Italy 2016 – Perugia for a day

Posted on May 31, 2016 by herktrav

Day 13 – Perugia, Italy

So this morning we leave Todi and head to Perugia. We really loved Todi and we were sad to leave, but the adventure continues.

After a final breakfast, we packed up and checked out. The woman at the counter went and retrieved our car for us. Yes, I’m a wuss, but I don’t think I would have found my way back to the hotel. As we loaded up the car to go, “Uncle George” stopped by and gave us hugs and handshakes before we left.

Todi is a very nice little town. Perfect for some light sight-seeing and close to many other towns. The people in town were all friendly, but the star attraction were the people at the Hotel Fonte Cesia. They made our stay so pleasant that it was like staying with family. Ok, maybe not my family, but you get the picture.

So off we went to drop off the car and do a little sightseeing in Perugia. The ride over to Perugia was not too bad. The Italians are still crazy drivers, very aggressive and very impatient. This morning, traffic wasn’t too heavy so the ride wasn’t too bad.

We stopped just outside of Perugia to fill up the gas tank. It was 30 Euro to fill the tank for the time we had the car. Not too bad considering the amount of driving that we did.

We actually found our way to the train station fairly easily and just made it to the Maggiore counter before they broke for lunch. Dropping off the car was such a relief. The driving was the most stressful part of the trip. Now, someone else will cart our butts around!

Our hotel was located right across the street from the train station. Easy to scoot over, though they have an underground passage to cross the busy street that required carrying the heavy bags up and down stairs again. It’s a good thing it’s not bowling season.

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Perugia Train Station

The Hotel Astor is a nice little hotel. Kind of like a Novotel or Comfort Inn back in the states. Not fancy, but clean and convenient. After we checked in, we relaxed for a little while then went out to explore Perugia.

Perugia is the capital of Umbria, so it’s a little bigger and a little more crowded then some of the other towns. They do have a mini metro, which is a small version of a subway system that runs from the outskirts up to the historical center of town, that we took advantage of. Older buildings, lots of little shops and restaurants, some old churches and a town hall made up the historical center.

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We wandered around, peeped inside a few places, then found a place to eat an early dinner or late lunch in the main piazza. The restaurant Il Bacia was our choice today. Started out with our glass of prosecco, then a caprese salad and a calzone for Sue and a pizza for me. Both were delicious! While we were eating it started to rain, but we were snug and dry under the restaurant’s umbrellas. By the time we finished the rain stopped. How’s that for timing?

We took the mini metro back down to the train station and then headed back to the hotel to relax – Sue reading, me playing games on my Ipad. One of us dozed off before writing the daily blog, but it was some needed rest after the stress of driving.

Tomorrow we are off to Sorrento.

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Italy 2016 – Enjoying Todi

Posted on May 30, 2016 by herktrav

Day 12 – Todi, Italy

Before going to sleep last night, we decided that we would stay in Todi for the day. The rain had kept us from walking around more of the town and we really wanted to see a bit more. The flexibility of planning as you go wins again. As for Orvieto – next time!

Went down for breakfast this morning and the house was empty. Our server told us that everyone comes for the weekends and then they go home. I guess our timing was even better than I thought it would be. No worries, she brought Sue’s tea water and my cappuccino and then the buffet was all ours.

Afterwards, we grabbed the camera and off we went to explore. It is really great that around the perimeter roads they have nice sidewalks to walk on. It makes it a little safer and a lot easier on your legs. In the historical center, the streets are narrow and we find ourselves ducking into nooks and crannies as the cars go by.

We walked all the way down to the ring road and then went to the church of Santa Maria della Colsolazione. It has a Roman feel to it with it’s dome and inner niches for the statues of the Saints – including St Thomas.  Again, simple and nice.

We then followed the road along the old wall which led back towards the older part of the city. The upward angled streets make for a good workout. Umbria is the one place where if your parents said they had to walk uphill both to and from school they weren’t kidding.

Passed through an area that had a few newer homes with people tending to their daily chores. Everyone just goes about their day here, you will always get a smile and a buon giorno from the people.

As we continued up, we decided that it was gelato time. Two scoops each. Caffe and pistachio for Sue, banana and chocolate hazelnut for me. Now that’s the way to take the edge off.

