Joffes in Italy

Drove to Sienna, checked into Hotel, then on to San Gimignano which is famous for its high towers. Duomo was interesting, especially frescos. Good shopping. Slightly disappointed in San Gimignano after visiting Orvieto. Drove through Tuscan country side on way back to Siena. Spendid.
Dinner at the Hotel.

Drove from Spoleto to Orvieto and checked into our hotel several miles out of town, LOCANDA ROSATI. It is actually a working farm (hazel nuts and olives). The old farm house was converted to a bed and breakfast in 1996. Rosati is an interesting man. The family owned a cheese factury in Lucca which was sold in 1996 when they returned to the family farm.

The old city of Orvieto is reached by elevator from the parking lot. Town is beautifully preserved. Had lunch at the Zeppelin. Highly recommended. Walked to the Duomo, magnificent Italian gothic, probably the finest example of this style. Magnificent frescos. We missed seeing the Etruscan musceum and several other sites. Ran out of time.
This is a definite three star site, well worth the trip.
That evening we had dinner at Locanda Rosati. Many of the guest shared a family style dinner with three courses, plus dessert, all of the wine and water you can drink. There was a family of five from Sydney,Australia. a couple from Yorkshire in England, an American working in the UK with his mother, couples from Tuscan, Amelia Island Florida and Houston. Dinner was 35 euros per person, all inclusive. A highlight of the trip.

Today the rains poured down in the morning. Spoleto is primarily a walking around town and we weren't going out in the weather. In the afternoon the weather started to ease up. We decided to drive to Deruta, world famous for its pottery. We need to replace a large vase which is a part of a fountain in our pool area and have been having a hard time finding something suitable. We wanted to see if we could find something in Duruta. We ended up at a major dealer who makes high end ceramics for Neiman Marcus, Saks,etc. I will add its name later. We bought some lovely pieces we are having shipped back.

Just pizza for dinner.

Assisi is an amazing town. A complete perfectly preserved medieval town. We parked at a large undergrown parking facility and entered the town near the Basilica di San Francesco. We had been unaware that Oct. 4 is a celebration commemorating St. Francis and the plaza below the Basilica was full with spectators and TV crews. Each province was represented with a banner holder carrying his provincial banner. It is traditional that each year another Italian province assumes the responsibility of supplying oil to the Bascilica.
We bypasted the crowd and entered the lower church and followed the line to the below ground Tomb of the Saint.
We then began the uphill walk towards the town center passed perfectly preserved buildings. The town is full of stores selling souvenirs of all different qualities as well as upscale stores.
We eventually reached the center square and visited the Temple of Minerva, an old Roman temple, now converted into a church.
We continued on the the Duomo, a church in existence during St. Francis's life and in the earlier Romanesque style.
After that visit we started down the hill and ate lunch at a restaurant named The Lantern with a priced fixed menu. Traditional italian fare; was excellent.

We stopped at a shop selling dolls and bought a gift for our 3 month old granddaughter. We visited a gallary named Minigallery_Assisi which sold oils and water color pictures of Assisi.

We could have spend more time in Assisi but we were on to Spoleto and by mid afternoon it started to rain.

In Spoleto we had great difficulty finding our hotel which was high up in the old town. Several roads were closed and the streets were extremely narrow. When we found the hotel we learned it was a fifteen minute walk to the nearest restaurant. We elected not to stay there and were redirected to a hotel off the mountain, Hotel San Lucca. Well we got lucky. Beautiful property operated by a young couple who had completely renovated the property in 1998. It could not have been nicer. Complete breakfast, large modern bathroom; hospitable common areas; own enclosed garage.
We had dinner at the Osteria del Trivio, a short walk from the hotel and had a first course and pasta dish. everthing made from scratch and wonderful local wine.

We were debating whether to tour Perugia or drive up to Gubbio, supposedly a lovely hill town. We decided to stay in Perugia where is toured the town centre. There is supposedly a parking area from where you can take an escalator up to the top. I missed the parking and somehow ended up in the center of the town next to the duomo. There was actually a parking area where I left our car. We first visited the Duomo then crossed the plazza to the Fontana Maggiore, a fountain designed in the 13th century in marvel of hydraulic engineering. The fountain is build on three levels. The lowest layer contains 25 base reliefs contain scenes from the Old Testiment, the liberal arts and the months; the middle cycle,also base reliefs, contain 24 scultures, including Biblical and historic figures. The top level is in bronze.

Across the plaza is the palazzo dei Priori,which contains several important sites,including the National Gallery of Umbia. We spent 2-3 hours there. One of the finest collections of 13-15th century Italina art we have seen.with a focus on Umbrian and Sienese artists. We rented the auto tour in English, well worth the expense and the exhibit is organized to show the subtle evolution of art during this period of time. After lunch we also saw a special collection of modern artists, including Chagall.

We had wanted to visit the archiological museum but ran out of time.
Tonight we are eating at the hotel's restaurant which has an interesting menu.