umbria, italy, umbrian, italian, travel

We awoke on Monday to an unfortunate situation: it was pouring rain and we both had head colds. I ventured out to the grocers for tea and lemons, and we spent the day curled up on the sofa watching American situation comedies with dubbed-in Italian on TV. The cheese games were cancelled due to the weather. We were not destined to find out exactly how they are played, but we were fortunate that they were not held. We had assumed the cheeses would be rolled around the circular streets within the town's walls, but the next day on the windshield of our car which had been parked outside the walls, we found a note which, loosely translated, told us our car was in danger of being damaged by cheeses. Imagine trying to explain that to the rental company!

The rest of our week was spent visiting many of the neighboring towns, which each had a special attraction. We viewed the renowned frescoes depicting the life of St. Francis in Assisi; watched pottery being intricately hand-painted in Deruta; visited the wine museum in Torgiano. Even little Panicale has its tourist attraction: a famous fresco by XVI century artist Pietro Vannucci adorns its Church of St. Sebastian. Each evening we returned to the square at the top of the town to watch the sun set over the distant lake.

The week quickly drew to an end. We sadly said our farewells to several of the townspeople who we had come to know during our stay. Although the weather had interfered with most of the holiday?s special events, we have no doubt that as we celebrate future Easters, our thoughts will return to this particular one, spent in the hills of Umbria.