Assisi-Gubbio

Originally published on: Oct 12, 2007

My last night in Firenze was spent on the terrace of the hotel, drinking wine and talking with the owner, Carmel, and a young Puerto Rican woman in Italy for the first time. During my stay, I'd also made a connection with Melissa, an intrepid young traveler from Australia. We all have one thing in common - a love of Italy and learning about other cultures. I feel as if I've found a "home" at Il Bargellino, and will return there at the end of this trip.

Assisi

I've been in Assisi for the past four days, and it's quite a contrast to the noise and crowds in Firenze. Assisi is a small village nestled in the hills of Umbria, with magnificent views of the surrounding area. I'm staying in the old town, with only 1000 inhabitants, and it's perfect for my needs...serene and engaging at the same time. I have a large comfy room in an "affitacamere," with a spectacular view, over tiled rooftops, of the valley below. I've seen some great sunsets from high points in town.

My room in Assisi

The town swells with tourists by day, but empties by late afternoon and becomes a quiet village again. For such a small town, there are many magnificent churches (like 10 of them!), topped by la Basilica de San Francesco, filled with priceless frescoes, painted by Giotto, Cimabue and others. In one area of the church the frescoes portray the life of St. Francis, an inspiring story by any standards. Assisi is one of the major religious pilgrimage sites in the world, but I'm here more as an artistic pilgrim than a religious one.

Basilica di San Francesco

Yesterday I traveled by bus for several hours to Gubbio, another hill town to the north of Assisi, famous for being one of the most intact medieval towns in the world. I left at in the dark at 7 a.m., walking along streets empty of people but lively with cats, and arrived in Gubbio by 9.

Sbandieratori in Gubbio

Gubbio

I was lucky enough to to happen upon a demonstration by the famous flag throwers of Gubbio (sbandieratori), who were featured at the beginning of a "para-olympic" event that was being celebrated on October 11 all over Italy. The circus was also in town, so there were a few stilt walkers hobbling around the event, held at la Piazza Grande at the center of town.

To get from one level of this steep town to another, the city provides public elevators (ascensores) which came in handy for me, weary from several days of climbing the streets of Assisi. Unfortunately, the day was cold, cloudy and windy, with the constant threat of rain, and I'd left my jacket in Assisi, so I didn't enjoy Gubbio as I might have on a sunny day. There's an open cable car I would have liked to ride up to the highest point in town, but it just wasn't an option yesterday.

The funivia (mountain cable car) entrance.

I took in the main sights and headed back to Assisi. The bus ride was lovely, and traveled through Perugia, where I had a 3-hour wait. By this time, I was tired and really cold, so rather than hang out there, I found a city bus to the train station and made it back to Assisi within 45 minutes. Once there, I had a nice soak in the long, blue bathtub at le camere.There are 5 rooms and two baths to share amongst them, but I've been the only one there all week, so I have it all to myself - for only 25 euros/night. (thanks to Rick Steves for most of my lodging bargains).

streets of Assisi

Once refreshed, I treated myself to an authentic Umbrian meal in a nice restaurant, something I do sparingly when traveling. Era squisito (it was exquisite), and included pasta with black truffles (tagliatelle con tartuffi nero di Norcia), grilled vegies with parmesan and smoked cheese (parmigiano sulle verdure grigliate con scamorza affumicata, the best part of the meal, secondo a me), vino rosso (red wine) and almond biscotti with a dessert wine (torzzetti mandorle con vin santo). I was stuffed full after this meal, and walked for nearly an hour in the darkened streets of Assisi before returning to my room.

I have one more day in Assisi, and plan to hike up Mt. Subasio for another panoramic view. It's another lovely sunny day in Umbria. Tomorrow I'm off to Urbino, by way of Ancona and Pesaro, in Le Marche region.