Stopped at a small store to get a couple bottles of water. 1.5 liter bottles of water were .9 Euros each, then upstairs to relax on the terrace for the last time. We will definitely miss this hotel, but so far we are 3 for 3. Tomorrow’s hotel by the train station is just a transitional hotel, so we’re not expecting luxury.

So our last dinner was at Le Cisterne Pizzeria, another of the hotel’s restaurants. Same staff, same menu, same prices, just a little more casual. Tonight we shared the best calzone we have ever eaten and also a dish of fettuccini with cinghiale (wild boar) ragu. The food was awesome, the wine was delicious and the service was like being at an Italian family’s home.

Leaving was sad, as they have been so nice to us. In my best Italian I told Francesco that we were leaving tomorrow and that we loved eating with them. Sue got kisses from Francesco and Uncle George, I got handshakes and hugs and we left feeling like we had been visiting family. Now that’s a travel experience.

In case you’re wondering, Uncle George was the pizza chef who looked like my Uncle George Riscili in Niagara Falls. He had the same smile, the same playful demeanor and a cool little way about himself that made us feel like family.

Back to the room to relax and get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow we are heading back to Perugia to drop off the car and transition to the southern phase of the trip.

All in all, Umbria was even better then we anticipated. If you asked us what the best part was, we’d say the people. All the towns were wonderful, but the people were the best part. We never felt like outsiders, we truly felt like we belonged.

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Italy 2016 – Toddling around Todi

Posted on May 29, 2016 by herktrav

Day 11 – Todi, Italy

The weatherman was only partially correct. We didn’t get any of the thunderstorms that swept through, but we did get rain and then off and on drizzle for the early part of the day. Waited out the weather in the room and when the sun came back, we headed out.

We are close to the Piazza del Popolo, which is a main square here in the old part of the city. At one end of the piazza is the Cathedrale of Todi and at the other end is the Palazzo dei Popolo. Most of the buildings here date back to the early 1500’s, though there have been renovations since that time.

We stopped at a small vista and, as we are quite high up on the hill, the views are beautiful. You feel like you can touch the clouds as they go by.

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When we reached the piazza, there were people preparing street art similar to what we had seen in Gubbio. The pictures, created with flowers and grass, were beautiful. Unfortunately, it was a little breezy so they were struggling to keep things in place.

The celebration was the festival of Corpus Christi. After a mass in the church, the priests, the congregation and a band marched through the streets of the town. It was very nice to see the community spirit. We were able to watch from our terrace as they went by.

Ok, but we’re not time travelers, so the march was later in the afternoon.

Back to the earlier time, we went into the Duomo and walked around. It is another church that is not overly ornate, just a simple house of prayer. The highlight that people talk about is the rear wall with it’s stained glass rose window and painting. Really beautiful colors! We lit candles in memory of our families and then headed back out into the piazza.

The breeze was still causing stress for the designers and their flowers, especially since the earlier rain had put them behind schedule to start with.

Our stroll continued and we came upon the Tempio di San Fortunato. Looked nice, but the stairs up had Sue wishing there was an escalator .

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Just a little winded after walking up, the good news is on the way out we get to go down.

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Stepped inside, and right after I snapped the above picture, we turned a corner and saw the “No Photos” sign, so that will probably add a red mark on judgement day.

We continued down the road and came across another vista with gorgeous views. They have them strategically located all around the city. This particular one also had a small memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives in New York on 9/11.

After weaving our way back to the hotel, it was prosecco time. Sue did the ordering and we ended up with a bottle of water and one glass of prosecco. Since the woman would have had to chase all the way back to the restaurant area, I ended up with a Coke while Sue enjoyed her prosecco. Moral of this story is: listen intently when the rookie does the ordering or drink a soda.

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Luckily, our server at dinner knew we would both want a glass of prosecco. He was the same person that we had the night before and he was funny. We ended up sharing a pizza and a pasta dish, had dessert, a bottle of water and a bottle of wine for about the price of a bottle of wine back home. At the end of the meal, I paid and said ‘a domani’ or ‘see you tomorrow’ to the server.

