La Contessina Bastia Umbra

December 7, 2009



Didn't know what to expect of Perugia, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. It actually have a very medieval feel to it. It sits atop a mountain and I can see why it was originally located here as one gets a very beautiful view of the valley below….and any wandering mauraders! Italy is on a 4 day holiday since the Feast of the Immaculate Conception falls on Tuesday. The ...

... world). Above each of these 28 parts are corresponding Biblical images of the Old and New Testaments. Both the frescoes and the corresponding Biblical images are just magnificent.

These frescoes literally revolutionized art in the Western world, as – for the first time – all the gold leaf and flat iconic images of the Byzantine and Romanesque images were eschewed for natural backgrounds, people of all classes, and a human, suffering Jesus. These ...

... today. That has to be my favorite saint. Very busy here even though end of season. No wireless interent. We have one more day and we start home. I think we are ready to get home. It has been beautiful here and I have learned so much, but all good things must come to an end. See you all next week I hope.

... left her waiting for a (seemingly) endless time. we were finally reunited and snuck off to a calmer alley to a pizza al taglio shop.

The pizza was terrific, much more like the American pizza I am used to than the Roman pizza. We sat on a bench and ate in peace then stopped in the most beautiful chocolate shop. They were offering shots of Chocolate liqours and I bought a sample sized bottle of Chocolate ...

... pizzeria where I had delicious lasagna. After lunch we browsed through the many stands. Sample after sample led to some major purchases. It was hard to pass up the various chocolate products when the smell just filled the air. There was everything from chocolate beer to chocolate “pills” to chocolate pasta!!

Heaven.

I’ll update you soon,

Siara

So Licia and I both had to work on Saturday morning so we decided to meet at her house when we finished and then drive up to Montecastrilli for the night. The weather was nice and as it was late afternoon, we had little traffic.

It was a pleasant 2 hour drive to Montecastrilli. This is a small village near the center of ...

... the pool but the second day we went back into Perugia and had a look around before catching a train to Assisi. The train station isn't in the centre of Perugia, so we had to catch a mini-metro to the top of the hill which gave us a great view before exploring the town on the way back down. We spent the afternoon in Assisi, a short train ride from Perugia.
Assisi is a major destination for millions of pilgrims due to its religious ...

... this route before it was through the dark and didn't see any of the beauty) from Florences was some of the most beautiful we have seen so far in Italy. The train takes you past Lago Trasimeno a drop dead gorgeous lake with picturesque islands floating on its crystal surface, surrounded by lush green hills. Now this is the real heart of Italy, were you slow your pace to suit the life around you.

One of Italy's best preserved hill towns ...

So we are really excited that we are getting to go swimming and sunbathing. In goes Castiglione Del Lago into Harriet... we arrive and both said... oh... it was gross. All muddy and nasty. So we then drive to Passignano thinking ...

... In Tuscany there are a lot of mediaeval little towns like Montepulciano, Montalcino, San Gimignano and of course the Chianti area. The most famous wines are Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montepulciano, Chianti classico just to name some, but there are plenty of other wine producers which have highly qualified wines like Casa alle Vacce - Accanthò. Besides to se and to get known everything about wine, this ...