Places to visit in Umbria

Excursion:

The first Sunday (and the Saturday before) of every month is the big Antique market in Arezzo. Only an hour away in Tuscany, Arezzo is midway between Perugia and Florence so it’s a manageable ride for a day trip. A friend called and said he wanted to go and would I like to join him. I quickly said yes and agreed to pick him up at the station in the town center. It’s difficult to park in Arezzo on Fair days and I usually try get there really early but today was going to be a mid day visit. So I was prepared for a 2 kilometer walk from a parking lot. Luckily my friend was very familiar with the town and directed me to a lot that, amazingly, had space. It was a good sign that the shopping gods were on our side.

After a quick lunch —tortellini with cream and ham, and a side of baked artichokes and tomatoes— we started the walk up the hill in the direction of the duomo. While the Antique Fair was the reason to be there, there are many wonderful things to see in Arezzo. Its beautiful churches attest to the city’s prominence as a medieval and early renaissance trade center. Being a Fair day the streets were extra crowded with people, strollers, dawdlers, and the like. The quietness and relatively emptiness of the churches was a welcomed change from the chaos outside.

The first church we explored was the Badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla.  I was immediately struck by its resemblance to Brunelleschi’s Santo Spirito in Florence. (The rounded arches, trimmed in grey, separating the nave from the aisles seemed to have similarly pleasing proportions and some of the side altars contained brightly painted 16th century paintings.) Interestingly, the chancel was divided from the choir by a large central altar on which there was a beautiful painting of the apostles fishing. (The only other large scale version of this story I’d seen was of the tapestries of Raphael, so it was interesting to see this story elevated to center stage.) Additionally, there were beautiful bits of 16^th century frescoes peeking out along side carved pietra serena door frames and a beautiful large crucifix on the right wall near the altar.

Our second stop was at the Church of San Francesco with the beautiful fresco cycle by Piero della Francesca of the Legend of the True Cross. Suspended over the main altar is a spectacular crucifix by the Master of San Francesco, a contemporary of Cimabue. Truly on par with the Giotto crucifix in Santa Maria Novella and was exciting to see. (I know my friend Karen would have loved discovering this one — the candle was for her.) Although I hate having to resort to sneaking photos, once again, I was forced to be the surreptitious photographer.

Sated both physically and intellectually, it was time to do some shopping. The place really is overwhelming. Over 600 dealers selling everything you can imagine. I remember, before I lived here, how frustrating it was going to antique markets in Italy because I could never take anything (but the smallest trinkets) home. Now, my biggest worry is ‘will it fit in the car.’ There were many things I could have bought but ended up coming away with a metalwork chandelier (which is what I came looking for to finish off a room on the piano terra) and a great price on a desperately needed cassa panca – storage trunk.

To top it off, there was even some pageantry to behold. It was a feast day in Arezzo and costumed residents processed through the bannered streets in full regalia – horses too – to the duomo where they reenacted something or other. It was a crowd pleaser.

A little food, some great art, shopping, pageantry, and great company — another wonderful outing. Who could ask for a better day?

Excursion:

When driving from Florence to Perugia, you will pass Lago Trasimeno. Being the largest lake on the Italian peninsula its kind of hard to miss as the highway skirts the northern part. Historically an extremely important fishing center (Umbria is the only landlocked region on the peninsula) today it hosts many beautiful small towns, some of which are picturesque tourist havens. The largest on the northern shore is Passignano and looks very much like an Italian resort town. There are restaurants, hotels, ceramic shops, and (good) gelatorias along the park-like shoreline around the pier for the ferry to the main island of the lake. [At this time of year, the Tropical gelateria is serving absolutely rich and intense fruit flavors like frutti di bosco (summer fruits), mirtilli (blueberry), lampone (raspberry), and ananas (pineapple). Has anyone noticed that gelato is always a topic of conversation with me in Italy?]

Anyway, Passignano is lovely. There is a medieval tower with a view of the lake and close-in islands.

5.30 euro gets you a round trip ticket to Isola Maggiore and it is a wonderful day’s outing. (Although it’s only about a kilometer away, the boat stops in Tuoro before heading to Isola Maggiore.)  Once on the island you seem to step back into another era. The island has much the same appearance as it must have had a hundred years ago. Well, probably a little more spiffed up. The wide bricked main street  —Via Guglielmi — is tranquil and pristine. There are two churches right near the boat dock that are lovely and quite a few restaurants for lunch. But first there is an island to explore.