He beamed and introduced himself as Francesco, we introduced ourselves – Tommaso and Susanna and he was shaking our hand with the biggest smile. That’s when Sue said she wanted to stay here…

Back upstairs to relax and get a good night’s sleep. We also have to decide what we’ll be doing tomorrow. Tomorrow is the holiday back home, so Happy Memorial Day everyone.

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Italy 2016 – Travel day – Gubbio to Todi

Posted on May 28, 2016 by herktrav

Day 10 – Todi, Italy

Today we leave Castello di Petroia in the north of Umbria and head to the hill town of Todi in southern Umbria. We started out with a nice breakfast and got to say goodbye to one of our favorites at the Castello – Isabella.

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We had fun trying our Italian and having her applaud and give us a bellisimo or language instructions. We had more lessons than bellisimos, but we had fun trying. Though Isabella was our favorite, everyone at the Castello di Petroia was wonderful and made our stay perfect. Sad to leave, but the adventure continues. We checked out, loaded up the car, took a deep breath and hit the road.

Despite our worries, the ride over was not too bad. Sue had mapped out the route and is a first class navigator. For my part, I listened to her directions, watched the cars tail-gating and then zooming by and tried to avoid the crazy drivers on the highway. We only had one close call, but I’m writing this so you know we made it safely.

Arrived in Todi and started the winding drive up to the historical center of the city. When we turned into a small piazza our hotel was on the right – The Hotel Fonte Cesia.

Sue ran in to see where we should park and the two women at the desk came out with her and grabbed the bags. Then one of the younger girls hopped in the car with me and I thought we were driving back to Gubbio.

Since there are mostly one-way streets, we had to unwind down the city center to get to the parking area. The streets were so narrow, I had to close the mirrors in some spots. The hair pin turns were meant for horses or walking people – not cars. Finally we reached the parking area and I wedged in.

I’m sure we won’t ever see the car again; at least not if I have to find it.

Now, it was a climb back up to the hotel. Debenetta was bounding up the stairs, Tom was trying not to look like an escaped oxen while gasping for breath. Yikes!

By the time we arrived back at the hotel, Sue had already checked in and the luggage was up in the room. She met me in the lobby, I signed the paperwork and then she walked me up to the room. I knew something was up, but didn’t know what. When she opened the door, I knew what was up.

She was extremely excited about the room. It was spacious, nicely decorated and was sparkling clean. Then we discovered the additional surprise – the terrace. We thought it was one of those Juliet balconies where you could stand and look over the square, but it turned out to be a large, private terrace. Just gorgeous and it gets the afternoon shade – perfect!

Todi – Hotel Room
Todi – Hotel Room
Todi – Hotel Room
Todi – Hotel Room Terrace
Todi – Hotel Room

We relaxed for a while and had a glass of Prosecco out on the terrace. I could really get to like this.

Sue had made dinner reservations when we checked in at the hotel’s restaurant – Le Palme. We were both hungry by dinnertime, so this would be a treat. The woman at the counter told Sue she would make sure we had a nice table and she came through for us. Nothing like dining al fresco on a beautiful evening.

As for dinner, yum! We both started with a gnocchi dish; Sue’s with black truffles, mine with a gorgonzola cheese sauce. Both were scrumptious. Then I had a chicken breast filet with rustic baked potatoes, while Sue had thinly sliced veal with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes. We enjoyed our first bottle of white wine – a Grecchetto from the Todi region that perfectly complimented our dinners. We were both so full, we even skipped dessert.

We waddled ourselves back up to the room to relax and digest our meals before bed. Weatherman says rain tomorrow, hopefully it won’t be a total washout.

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Italy 2016 – Enjoying the Castello di Petroia

Posted on May 26, 2016 by herktrav

Day 9 – Gubbio, Italy

Today was an absolutely perfect day – sunny, cloud-free skies, 75 degrees and a slight breeze. We walked back to the terrace after breakfast to decide what we wanted to do for the day. Sitting there, it became obvious.

We went upstairs, grabbed a little music and headed back to the terrace. Today, we would “non fare niente” or ‘do nothing’. Just relax, enjoy the beautiful views and appreciate where we were. Perfect!

There is a song by Mary-Chapin Carpenter called ‘What if we went to Italy’. It talks about relaxing, reading, eating and drinking campari and soda. We just substituted Prosecco and made it our song.

