Hotel Prato Paolucci Spello

... are teeming with families, young people and older folks just walking enjoying the cool weather, hot coffee and all sorts of chocolate products. I even caught a wedding happening on Sunday. We have another two days here and will return to Rome on Wednesday afternoon….just in time for dinner and a full day of touring before heading back hone on Friday morning.

Best to all back home,

Jorge

... thin crust). And, for dessert, we split a piece of tiramisu (although not nearly as good as the tiramisu we had in Rome!).

In the morning (12.5.09), we once again had an included hotel breakfast to take advantage of before heading out to explore Assisi. (In addition, we decided last night to stay in Assisi two nights instead of one – and take the train on Sunday from Assisi directly to the Rome airport, rather than leave Assisi tonight for a one-night stay ...

... 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.

So the morning came and Licia and I each took our turn getting cleaned and ready for our exciting chocolate adventure.

It was about an hour drive through the beautiful Umbrian countryside to the Perugia exit from the highway. At this time traffic was getting quite dense as was our anticipation growing.

Arriving at the base of the hills, we came to an enormous parking lot with carnival rides and ...

Hi Everyone!

This past weekend was the Perugia Chocolate Festival…It was amazing! Basically, I was in heaven. It was a chocolate lover’s paradise. We took a bus from Florence and arrived in Perugia by mid morning. It was a bitter day which gave me a perfect excuse to have some out of this world hot chocolate and churros. A bunch of my friends and I had lunch at a ...

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 ...

(Steve)
After saying goodbye to the splendour of the seas, we made our way to the Venice train station and boarded the next train to Perugia. Known as the 'green heart' of Italy, Perugia reminded us a lot of Tuscany but greener. We were staying in a farmhouse so we had to catch a bus out of the city and after finding a few helpful locals we were pointed down a long dirt road.
Our first day at the hostel was spent lazing around ...

After seeing most of what Florence has to offer we decided to head back to Perugia our original stop six days ago and see if we could actually get further than the train station.

With our 11 o'clock departing on time for a change we were soon headed out of Toscana and into the rolling hills, jagged mountains, swathes of olive orchards and ancient stone buildings that make up Umbria.

The scenery on the train ride down (although we had ...

... ceramic store and found a little dish with the iconic olive design and a little egg cup to remind me of the first leg of our romantic journey. Then nap time.

Dinner at home tonight with last night’s leftovers and a sauté of fresh eggplant, tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. We ate outside and enjoyed the caress of the evening breeze. Tomorrow off to Orbetello with our friend Alessandro behind the wheel.

... and back to our villa for a light dinner and a relaxing evening. Today (Saturday) we went to Spello, another old, fortified city about 12 km away from where we are staying. It was originally built in the 1st century B.C. It is a beautiful old town with lots of winding little streets and little shops. We had a terrific lunch in a piadineria -- another new term. A piadini is a kind of sandwich made on flat bread and then heated on a grill. DELICIOUS! So a piadineria is a place ...