Le Cascate del Mulino Spoleto

Back to the land of pay toilets. Don.t know why that bothers me so much but it does. It just doesn.t seem right. Anyway, we are now in Assisi. We got off the boat and it was raining, and then we had to take a detour to Assisi. the road was very narrow and hilly, It was a little tense for awhile. Saw St Francis ...

Hi Everyone!<br><br>This past weekend was the Perugia Chocolate Festival&#8230;It was amazing! Basically, I was in heaven. It was a chocolate lover&#8217;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 ...

... the most interesting surprize.<br><br>Perugia is surrounded by modern buildings and from the parking area there is a very modern, completely automated "minitram" connecting like a long rollercoaster, through the village below and under the mountain to the far side of Perugia. This is probably the most modern and efficient devise in all of Italy.<br><br>Arriving at the far side of Perugia, we were herded ...

... My friend has a nice, sparsely decorated flat in the heart of the village. We settled in and then went to the neighboring town of Amelia for a nice dinner.<br><br>Licia had worked in that region for a few months and had been recommended to a good restaurant near Amelia. We drove over the rolling hills to the small hilltop village ...

... 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.<br>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.<br><br>One of Italy's best preserved hill towns ...

... lunch we stumbled on a look-out and found a little Italian family having lunch there as well. We scouted a grassy spot under some trees and laid out our quilt and had lunch. We drank our chilled white wine while eating our pecorino cheese, prosciutto, fresh bread and juicy peaches. I took pictures, Marty read until we both dozed off, while hearing the happy sounds of the Italian family under the bright blue sky and ...

... restaurant to have dinner late, by our standard and arrive a half an hour too early. We had an antipasto as Mike suggested but didn't stop there, we ordered pasta. I had the potato gnocchi with truffles and mascarpone. Marty had the pasta with spicy red sauce. Stuffed with doggy bags in hand, we staggered back down the hill in the cool night air.

... first of many we are going to see. After visiting their friends&#8217; charming little artists&#8217; apartment we are off to lunch, more wine and great food. <br><br>Back home to jump in the pool and take a much needed nap.<br><br>That night Mike makes us wonderful pesto pasta, drank more wine and talked into the warm Umbrian night. After our hosts went to bed we made love while moonlight showed in the window and the crickets chirped.

After exploring Orvieto for half of a day, I wanted to find a town that was virtually untouched by tourism. I had heard of a small town called Civita that was nearby and was only accessible by a bridge. Not knowing exactly where it was, I packed up my bag, and took a bus to a nearby town and just started following signs. Fortunately, there were plenty of signs and I didn't get lost. However ...