A few people came and went over the course of the afternoon. We just smiled, gave them a friendly ‘buon giorno’ and went back to doing nothing. Some nice light jazz, a nice light breeze and then a little commotion…

Two snakes decided to use the terrace for some afternoon delight. Snakes aren’t my favorite creatures, so we informed the desk staff because their cats were also curious. Well in the commotion, the snakes left, the cats were fine and the desk treated us to a bottle of Prosecco. Now the afternoon was even more perfect!

Around 5:00 we headed up to the room to recharge batteries, check out tomorrow’s route and to get ready for dinner.

Are we bored of Italy? Weren’t there more towns to see? Shouldn’t we be more active? Should the strangozzi be served more al dente? Questions, questions, questions.

No, we are not bored at all, we’re having a great time. There are towns everywhere and we pass through them on our way to and from places. They are all gorgeous, but we can’t stop in every one or we’d never come home.

We are meanderers. There is no need to rush and do something every moment. Sometimes just sitting back and soaking it all in is good.  And if we miss something, there’s always next time!

And finally, the strangozzi is perfect. Also known as priest stranglers, it’s a perfect dish with veal ragu and red wine.

Dinner was a full house as most of the rooms are full. We went down a little early so I could take a few pictures. We enjoyed our last meal at the Castello and had a delicious bottle of Rosso di Montefalco. After dinner we started to organize things for the packing in the morning.

Next stop Todi.

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Italy 2016 – Visiting the town of Gubbio

Posted on May 25, 2016 by herktrav

Day 8 – Gubbio, Italy

So the Castello di Petroia is technically not right in the town of Gubbio, but rather in the outskirts, just past a town called Scritto. Today we will visit the actual town of Gubbio, famous as a beautiful medieval town and home to the Basilica of St Ubaldo.

Gubbio is also… ‘surprise’ … another hill town built on the slopes of Mount Ingino. As you may have guessed by now, that means lots of sloping streets and stairs. You don’t need to be a mathematician to know those angles will mean sore calves tomorrow. I digress.

We start out with a quick breakfast. We arrived after all the other guests, so we didn’t want to hold up the kitchen. Afterwards, gathered up our day bag and camera and off we went.

The town is only sixteen kilometers from here, so we were there in no time. I had read about a good place to park and we found that right away. It was just outside of the city walls, near to the roman ampitheatre. And it was free!

We made our way through the city gates and into the first of many squares we would see in Gubbio. The town is decorated with the flags of the four quarters as they just celebrated with a festival called the Ceri. More on that later.

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A couple little shops immediately caught our eye. One selling gluten free salami and the other with a tray of huge, white truffles for sale. Turning the corner, we saw the Gubbio Express, a tourist train rolling by and decided that it would be a splendid way to get to know the city. We only had to go a short distance to find it parked and taking on new passengers.

For 8 Euro, it’s a 45 minute ride around town pointing out many of the highlights. We hopped on board and away we went. Gubbio is actually bigger than it looks on the map.

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Gubbio is the town where St Francis tamed a wild wolf that was terrorizing the town folk, and is the start of the trek that many people took from Gubbio to Assisi. You see many references to St Francis throughout the town.

After our train ride, we went to the Palazzo dei Consoli. It was built back in the 1300’s and is today a museum. Inside the palazzo, you will find many historical items and paintings, with the jewel being the “Gubbio Tables’.

These are seven bronze plaques that date back to the 3rd century BC. They describe the religious ceremonies, customs and sub-divisions of the inhabitants according to their occupations. The fact that they were written in Gubbian and Latin allowed them to be translated by future generations.

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Gubbio Tables

Most of the frescoes and paintings contained within are of a religious nature, spanning many centuries. Climbing up the many stairs, there is a wonderful balcony with expansive views all around. A young girl offered to take our picture (probably figured we wouldn’t make it down).

On another level, there were old ceramics – plates, jugs and other artifacts that were fascinating to see given their age. One of paintings that made us chuckle showed eight guys on the bottom that reminded us of Platform 4 in Ferrara. The looks on their faces and their haircuts were a little scary.

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The Platform 4 people revisited

Back down in the main hall, there were miniature versions of the statues that are used during the race of the Ceri. The short story is that every May, on the second Sunday, the three saints of the area are set atop these pedestals and they hold a race around the city. The pedestals and the saint statues weigh about 1000 pounds and the streets and piazzas are packed with people making the ‘race’ more of an obstacle course. It has taken place for centuries and is an important festival for the town.

