Jeff and I arrived in Rome a day before our scheduled meet-up with the group in Umbria. We spent an interesting day touring the old Jewish ghetto in Trastevere with the assistance of a Rick Steves audio guide downloaded onto Jeff's iPad!
As we walked to the ghetto from the subway station (dark and gloomy), we passed Roman ruins galore! An excellent welcome to Italy. We soon reached Trastevere, and spent some time exploring Isola Tiberina and the Ponte Fabricio, nicknamed the "Bridge of Four Heads" for its statues of the four-faced pagan god Janus. In ancient times the bridge was called Pons Judaeocum because foreigners, immigrants, and Jews - who weren't allowed to live in central Rome - would cross this bridge to get into town. 
The impressive synagogue, Tempio Maggiore, (1904 - after the unification of Italy and the end of the walled ghetto), with its unique square dome, occupies an entire city block across the road from Isola Tiberina. We walked around the property, which also includes the Jewish Museum. Unfortunately for us, the synagogue and museum were closed (Friday afternoon before Shabbat), so our visit to the interior will have to wait for our next trip to Rome. 
The main street is lined with Kosher restaurants. We had a delicious al fresco lunch at La Taverna del Ghetto. I was disappointed that we were served matzoh instead of chalah! In addition to traditional restaurants, there are Kosher pizzerias and sushi bars.
Fortified, we set off with our audio guide to explore the Roman ruins (I keep wanting to type "old" Roman ruins, but that's redundant). The Portico d'Ottavia, a huge archway once flanked by temples and libraries, dates back to Augustus. It is humbling to see the ruin of such an important centre of civilization. Nothing is forever. After the fall of Rome, a thriving fish market stood in this place. Later on, a Christian church was built. For hundreds of years, this church was packed every Saturday with Jews who were forced by decree to listen to Christian sermons. Next to the Portico are the remains of the Teatro di Marcello.
We then strolled down the main drag, Via del Portico d'Ottavia, passing the few remaining ghetto-era buildings. There is also a Jewish day school and Jewish bakeries. We stopped for a snack at one of the bakeries, and sampled a piece (or two) of fruit cake. Although it looks "bien cuit", it was quite delicious! The shop has been around for a long, long time.
The side streets offered a glimpse into the past: 3-storey tenements, which must have been bustling with activity in their heyday. Today, there are trendy cafes and art galleries on the ground floor of many buildings. Our final stop was the Fontana delle Tartarughe - fountain of the tortoises (1584). The tortoises were sculpted by Bernini.The next morning, we picked up our rental car and headed north to Umbria. No GPS, just Dale the navigator with her printed Google maps. On the keen recommendation from Ofer, an art history professor at HKU, we stopped at Parco dei Mostri (16th century) in Bomarza for a visit. The park consists of the most bizarre and eclectic collection of larger-than-life sculptures and buildings. The owner of this estate, Pier Francesco Orsini, commissioned well-known sculptors of the time to create the gardens in memory of his wife. I truly wonder what she would have thought of this most unusual place. The park was neglected and overgrown for 200 years until the Bettini family (no relation) restored it in the 1970s. Here are a few examples of sculptures on the grounds:
Proteus, the sea-god (above).Giant killing an animal (left).
Voluptuous sphinx (right).
Orcus mouth (above).Hannibal's elephant capturing a Roman legionary (left).
Neptune (right)
We really enjoyed this off-beat site, but it is not for the faint-hearted and it can cause vivid nightmares!
After lunch, we found our way (eventually) to Pian di Cascina. We were the first of our group to arrive. The 400-year-old farm has been lovingly restored by a young British couple. Jeff and I had the "honeymoon suite" (in honour of our long voyage from Hong Kong). The rest of our group of 14 shared two large suites with many bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and terraces. We were all so excited to see each other! 
That evening, we formed a convoy of cars and headed out to dinner at a local restaurant. About halfway down the rutted road, Vincent came running out of Cristine's car shouting "We forgot Maria!" When they returned to the villa, they found Maria waiting outside - apparently, she had been locked in (crazy reverse locks in the apartments) - she had agilely climbed out of a window and sat glumly waiting for someone to fetch her! By the way, Maria is 70. All's well that ends well. We had a good meal, and, after sampling different vintages, determined our favourite local wine.
The next morning, Sue woke up feeling very ill. Unfortunately, she had developed bronchitis, which then evolved into pneumonia. While John took care of her (visiting doctors, pharmacies, and administering TLC), the rest of us formed various groupings and scattered in different directions. Jeff and I joined Suzanne, Robert, and Stephen, and tootled off to Assisi. What a sparkling place! We learned that, as a result of the devastating earthquakes of 1997, parts of the basilica and much of the town (in fact, many of the surrounding towns as well) were destroyed. Assisi has been remarkably restored. Sunday crowds aside, we had an extremely pleasant day exploring this historic place.
