style with a dramatic façade with twisted columns covered with mosaic designs, beautiful sculptured areas, colored marble, frescoes, and gorgeous doors. The sides of the cathedral are alternating black and white marble. My photos don’t come close to showing how incredible it was. The inside was rather plain and fairly unimpressive after that beautiful façade. After some sightseeing in Orvieto we drove to Rome, returned the car and said goodbye to Italy VERY early the next morning.

Cortona and the BEST MEAL EVER

Oct 9
Decided to take a drive around Lake Trasimeno and then go to Cortona since it was so close by and we had never been there and maybe we'd see what Francis Mayes was talking about. It was a pleasant and picturesque drive. We didn't see the Mayes home but we did wander around Cortona which seemed to be a popular tourist destination for Italians as well as other tourists. It's a lovely Tuscan hill town but there was nothing that particularly distinguished it from other lovely Tuscan hill towns. (But did find some scopa cards.)We decided to go to Spello for lunch since the restaurants there had appeared so appealing. Apparently, most of Umbria thought it would be a good place for Sun lunch also and after looking for parking for about 20 minutes, we decided to move on to Bevagna which we had visited briefly but abandoned because of heavy rain. I asked the local police where to eat and he pointed at a place directly in front of us called Osteria del Podesta'. We were told there was one table left if we wanted it. There was a party of about 20 at a long table celebrating a "cresima" (confirmation) and a couple other small groups including a couple with three young children sitting about 6 inches from us who promptly offered us a taste of their bottle of wine while the children attempted to engage us in an Italian conversation. The wine was great, the conversation with the kids less successful so they gave up on us.
This was the best meal yet for me of a series of really good meals. I had coniglio in porchetta...basically roasted rabbit prepared like porchetta, that is, stuffed with herbs and roasted. It was accompanied by roasted potatoes. These may be the dishes I will request as I lay dying (along with gelato, of course.) A nice Montefalco wine went with it perfectly. Had an easy drive back to our place and watched a gorgeous storm cloud fueled sunset. Tomorrow on to Rome with a couple stops in between.

Spello, Bevagna, Montefalco

Oct 7
Today we went to Spello, possibly the most gorgeous town EVER!! It is a small hill town similar to a million other small hill towns but every inch of it was picturesque. We probably walked the entire town. Stopped in a shop that made all kinds of things of olive wood and bought a few things that we couldn't live without. I discovered that my fall of the day before made it painful to walk DOWN slopes (up is fine but hard to find up that doesn't eventually require down.) There were tons of really appealing restaurants in Spello but it was too early for lunch so we went on to Bevagna, another small and charming hill town but one that didn't hold a candle to Spello. Found a nice restaurant and had yet another yummy lunch with good local wine. While we were at lunch the skies opened up and there was a terrific thunderstorm with a deluge of rain that convinced us that walking around sightseeing would not be fun so we came back home, stopping in Deruta to increase the number of pasta bowls in my order of a few days before.
Oct 8
Today we went to Montefalco, another charming hill town. The town is famous for linens but we (I) managed to resist and didn't buy anything. Wandered around a bit seeing the sights of the town but I was pretty disabled by not being able to walk DOWN slopes which limited our sightseeing. Drove a scenic route through numerous small towns, including one named Bastardo. Stopped for lunch at a no name place between a couple of towns and I had fagiano. I really have no idea what it was except that it was very roughly translated as some kind of bird that lives in the forest, "like a chicken." It was pretty good, certainly different, and had a sauce made of chicken liver pate which I actually like but probably wouldn't appeal to everyone. More good wine went with the lunch. Did some random exploring of tiny towns totally off the grid then back home.

Assisi and John the pig

Photos: John enjoying prosciuto filled tortellini; Santa Maria degli Angeli church; friar on his iPhone; Basilica in Assisi

