Ciao! Italia!
(Subtitle - The Woman Who Ate Her Way Through Italy and Lived to Tell the Tale)
Spring Break! Last year we had an amazing adventure with our wonderful friends the Bryant Family in the Umbria region of Italy. In fact, we enjoyed it SO much that we decided to do it again! We had heard that they had replenished the pasta and wine supply since we demolished it previously, so it was worth another trip. We even stayed in the same gorgeous villa - Casale San Silvestro:
When we arrived, the lovely housekeeper Giovanna said "I am ready for you. I bring lots and lots of beer and firewood." So, you will be proud to note that we are totally representing the great US of A in true form - evidently on our last visit she learned that Americans like to drink beer and burn stuff. Usually simultaneously.
San Silvestro is located just outside of Todi, a quaint hilltop town. You can actually see Todi in the distance from the villa:
Using San Silvestro as a home base, we explored the region. First stop? Narni - the town which inspired the fantasy land of Narnia from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Undeterred that the bottom floor of this abandoned church is now a pescivendola (from the smell we translated this to "fishmonger") the kids take a tour:
Next stop? Rome! Rome is a fabulous city. So fabulous, that at any given time about 1/2 of Europe is visiting it. Next time I'm making everyone in my party wear green neon vests so I can find them in the crowd. Here's a view from the top:
Roman Ruins:
Well, looky here! A trip of course would not be the same without our travelling companions, the Walkers and the Goulds! This is the arena where they would run the chariot races.
But really? We were there to visit some of the smaller, more quaint villages of Umbria. (Actually, we were there to drink wine, but don't call me out on that). So our next stop? The town of Orvieto.
Orvieto is famous for two things. The amazing Gothic Cathedral above, and the fabulous white wine, Orvieto Classico, aka "Liquid Gold" (their name, not mine! Although I totally agree. Totally.) Shauna, Paulie and I did a tiny-winy taste test to make sure it lived up to its name.
And on the next stop of the Old Churches and Wine tour....Assisi - home of Saint Francis of Assisi. Absolutely one of the most picturesque villages in Umbria.
One of everyone's favorite sights - the bridge below is passable only by a raised corridor built into this stone wall! You go in one side, are totally emerged in cave like darkness, and pop out on the other!
Here's what it looks like when you're in the tunnel! You can totally imagine the monks wending their way by torchlight:
But the view from the top is worth it!
And the good people of Italy really have the food thing down! One cafe owner insisted on giving Augusto a free slice of pizza AND a free bologna panini because she felt he was WAY too skinny. But perhaps not so much after he ate this:
And this:
Oh, and a whole lot of this:
My Georgia knows what's up. Here she is eating what was probably her 70th piece of pizza for the week (while simultaneously cleverly avoiding Italian paparazzi).
So, full of all the sights, history, culture and cuisine Italy has to offer, we say arrivederci to Italy for one more year!