The main attraction in Assisi is the Basilica, the mother church of the Franciscan Order. It was built (1228-1253) immediately after St. Francis was canonized, the same year that he died - no 5-year post-retirement waiting period for Francis. The remains of the Saint lie in a crypt in the basement. We noticed visitors clinging to the bars surrounding the crypt, crying and praying.
Our little band of five explored the whole town - I don't think we missed a church, stone, or marker! On the left is Dale in her ubiquitous library photo. On the right, Jeff and Suzanne in front of a Roman building. The weather was glorious, so after an al fresco lunch, we climbed up to the Rocca Maggiore to enjoy the views from the old imperial fortress.
Did I say the weather was glorious? As we climbed up the steep path, the skies darkened. The heavens opened up as we stood in one of the open courtyards. We ran for cover and huddled together until the storm passed! Somehow we lost Stephen in our attempts to regroup and head back down to the town. Putting my Hong Kong hiking skills to use, I ran up and down the hills looking for him.
Together again, we walked through the remaining cobbled streets of Assisi, finding treasures like Santo Stefano, a Romanesque church, whose bells (according to legend) rang spontaneously during St. Francis' final illness and death. As Robert, Suzanne, Jeff and I admired the church, we looked around for Stephen, who had once again wandered off. Unfortunately, he missed seeing his namesake church.
That evening, we ate at the villa dining room - one of the best meals we've ever had. So nice to share the day's events with the whole group. And thank you again to Sue for her leadership and organization (in spite of her pneumonia!).Monday, May 14 - day four of our holiday. We began with a brisk walk to a neighbouring hamlet to enjoy a cup of espresso. The television in the background kept repeating clips of last year's Corsa dei Ceri, a festival that is celebrated in Gubbio (very close to our villa) each May 15th. The festival starts with a procession through the streets up the hill to the Abbey of St. Ubaldo. This is followed by a race with three teams carrying tall candle-shaped pillars weighing 200 kg each, topped with statues of local saints. Initially, Jeff and I were keen to attend the celebrations, but after watching the chaos and crowds (reminiscent of Pamplona's running of the bulls), we decided to visit Gubbio that day, rather than be crushed on the 15th. A wise move! Gubbio was all dressed up and ready for its festival. Hardly any tourists interfered with our meanderings about town.
We parked in the "free" lot at the base of the town (yes, another hill town). One of Italy's numerous African immigrants begged us for some money. We figured that our 2 Euros would protect the car from theft. After admiring the Roman ruins next to the parking lot, we started our walk at the statue of "St. Francis Taming the Wolf". Myth has it that a wolf was terrorizing Gubbio while St. Francis lived there (like George Washington in the United States, he seems to have slept in many different Umbrian cities). St. Francis, acting on behalf of God, tamed the wolf.
We climbed through the pretty medieval streets of the city, reaching the main square where the next-day's race was to begin. Groups of little children were enacting the candle race around the flagpole. So adorable!
And now for the scary part of the day! We took a birdcage lift high over the trees to reach the Abbey of St. Ubaldo. We both squeezed into one cage, and held our breath as we swung up the mountain. When we stopped shaking, we were able to take some breathtaking photos.
St. Ubaldo, dead since 1160, lies in his shrivelled, blackened glory atop a marble altar. In the following days we were to see more relics (body parts) and dead saints in the hill towns of Umbria. Jeff thinks that they could all use a facelift. After all, Mao and Ho Chi Minh are sent to Russia each year to be "touched up"! After being grossed out by Ubaldo, we hiked up the steep path to the Rocca (old fort), where the views were quite beautiful. The ride down the mountain was less frightening, especially since we each had our own cage and could move more freely (yes, in the picture it looks like I'm holding on for dear life, because I am!).
Delicious pot-luck bbq that night. (Jeff with Vincent and Maria, Dale with Madeleine and David).
Last winter, I met a very nice American woman on a hike in Hong Kong. As we climbed High Junk Peak (oops, we actually walked around that peak, since I missed the cut-off to the path), we got to know each other quite well. Helen told me that her family's principal residence is in Umbria. As luck would have it, she planned to be there during our trip, and invited us to visit her. I brilliantly navigated us to Spoleto, where we began to look for the parking lot and monuments that Helen had indicated in her email. No luck. We parked near a police station where Jeff asked for directions. All he received were blank looks. BlackBerry to the rescue! I phoned Helen, and when I said that we were in Spoleto, she quietly informed me that she lives in Spello! Total embarrassment. Fortunately, Spello is only 30 minutes from Spoleto, so our day was saved.