The church I found most interesting was the Church of the ‘Buon Gesu.’ I had never heard this name before and wasn’t sure if my translation of ‘Good Jesus’ was correct. Apparently San Bernardino and the Observant Franciscans had something to do with this and warrants more investigation. Anyway, the church is charming in rather a ‘shabby chic’ kind of way. Faded 19^th century wall paintings are the backdrop for a late Baroque altar with Berniniesque columns inspired by those of Saint Peter’s in Rome.

Although I most wanted to see the church of San Michele Arcangelo, I had been warned that the way is quite steep up on a very bad stone and gravel path. Instead we walked left, around the corner, up the stone steps to the simple church of San Salvatore. The 12^th century Romanesque style church has a center nave and very little decoration left — still quite charming. The path to the right lead us upward until the gable ended bell tower of San Michele came into view signaling we had reached the summit of the island. Beautiful views abounded. A slight entrance fee got us into San Michele and it was worth it. The frescos are lovely and some of the most important surrounding the lake, proving the importance of the Observant community here. However, I thought the mid 15^th century wooden crucifix by Bartolomeo Caporali the most beautiful work in the church. (It reminded me of Benozzo Gozzoli who is also represented in Montefalco.)

After the church I headed down the hill to the left passing under many very old olive trees. Interestingly, as I was taking some photos of wandering pheasants and getting too close to the trees, the sound of whirring startled me. When I looked up the trees were filled with the largest mosquitos I have ever seen. I got back to the path and quickly moved on.

The rest of the walk was beautiful through trees and catching glimpses of the smaller island and the lake. Finally arriving at the shore, the walk along the water was quite lovely. The path leading right to the old Franciscan monastery was closed so I was not able to explore that further.

[However, the monastery is part of the very interesting story of the island. It was purchased in 1887 by a wealthy marquis from Civitavecchia who turned it into a grand villa/castle in the Neo-Gothic style. In the early 20^th century the marquis and his daughter, Elena, began a school of lace making to give the island’s daughters ‘dignified work’ to occupy themselves and stimulate the economy here. Their ‘Irish’ lace became know far and wide examples can be found of their crochet-hook work in the museum on the main street.]

By this time we were hungry and chose Ristorante L’Oso (Via Guglielmi, 39) for lunch. We had a table right on the water and had a wonderful fish meal. Simple delicious. The 3:30 boat brought us back to Passigniano and some gelato. All in all, a perfect day.

Excursion:

So I ventured out of Umbria (which is allowed you know) on an adventure to le Marche with some friends last week.

Destination: the caves called Frasassi. It was about an hour and a half, including a stop for lunch at a surprisingly spacious Autogrill along the way. (Yes, unlike in the US, you actually can eat quite well along the road in Italy. Fresh pasta with a choice of three sauces and everything.)

So we got there, parked, and bought our tickets, and then had to wait for our time slot to be called. The parking lot is filled with souvenir shops filled with all kinds of c**p which I won’t comment more on because there is a place for everything and this really is a tourist thing.

Anyway, after the wait and the short bus ride to the cave entrance (where there is another shop) about 30 of us were escorted down a long cool corridor and into the caves.

I was not prepared for how absolutely breathtaking they would be. After a slight introduction, we walked around a corner that opened onto an enormous cavern that felt like walking into Madison Square Garden – ok, maybe not quite that big, but BIG. The railed paths swept downward into the main chamber whose walls were bathed in yellow light with spotlights illuminating many of the most spectacular stalagmite pillars. (Of course, you know the difference between stalagmites and stalactites? Stalactites drip down from the ceiling of a cave and splash onto the growing stalagmites. If they do this for long enough they can become a column but that could take, according to our guide, 70,000 years.) There were enormous piles of rocks that accounted for the hollowed out cavern’s size and it felt as if you were walking through the site of some great underground avalanche.

We wandered through many paths, under a couple of boulders, past enormous and amazingly beautiful stalagmites, reflecting pools and slow trickling streams, and small vignettes that were all spectacularly lit. They truly were spectacular to behold. The marble-like, and often translucent surfaces, were actually made up of a variety of intricate textures as the acidic drips splashed and dribbled their way downward. With unending variations, and seemingly suspended in time, these slowly growing monoliths rise from the rubble and reach toward an unseen sky.

Although you’re not supposed to take pictures, how could I resist. There were 4 or 5 of us lagging behind trying to capture the beauty of this place. Yes, we were reprimanded but the results were worth it. How else could I show you guys how wonderful a place it is. It was my duty to capture it all digitally.

The tour was about an hour and a half for 15.50 euro, which was well worth it. I can’t wait to go back. Maybe next time I’ll take the 3-hour tour because they dress you up in brightly colored jumpsuits and hard hats. And who doesn’t like a little dress up when they’re spelunking?  I’d love to go again so, come, and we’ll do it.