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Our next stop was the Palazzo Ducale. It’s a museum that used to be the Duke’s house. There are many paintings, furniture and an audio visual presentation telling the Duke’s story. Though it was in Italian, you could pretty much understand what was going on.

There was one painting that really caught our eye. It is a painting of Mary, seemingly giving Joseph instructions regarding baby Jesus. He just looks so miserable it was precious.

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Across from the palazzo was the Cathedral of Gubbio. Massive on the inside with beautiful stained glass behind the altar. It was empty when we arrived. Either the tourists and workers were all eating lunch or the walk up had them dropping.

So we decided next to take the gondola up to see the basilica of St Ubaldo. First we had to maneuver down the street to get to the right level. The east to west streets are fairly flat; the north and south routes require sheer will and determination as they are oh so steep.

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This is one of the N – S streets and the reason for sore calves.

Next we zigged and zagged our way over to the area where we saw the cables. Then we looked up to see the height and then we saw the bird cage gondola.

Luckily, or as Sue would say, miraculously, they were shut down for lunch. It looked a little scary and I’m sure I saw Sue crossing herself as we walked away.

Lunch was in order and we found a place that one of the other guest couples at the castello told us about. It was a nice little place, reasonably priced and the food was delicious. I had the menu of the day, while Sue had the gnocchi with shaved white truffle. Yum!! With full tummies, we decided to head back home for the day.

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On the walk back to the car, we passed by a group that was creating religious street art in preparation for the feast of Corpus Christi.  They used flowers and grass to make some beautiful images.

Finding the car park was easy, exiting the town was easy, finding the proper unmarked road – not so easy. What a pain. It took a couple tries before we caught the right road and headed off.

Tight, hairpin turns are no reason for Italian drivers to slow down. I just started pulling over when the line on my rear bumper got long and then took off when the coast was clear.

We rested up before dinner and since we were both still pretty full from lunch, we had a light dinner but made sure the prosecco was bubbly and the red wine was good. Someone had to do it!

Some light reading and a little music before heading off to bed.

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Italy 2016 – A visit to Assisi

Posted on May 25, 2016 by herktrav

Day 7 – Assisi, Italy

Woke up to the fog shrouding the surrounding hills. The sun is up and will hopefully burn it off early. Cleaned up and went down for breakfast. Looks like the others got off to an early start, no worries, they left plenty to eat.

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Back to the room to gather our things and off we go to Assisi. Assisi was the home town of St Francis and also St Clare. Both are entombed there and their followers built beautiful basilicas in their honor.

The short version of the story is St Francis was born to a wealthy family. He went away to war and was captured and imprisoned for a year. After being released, he made his way back to home and had an encounter in which he prayed for guidance and God spoke to him through a crucifix and told him his church needed saving. Francis turned his back on his comfortable material life – and declared his loyalty to God alone. He lived a very simplistic life, and together with his followers spread the word of God, leaving a legacy of humanism, equality and love of nature.

Assisi is not a huge town, but it attracts huge crowds of pilgrims and tourists. But today, the crowds were not too bad. Walking through town had a very calm feeling. Quite spiritual, despite souvenir shops everywhere. Most were quite tasteful, though St Francis bobble heads may have crossed the line.

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Assisi – St Clare Square View

We started our walk at the Basilica of St Clare, but they were closed for lunch. So, instead we walked on to the Temple of Minerva. The temple was originally built by the Romans in the 1st century BC. The Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva was added in the 9th century and the bell tower in the 13th century. On the inside, despite the mainly baroque look, there are still remnants of the original Roman temple stone floors. I love the stairs leading into the buildings. The steps are all different heights and can be a tad slick. Keeps you on your toes.

We continued on our way to the Basilica of St Francis walking down the main street known as Via San Francesco. Lots of small shops and restaurants line the narrow road. You have to squeeze against the walls when a vehicle drives through. After a last bend in the road, the basilica appears.

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Basilica of St Francis

It’s not overly ornate, but it is huge; and simple – the way St Francis would have preferred. There are three parts to the church: an upper basilica, a lower basilica and St Francis’ tomb. Unfortunately, no photos are allowed inside the basilica.