Helen was a most gracious guide. Like Assisi, Spello was badly damaged during the 1997 earthquake, and it, too, has been beautifully restored. How wonderful to live in a town that has Roman ruins, medieval streets and churches, and flowers everywhere! Helen told us that there is a competition to see which street is the most beautifully decorated. We sampled excellent local wines at an Enoteca, and even bought a few to bring home with us. After a delicious lunch (no such thing as bad pasta in Umbria), we said good-bye to Helen, and spent the afternoon in Bevagna.Our luck with the weather ran out that evening. Jeff and I were too cheap to spend 15 Euros on heating (per day!), so we huddled under the cosy quilt to keep warm. It reminded us of those cold late-summer nights and mornings in the Laurentians.
We took the inside escalators up to the medieval city, and set out to explore the museums and streets of Perugia.
First stop was the National Gallery, which houses a fine collection of Umbrian paintings. Not exactly my favourite genre. I soon became bored with 13th century triptychs, and wandered off on my own. In one room of this huge palazzo, a woman was sitting quietly restoring a massive painting. She was seated on an ergonomic chair, with her headphones on, oblivious to the visitors watching her work. I was transfixed! When she turned to the small crowd that had gathered around her, she explained that this project was going to take a year to complete.
After lunch, we took a tour of the Perugina chocolate factory, home of the famous Baci chocolate kisses. A terrific activity for a rainy day. This factory is now owned by Nestle. Before our tour, we were invited to sample as many chocolates as we could in the space of 15 minutes! Remember Lucy's famous scene? We couldn't stop eating or laughing! The tour was fun and interesting. Did you know that the Swiss have the highest per capita consumption of chocolate?
We spent the rest of the day walking every inch of Perugia. By the time we reached the archaeological museum, Suzanne, Stephen, and I were totally pooped. Jeff and Robert still had enough energy to look at still more Etruscan artifacts.
Our cold and rainy weather continued ... Good time to visit caves! Most of us, except for Sue (still ailing), Robert (under-the-weather) and Suzanne (well, someone had to stay behind to look after them!), drove off to visit the Frasassi Caves in the neighbouring province of Marche. Jeff and I have been to caves all over the world - Vietnam, Austria, Slovenia, France and Israel, so why can't I remember if stalagmites rise from the floor or drip from the ceiling? The Frasassi Caves are spectacular, but our favourite is still the ice cave in Werfen, south of Salzburg. (In the photo on the left, I am sitting with Stephen and Cristine)
After our cave tour, we drove up the road for five minutes, and stopped in a village for lunch. There was only one restaurant, and of course it served perfect pasta! The restaurant was inside a medieval building. Cristine is seated in front of a vivid dancing scene. Interesting decor!Before heading home, we visited the Romanesque church (above) in San Vittore. That evening, most of us went out to a local pizzeria, where once again the walls were painted. I couldn't resist posting both photos of Cristine.
The "band of five" bonded again the next day. First stop Deruta, famous for its ceramics. How could we leave Umbria without buying a serving platter? Many of the shops sell the same old "stuff", but we really liked the wares at Nulli. Mr. Nulli (Rolando or Goffredo?) demonstrated his craft, and then we bought a beautiful tray (which is still in its bubble wrap - we won't use it until we return to Toronto!).
Umbrian towns were beginning to mesh together into one giant hill town, filled with churches, cobbled streets, flowers, statues, dead saints, and hill-top forts. Spoleto was as charming as Gubbio, Assisi, Spello, and Perugia, but we all seemed to be running out of steam.
As usual, though, we covered every inch of the historic section of town, and walked all the way up to the Rocca Albornoziana fortress. Magnificent views!
Our farewell dinner was catered by our hosts at the villa, and it was just as tasty as our previous meal. We all toasted Sue for making it happen, and then we toasted ourselves for having such fun together.
The next morning, we bade farewell to our friends. We still had a full day of touring ahead of us, since our flight was leaving later that evening. We drove south to Orvieto - one last hill town to conquer! Orvieto is a gem, but then again, sunshine, marching bands, and flowers make most places festive. 
First stop Orvieto Cathedral. Closed! Oh well, we had seen the interior of enough churches ... The facade is beautiful, but the bas relief is horrific. And why is there a Star of David on the column?
There must have been a festival going on, since we saw a marching band, and floral crests throughout the town.
After stopping to buy a scarf (no more scarves, no more shoes!!) at the local market, we decided to trek down the old path that skirted the ancient city walls to visit the Etruscan necropolis below.
There are about 100 chamber tombs laid along a rectangular street grid. We found this site very interesting, and were curious as to why we were the only tourists there until we discovered that the only way back UP to Orvieto was on foot! We had wrongly assumed that there was some form of public transportation that would take us back to town. Good pre-flight exercise. Enough to guarantee us a few hours of sleep on our trip home.
In Umbria we saw churches instead of temples, ate pasta instead of rice, and used forks and knives instead of chopsticks. The more we travel, the more we love the similarities and differences between cultures and places.
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