Tuesday, October 07, 2008
On our last day in Tuscany, we drove a couple of hours to Gubbio, actually in the neighboring province of Umbria. Gubbio’s historical record dates to the Neanderthals and extends through the Romans right up to the 21st century gelaterias and ATMs. It is dramatically positioned above a valley floor and partially up the peaks of a deeply forested national park. We wandered around the town and climbed to the Duomo, which, at the time, seemed rather high above the plain. We had our picnic lunch in a garden overlooking the city and the tower of the Palazzo Communale, then returned to the car to drive even higher along a switch-back road to the Basilica of St. Ubalde, the town’s patron saint. The views there were far-reaching and the small, quiet basilica was quite lovely. Prominently displayed there was the saint’s preserved body, minus the three fingers one of his followers hacked off post-mortem in a fit of religious fervor!!
On our return to our agriturismo, we drove again through the Crete, to savor once more that gorgeous landscape and snap a few more pix.
Tomorrow morning, we drop off our first car and head for Rome, either by train or bus. I don’t believe we’ll have Internet access in our apartment there, but perhaps we’ll be happily surprised, as we were here. In any case, we’ll keep in touch as best we can and hope that you’ll do so as well. It is such a treat to hear from you when we open our Inboxes each day!
Mel
On our last day in Tuscany, we drove a couple of hours to Gubbio, actually in the neighboring province of Umbria. Gubbio’s historical record dates to the Neanderthals and extends through the Romans right up to the 21st century gelaterias and ATMs. It is dramatically positioned above a valley floor and partially up the peaks of a deeply forested national park. We wandered around the town and climbed to the Duomo, which, at the time, seemed rather high above the plain. We had our picnic lunch in a garden overlooking the city and the tower of the Palazzo Communale, then returned to the car to drive even higher along a switch-back road to the Basilica of St. Ubalde, the town’s patron saint. The views there were far-reaching and the small, quiet basilica was quite lovely. Prominently displayed there was the saint’s preserved body, minus the three fingers one of his followers hacked off post-mortem in a fit of religious fervor!!
On our return to our agriturismo, we drove again through the Crete, to savor once more that gorgeous landscape and snap a few more pix.
Tomorrow morning, we drop off our first car and head for Rome, either by train or bus. I don’t believe we’ll have Internet access in our apartment there, but perhaps we’ll be happily surprised, as we were here. In any case, we’ll keep in touch as best we can and hope that you’ll do so as well. It is such a treat to hear from you when we open our Inboxes each day!
Mel
1 comment:
Thank you, thank you for setting up this blog. You two are doing a wonderful job of posting interesting updates and beautiful pictures. How do you say "jealous" in Italian! We all certainly enjoy following your travels and you will always love looking back on your posts. Throw some coins in the Trevi for me! -Allie Piccoli
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