The lower basilica has a very subdued feel to it. There are frescoes around the walls telling stories of St Francis and Christ. The altar is located directly above St Francis’ tomb. Off to the side is a small chapel that is filled with relics of the Saint.

The upper basilica is brighter and built in a gothic style. The walls are lined with 28 frescoes that depict scenes from the life of St Francis. They are all very beautiful. There is also an area that is just plain plaster. This was the result of the earthquake in 1997 that caused a partial collapse and killed four people.

Back outside, the front lawn is planted with bushes that spell out PAX or peace and also St Francis’ “T” that he used.

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Heading back in the direction of St Clare’s Basilica, we stopped at the Chiesa Nuovo, a small church dedicated to the martyred friars. There were some pretty gory scenes depicted there. We definitely made fast work of that stop.

Our final destination was the Basilica of St Clare. Clare was a rich girl who fell in love with Francis’ message and made secret arrangements to meet him. She cut her hair, was clothed in a simple tunic and despite all of her father’s protests went on to found the Order of the Poor Clare’s.

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Basilica of St Clare

She spent the next 40 years of her life living in the convent of San Damiano. Her tomb is located under the basilica as well as many relics. It was a very inspiring day, but now it was time to head back to the castello.

The traffic was minimal as we wound our way through the country roads and small towns. Arriving back safely, it was time to relax before dinner.

Our favorite server, Isabella was here again tonight. She is so friendly and patient, especially while we try our best to mangle our orders in Italian. Another super dinner and back to the room to rest up for tomorrow’s adventure.

Just a little side note:  A woman guest we were chatting with asked if I had taken Italian lessons as she had heard me order dinner yesterday. Of course, it must have sounded impressive to people who won’t say anything in Italian besides buon giorno. Jeez!

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Italy 2016 – A day of rest and a Happy Anniversary

Posted on May 24, 2016 by herktrav

Day 6 – Gubbio, Italy

So after yesterday’s driving stress, we decided that today we would just chill at the Castello. There was a big storm that I slept through over night, at least that’s what Sue and the others at breakfast told me. When I’m tired, I’m tired – that’s all there is to say.

It’s been fun chatting with some of the other guests and hearing about places they are visiting. Sounds like many have an itinerary similar to ours, though the things they want to do or see are a bit different. Makes it interesting to share stories.

So after breakfast we did a little exploring around the castello. A couple sections date back to the 11th century; further building was done through the 16th century. They have renovated the inside throughout the years and the rooms are quite nice.

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Royalty at the Castello?

There are many, many antiques throughout the buildings. I’m afraid to sit in a chair fearing that the 15th century chair won’t hold up to a 20th century butt.

The castello ‘driveway’ is two kilometers long (glad I don’t have to shovel that!). The surrounding land is a mix of forest, pastures and olive groves. Lovely driving up to the gates. Hopefully the pictures do it justice.

After our walkaround, we headed up to the room to plan out tomorrow’s journey and to reorganize the suitcases. We even found time to sneak in a nap.

Dinner was here at the Castello. Besides not wanting to venture out in the dark, the chef and staff here are fantastic. With many choices on the menu and wine list, there’s no reason to head out. I’ll sneak a picture of the menu when nobody is looking.

Our server, Isabella, added a couple candles to our tiramisu and brought over a couple glasses of bubbly to celebrate our anniversary. Not a bad place to spend our 36th anniversary.

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After a wonderful meal, we headed upstairs to finish mapping out tomorrow’s journey. I need to get my driving mojo back.

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Italy 2016 – Travel Day – Venice to Gubbio

Posted on May 22, 2016 by herktrav

Day 5 – Gubbio, Italy

This was a day I don’t want to think too much about. We checked out of the hotel after a very nice stay. I always recommend Hotel Antiche Figure to anyone who asks about a place in Venice.

Our train was on time and it was a very comfortable trip from Venice to Florence. The second train was also on time, this one from Florence to Perugia. We arrived right on time and things were looking up.

Over to the Maggiore car rental and our car was ready for us. It’s a deep blue Mercedes C180. Very nice and comfortable. Packed our luggage, sent away the person that wanted a ride and off we went.

