Village Italy with Rick Steves
And Some Not So Visual Delights
Enroute to Montefalco,
we experienced the
visual delights of
Ravenna's
magical mosaics in the
Byzantine San Vitale Basilica
and
Galla Placidia Mausoleum c. 450.
And then there's this...Arches make me swoon.
What We Did...
After Marina, our local guide left us, we walked the tidy streets to Dante's tomb and had lunch with some of our tour friends where we all had more local wine. Wine was quickly becoming a theme of the trip! We explored on our own and had a gelato before boarding the bus to Montefalco.
Villa PamBuffetti
On a hilltop
in Umbria
sits the
little village of
Montefalco
The historic district
has one main street
that climbs uphill
on old cobblestones
surrounded by ancient structures
now housing a variety
of eateries and shops.
Surrounding this heavenly
hilltop town
are luscious olive groves
and
endless
vineyards.
Andre and Me
What We Did...
After a morning of walking, the welcome reception with prosecco at the hotel was most welcome. Once refreshed, we worked our way up the hill of the village and really enjoyed dinner at Locanda del Teatro, at the very top of the hill. We may have had a little too much wine because I think our server Andre and I were engaged by the end of the evening. We walked back to our hotel, Villa PamBuffetti, but sadly without Andre.
Our Group
There are so many little hill towns throughout the
Umbrian countryside
that you could spend quite a bit of time exploring each one.
I wish I could.
Really, I do.
And that brings us to
Assisi.
Our Group
IG_Assisi featured this photo of mine on their Instagram account!
'Best Village Lighting' award goes to Assisi.
San Pietro a Pettine Chapel
Good Noses
Bruno
Returning With Truffles
What We Did...
From Montefalco our group took a short drive to St. Francis' hometown of Assisi, where we toured Santa Maria degli Angeli and the Basilica. On our own we picked up sandwiches at Gambacorta, Bottega del Bongustaio and carried them to the top of the hill where we picnicked along a rock wall and took photos of the beautiful Umbrian countryside below. After all that climbing we replenished the calories burned with gelatos, of course! Once we freshened up at the hotel, it was time for truffle hunting with the group. We walked among the trees with Bruno and his two dogs who sniffed out ripe truffles. As the sun set we walked up to the restaurant for dinner featuring truffles in 4 of 5 courses.
The Basilica of
Saint Francis of Assisi
Truffles
'Best Sunset Award' goes to San Pietro a Pettine
Compression packing cubes are key! By now things in the suitcase would be a mess but the cubes keep clothing organized while compressing to save space and travel light.
Would you like to know more about truffle hunting?
You can visit my blog post on an external link here.
