Italy 2016 – A beautiful day in Sorrento

Posted on June 2, 2016 by herktrav

Day 15 – Sorrento, Italy

Yesterday’s travels brought today’s serenity…

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the hotel. You know it’s going to be good when they have a self-serve mimosa bar. The breakfast lounge is located on the top floor of the hotel with beautiful views over the bay. With Mount Vesuvius in the distance, I felt compelled to pile things up on my plate. Subliminal messaging going on.

This was definitely not the standard quickie breakfast that most of the hotels have had. This buffet had eggs and bacon, quiche, cereals, breads, meats, cheese, pastries, cakes, juice, champagne, teas and coffees. Everything seemed to be baked or made fresh this morning. So that was the delightful scent we were getting. Anyways, breakfast was good.

Tomorrow morning we have to meet our tour group near city center, so we walked over to make sure we knew where we were going. It gave us a chance to see many of the sites around town, plus pass by lots of shops and restaurants. The early morning walk should only take us about fifteen minutes, so that’ll allow me to sleep in for a few minutes longer.

As we were walking around, everywhere you could see the sea was mobbed. Selfie-sticks are everywhere and squeezing in between those people to take pictures can be a real challenge. One must definitely be prepared to move in when there is an opening.

We passed by a lemon grove that we plan to go back to Sunday. In the meantime, we shall do our best to sample as many different limoncello’s as possible. Strictly for comparison sake!

There were a few drops of rain that fell, so we ducked into a couple different little passageways. Lots of shops and vendors selling everything a tourist could want – and then some!

As soon as the clouds passed by, the sun returned and the day was beautiful. It’s not really hot here like it is in Miami, Mexico or Buffalo. Our temperatures have been in the low 70’s with low humidity. Perfect for walking around.

With the sun shining, we decided to walk over to the Marina Grande area. This area is considered separate from Sorrento, but is located right next to the old town. There is a portal that is called the Old Greek Portal that leads down to the marina area.

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Through the portal, you find this wonderful seaside village. Little shops, restaurants, boat docks and a small beach encircle the cove. Really nice and pretty rustic.

We decided to have a late lunch there instead of waiting for a big dinner later in the evening. One of the best restaurants in Sorrento (I know, I said it was outside) is located here – Ristorante Bagni Il Delfino. They have an extended dining area that goes right out on to their pier. They have a wonderful menu, lots of fresh fish choices and some great house specialties. Add to that, an extensive wine list and you had two happy tourists.

I try not to be overly touristy by taking food pictures, but I had to today. We both started with a caprese salad that was very good and then Sue had a fresh grilled branzini fish, while I had their special gnocchi with shrimp and fresh tomatoes. We also had a bottle of Rose’ wine that was made with Aglianico grapes. Needless to say, we both really enjoyed our meals very much. Molto buono!!

The waiter was like a surgeon deboning Sue’s fish. We applauded and he was a little embarrassed but also pleased that we acknowledged his precision. Fun! We were both pleasantly full, so we skipped dessert and headed back to the hotel.

We made sure we were good for tomorrow’s excursion around the coast of Amalfi and Saturday’s excursion to Pompeii before relaxing a bit.

For a nightcap, we went up to the lounge and had a drink while watching the sun set over the bay. To add to the romance, there was a wedding going on at the hotel next to ours and we could hear the band playing as we enjoyed our drinks. I didn’t hear any accordion solos, but the sax guy was pretty darn good.

Back to the room, updated the blog and we’ll be hitting the pillows early so we can get up in the morning. Another great day!

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Italy 2016 – Travel to Sorrento

Posted on June 1, 2016 by herktrav

Day 14 – Sorrento, Italy

Today will be a long travel day. We have three trains to catch to get to Sorrento.

We grabbed a quick breakfast in the hotel and then headed over to the train station. While the Hotel Astor wasn’t glamorous, it sure served its purpose. We only had to cross the street to get to the train station. Just a little whine – hauling the suitcases up and down the stairs is such a pain.

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While waiting for our train we met a very nice couple – Paul & Sue from Portland. It was pleasant to chat and they told us that music students from SUNY – Genesseo had performed concerts in Perugia over the weekend and were well received. Small world.

When the train finally rolled in, we boarded and headed off to Rome. The train passed through many of the towns that we had visited or planned to visit as it made it’s way south. The trip was about three hours and was actually comfortable. We had a little girl  and her mother sitting next to us, and she was adorable.

The Roma train station is quite large. Once we left the train, we had to move to a new platform that was a ways away. Italians are maniacs on the road, but walk like it’s a parade when you want them to go fast. We made it to the track crossing area to find that our train was delayed by 15 minutes. We headed over to our platform and waited for the train to arrive.

This leg is on the Freccarossi, which is that fast train from Rome to Naples. It had started its journey in Venice this morning, so only being a few minutes late wasn’t bad. When we did start out, we picked up speed quickly and before you know it the sign said we were at 294 kph or about 180 mph. The hour and ten minutes went by quickly and we found ourselves pulling into the Napoli Centrale train station.

Here’s where the fun started. You have to go down to the old railroad station, which is only a short walk, buy a ticket and then cram into this small railroad platform with lots of other people. No seats, when the doors open just move and push your way in. We couldn’t get on the first train, but did manage to squeeze on to the second one.

Each station that we came to, more people tried to squeeze on and nobody was getting off. It was like Weird Al Yankovic’s “Another One Rides the Bus”.

So squashed in like sardines, we rode on for a little over an hour until we reached Sorrento. Along the way, besides the smell of BO from armpits reaching for the handles and a couple people that really should consider using the shower in their house, my wallet was pick-pocketed.

While you’d think I would be cursing up a storm, I’m not. That’s because they picked my decoy wallet. It’s an old wallet that had a 10 Rupee bill left over from our India trip, plus a note in a couple languages calling the person a loser and telling them to get a job! My real wallet was in my front zipped pocket and was safe. I really wish I could have seen the person’s face when they opened the wallet. Oh well.

After being squashed for over an hour, neither one of us wanted to walk to our hotel dragging our bags, so we grabbed a taxi. Our driver was kind of a middle-aged Italian hippie fashionista woman who was great. She made sure we understood that she couldn’t drop us off right in front of the hotel because the streets were too narrow before we set off.

On the way to the hotel, she pointed out lots of places and things for us to see and do while in Sorrento. It felt like a sight-seeing tour in the Mystery Machine. She dropped us off, pointed the way and just as promised about 50 meters away –  The Hotel Regina.

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The hotel is lovely. The location is even better than I expected. After checking in and getting the low down from the front staff, they showed us to our room. The room name is the ‘Positano’ room and as soon as you enter you look out over the bay of Naples and Mount Vesuvius. I know it’s been a long time, but as Sue said, “If that thing goes off we’ll have one hell of a night light!”.

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View across the Bay of Naples to Mt Vesuvius from our room

The room isn’t gigantic, but there’s plenty of room, a comfortable bed, a balcony with chairs to watch the sea and it’s spotlessly clean. Bravisimo! And they left us a complimentary bottle of wine – Double bravisimo!

We washed up and relaxed for a little while before heading out for dinner. We found a small place called “Sacro & Profano” that was nearby and had a wonderful meal. Prices are just a little higher here, but the food was delicious.

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While we were enjoying our meal, an accordionist walked by and started playing tunes that I knew the words to – not good! For a minute I forgot we weren’t a duet and sang along. Such fun. Definitely worth a small tip and a big smile. When we finished, our waiter brought us a glass of limoncello that was “from him”. Great way to end the evening.

We strolled back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep. All that sitting made me tired!

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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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