Oct. 6
Today we went to Assisi. It seemed to have become very commercialized religion since the last time we were there (something like 15 yrs ago for me and about 25 for Dick.) Lots and lots of tour groups and tourists in general that made it just seem a bit unappealing. We walked around the town a bit then went to the basilica which is quite impressive....basically one church on top of an older church and then the tomb of St. Francis on the lowest level. The upper church has frescoes all the way around the church detailing the life of St. Francis and another row of frescoes above that have stories out of the new testament depicted. The lower church somehow seemed a bit more spiritual, more quiet and not quite as many people milling about. Originally we had planned on spending the better part of the day there but decided to leave after the basilica. We went to Santa Maria degli Angeli which is the town below Assisi. I actually remembered this church from the last trip. It's constructed over the original tiny church of St. Francis. There's something very moving about this church that made it memorable for me. It's quite beautiful and very large. Neither of these churches allow photos to be taken inside. It will now be memorable also because I was walking around looking at things and managed to trip on the platform of a confessional and fell very hard onto the wooden platform of the confessional causing me to say words that are not supposed to be said in church. I managed to seriously bruise my knee, and smack my right hand, right shoulder, and elbow.
We drove back towards home on a small picturesque highway and had lunch in Torgiano, a very small town that is known for producing a red wine which we enjoyed with another excellent lunch at a restaurant that was recommended by a policeman in the town. And, as luck would have it, we parked in front of an artisanal gelato place so my dessert was convenient and fabulous! On the way home we drove out past our town of San Venanzo just to see some more of the countryside.
We have made friends with John the pig. A real pig. He is actually quite adorable and we took him our scraps of fruit every day. It turns out he is willing to eat PORK!! We had some leftover tortellini filled with prosciutto which he seemed to LOVE!

Spoleto and Todi

Photos: Roman ruins in Spoleto; not great picture in main square in Todi
Oct 5
Today we went to Spoleto, a fairly large town, and then to Todi a quite small town. Spoleto has a number of Roman ruins and we saw one major site and went to the archeological museum followed by some serious “where the hell are we” followed by “enough of Spoleto.” And on to Todi. Todi is another hill town. One parks below the city and takes a funicular to the town. Our Lonely Planet had recommended a restaurant that sounded really good and, miracle of miracle, we walked right to it about a block after getting off the funicular. Had a really fabulous lunch of pasta with truffles then a main course with good wine. Lonely Planet also described a gelateria in Todi as having the best gelato IN THE WORLD so that was the next stop and it truly was wonderful gelato. The town is charming and easily negotiable so we were able to see all the major sights and enjoy the walk.
On the way home we stopped at the local huge grocery where in addition to a few groceries, I found a hair dryer for 4.90 euros (there is no hair dryer in the apartment) and it was the perfect ending to my day!

Perugia and Deruta

Photos: Pattern similar to the pasta bowls I bought; Perugia; Dick enjoying Perugia from a bench
Oct 4
Today we went to Perugia and Deruta. Deruta is on the way to Perugia and is the site of a buying frenzy that Darlene and I had about 15 years ago on our first trip to Italy. Deruta is a town famous for ceramics that are extraordinarily expensive in the U.S. Darlene had asked me to do some shopping for her so, of course, I was obligated to go. We looked in MANY shops, were shocked by the prices but really liked the products. We ended up in the old town which is high on a hill, wandered about a bit and were ready to go when the DEVIL (Dick) said, “you’re not going to BUY anything??!!??” “Nah, I really don’t need anything and everything costs more than Darlene wanted me to spend. Well., maybe we should look in this place ……” I definitely will be going to the poorhouse now. Of course, shipping costs are better if you ship A LOT rather than just one or two things so that just encouraged me. Found the items Darlene wanted, found things I wanted, then MORE things I wanted then Dick found something HE wanted. Yes indeed, another Deruta buying frenzy….great fun!
Perugia is a fairly large town. We found what appeared to be a perfect parking place just outside the wall and then walked UPHILL about 50 mi looking for a restaurant that was recommended in Lonely Planet which we never found. We ended up near the courthouse where there was a huge number of news trucks hanging around because the Amanda Knox trial had just ended the day before and they were still hoping to get further info, interviews with the principals, etc. Lunch was at an out door café and was good but just lunch….nothing special. Wandered about a bit to see the sights, found the main churches closed for the afternoon siesta, ate gelato and came back to our apartamento.

Our Umbria home

Oct 3
Awoke at the airport Hilton, had a substantial breakfast and trudged over to get the rental car. Of course, we missed our exit getting off the ring road and had to go through various machinations to get off, back on , go around the long way etc with Dick swearing and mumbling all the way. Ultimately made it to our agriturismo which is rustic to say the least. The main part of the agriturismo is closed for the season so we are about ½ mi away in a newer building and very close to where the family lives for the winter. Our apartment is quite large but pretty pathetically furnished and there are many “surprises.” For instance, the teapot that is on a shelf above the stove leaked all over because there are holes in the bottom. Turns out it is for “bellezza” (beauty) as in a decoration. The setting is in a beautiful area of hills and agricultural fields. There are two American and one Canadian twenty somethings here for varying periods of time acting as workers on the farm in exchange for room and board. The farm has sheep (for meat), a couple cows (for meat), a pig, chickens, ducks, turkeys, olive trees from which they make and sell olive oil. We had lunch with the family and the workers today. A starter, pasta, turkey cutlets, salad and fruit along with wine. Good home style meal.