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Our Umbrian wheels – Don’t park under tress

Sounds nice, except for the fact that we went round in circles while it was raining for almost 90 minutes before we could find the way to Gubbio. I only swore twice!

Picture being in Buffalo and wanting to go to Hamburg. Imagine the road sign going towards Hamburg saying Syracuse. That’s why we couldn’t find our way. The town wasn’t even on our map it was so far away. Since it was the only direction we hadn’t tried by that time, we headed towards Cesena. After a few kilometers, we finally saw a sign that referenced Gubbio. We chose wisely – finally!

It took about 40 minutes to get to the hotel. It’s called the Castello di Petroia and is a beautiful place to stay. It literally is a renovated castle with some parts dating back to the 11th century. We were frazzled from the drive and the warm welcome we received was wonderful.

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Our room is in the portion of the castle that has been recently renovated. You walk through stone walls a meter thick and then get to a room with all the modern comforts of home. The room is spacious, comfortable and quiet. We have a view over the valley that is gorgeous.

Chilling after the drive
Huge bathroom and tub
Large room
Great views
Great views

We ate dinner at the hotel and all I can say is – Wow! Just about everything is made fresh or grown on the property. Vegetables, herbs, cattle, breads, jam, honey, eggs – you get the picture. Our meals were delicious, the wine was a Sagrantino from Montefalco and our starter glass of prosecco was refreshing.

It was a fine ending to an otherwise stressful day of travel.

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Italy 2016 – A Tour on the Venetian Canals

Posted on May 21, 2016 by herktrav

Day 4 – Venezia, Italy

Sunday, our last day in Venice, was a day to just relax and enjoy the not so touristy parts of the city – even though we were taking a tour.

We started off with a good breakfast at the hotel and then went up to the room to finish charging every electronic gadget we brought with. Then, powered up, we headed over to San Marco’s Square to meet with the tour group.

The vaporetto ride over was jam packed. We got on early and it was pretty full, but each stop added more people. Two would get off and four would get on. We finally got a little breathing room at the Rialto Bridge where many exited. Just a few more minutes and we were at St Mark’s.

Lots and lots of people were out today. There were four cruise ships in port, day trippers by train and even a few Venetians wandering the square.

We booked a tour with the folks at ‘Walks of Italy’ to cruise the canals and to visit the island of St Giorgio. Our meeting spot was beneath the column of the winged lion. As it turned out, there were six of us on the tour, plus our guide Barbara. We had a boat waiting, so we were off right on time.

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Our Venice Guide – Barbara

Barbara was fantastic. She is a “real Venetian” and shared her knowledge of the city and her wit as we cruised around. Our boat mates were all pleasant and we had lots of laughs as we drifted along. You don’t really zoom along because the speed limit is only 5 mph. That keeps the wakes small and the erosion to a minimum.

Some of the sights we saw were a gondola workshop, the local hospital, a very old bookshop, some quaint little bridges, and the jewish ghetto. After turning onto the Grand Canal, we saw the Venice Casino, a couple museums, the old red light district, the fish market, some grand hotels and some nice residential homes.

Our final stop was at the island of San Giorgio. It lies directly across from San Marcos and provides incredible views from the top of the bell tower. Since you all know us, yes, there was an elevator or you would have seen pictures from the shoreline.

Venice has a rich history and we learned a little bit more on the tour.

We made our way back to the hotel and checked for a place to have dinner. We found a place that had good reviews and was pretty close by the hotel. It’s called Al Bacco Felice – The Laughing Bacchus and it was just what we were looking for.

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It was on a small side street, is just a small family run restaurant and had great food. As the evening skies turned dark, it became a nice, romantic dinner. We even had a strolling accordion player pass by. I felt like I was in Italy – oh wait, nevermind.

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We started with our prosecco, as always, and both had a pasta dish and then we shared one of their fabulous pizzas with a liter of house red wine. Our server, who is also one of the owners, was very friendly and made us feel very welcome. Can’t be positive, but we think we were the only non-locals dining. At the end, we made a point of saying goodbye to him as he was inside and he poured us a glass of limoncello to digest. Highly recommended, great food and extremely reasonable pricing.

A lovely stroll back to the hotel to relax. Tomorrow we leave Venice.

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