Hotel Domo Perugia

... 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 ...

... Today the square is still a local meeting point for tourist and students alike.
The heart of the square belongs to Fontana Maggiore (Great Fountain) built between 1275 and 1278 by father and son team Nicola and Giovanni Pisano.
At the other end of the Piazza is the Cathedral of St Lorenzo with its pink façade, which was never truly completed. Work begun in 1345 and continued until 1587, however the door way was only built in the late 1700's.

... The first Jewish culture in Tuscany.

Then we went to the Synagogue. which is a very peculiar building. It has been restored various times and is located in a street now named after Salomon Fiorentino. It tells of the lasting influence of the Jewish community in Tuscany. The most ancient parts of the Synagogue date back to restorations carried out in 1729-32.

At Monte San Savino Jews were present in two distinct periods:

1421 to 1571, with banks lending ...

... walled city on top of the hillside. The views were incredible. We stayed at an agriturismo right outside of town, which was perfect, except for the guard goose! The neighbors had swans, geese and chickens, and one goose just did not want to let us by! Look at the photos for all the incredible sights of Montepulciano. We will have to be back, and next time with a car, so we can explore more of the ...

... might be better...umm no. Was muddier and smelt funny. The ducks seemed to like it though! Decided to lie in the sun
anyway for a few hours and exit stage left..... I cant believe anyone would want to have a holiday there!

We arrive at Montepulciano with great plans of free camping somewhere in the country but find out its near impossible. There was a "camper car park"... which is basically a car park with no toilets you can stay at so we parked there... luckily found a toilet a few mins away. Thats the trouble with free ...

... was good to see it in the day .... since writing last we all went back to the Umbria Jazz festival and had a very good night (didn't get back till 5am - poor Belen and Christina had to work at 7 too) but it was totally worth it, The music was good and there was lots of entertainment in the form of strange Italian men, plus I had a few drinks so was feeling quite merry.

This ...

... Inglese. If the weather holds out (and if we do) we may also go to Cinque Terre - a beautiful part of Italy - 5 little seaside villages that hug the Mediterranean coast and are connected by trails, so you hike from one to the next along rocky cliffs. I'll return with tales to tell and pictures to upload. We had a delightful day on Saturday, Our friend John, a brilliant Scotsman who has lived here for about 6 years and has turned out to be helpful ...

... America can't have such simple, yet grand venues? While siesta whittled away so did my time reading and enjoying lunch. I still hadn't see the main attraction, Basilica di San Francesco and looking at the map, if I timed it right, I could walk the 5km down hill to the city below and see Basilica di San Maria Degli Angeli before the bus came. Off I went strolling toward San Francesco, it is an amazing sight as you approach this massive structure ...

... mine was heavy! My hostel turned out to be pretty much someone's apartment with a large amount of bunk beds. It was actually a really nice place (Firenze Inn, on hostelworld.com for anyone who's gonna be around Florence...) with free breakfast, free dinner, free internet, and a free pub crawl every night. On the downside there was a grand total of two bathrooms, and normally around 30 people sleeping in the hostel. This also meant a couple of mornings we ...