Basilicata and Umbria, April - May 2017

[Pauline]

I did a search and it looks like the Ponte delle Torri in Spoleto is closed because of the earthquake last year. They are inspecting the structure.

Earthquake: Closes the Tower Bridge - Terremoto: chiude il Ponte delle torri a Spoleto, A cura di Peppe Caridi, 25 agosto 2016 - 18:45

Translated article:
Spoleto Towers Bridge will be temporarily closed for verifications that have become necessary as a result of the earthquake. That's what a municipal order is for. The monument of the city was objected, in the years 2006-2008, to the partial security of an arch and various analyzes to evaluate its seismic vulnerability. In 2016 - reminds the municipal administration - they have been forwarded to the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage required to secure the rampant arc. The funding request for 8/1000 for its full recovery was also formulated

Article in Italian:
Il Ponte delle Torri di Spoleto restera’ temporaneamente chiuso per le verifiche che si sono rese necessarie a seguito del terremoto. E’ quanto prevede un’ordinanza comunale. Il monumento simbolo della citta’ e’ stato oggetto, negli anni 2006-2008, della parziale messa in sicurezza di un’arcata e di varie analisi per valutarne la vulnerabilita’ sismica. Nel 2016 – ricorda l’amministrazione comunale – sono state inoltrate al ministero delle Infrastrutture e al ministero dei Beni culturali richieste di messa in sicurezza dell’arco rampante. E’ stata formulata anche la richiesta di finanziamento per l’8/1000 per il suo integrale recupero
Per approfondire http://www.meteoweb.eu/2016/08/terr...lle-torri-spoleto/733476/#lCoBiEUmqQRQWQ0W.99

And someone jumped off it recently.

 

[Valerie]

I suspected that was the reason. Our friend who is a civil engineer had said lots of monuments and churches would be closed until the proper structural and geological inspections could be completed around the area. And if any cracks or anomolies are detected (even if they were already present before) then it would remain closed until interventions can be carried out.

 

[Pauline]

We were planning to drive to Norcia and do a walk in the Piano Grande, but Valerie said the roads may be closed (with a long detour) because of earthquake damage. I will see if I can find out.

Today it was warm (high 60sF) but rained a few times. We must have exhausted ourselves with yesterday's walk (proving we could never do long distance walks where you walk more than that every day) because today we were both really tired. We went out in the morning, went back in when the rain started, took it easy most of the afternoon, then went out again around 5pm to explore more of Spoleto and get some groceries.

On our last trip, September 2015, we stayed in the same area (Piazza del Mercato) and went each morning to Caffe degli Artisti. We have resumed that routine. Last time, when we left, the man who runs the caffe posed for a photo behind the bar with Steve. This time I brought a copy of the photo and he liked it. I used the photo in my Travel Notes - Caffes in Italy. I must remember to take a photo of his menu to use on that page.

We walked out of the historic center into the other part of Spoleto. Interesting that we had never walked through that area before. On a Saturday late afternoon it was busy with locals shopping, sitting in caffes. We looked for an organic shop (Il Biologico) but did not find it. Looking on Google Maps later I see we missed it by one block.

Walking back to the apartment along the main pedestrian street just in from Piazza Garibaldi, it was much less crowded than the last time we were here. The last time during the passagiata, you could barely make your way. This time there were people out but it was not crowded. I think tourism to Umbria has dropped because of the earthquakes last year.

Duomo in Spoleto.​

Spoleto city walls.​

 

[Pauline]

Overcast today with rain in the afternoon.

We went to lunch in the countryside outside of Bevagna at Il Poggio dei Pettirossi. Jim and Diana had to cancel at the last minute (Jim is getting a cold I think!), but we met @Linda Yoder and her husband Wes, and Rebecca (Brigolante Apartments in Assisi). You all remember Rebecca from ST! She isn't on these forums - yet.

It was a beautiful drive through the countryside to the restaurant. My Garmin GPS is driving me crazy here. Instead of going a block out of our way and staying on a main street, it takes down a narrow residential street which is block by a car. The car eventually moved. Why does it do this? I'm going back to maps and road signs. (Except that in towns, the GPS saves us.)

Rebecca chose the restaurant because they have a new chef and are doing interesting things with local products. They raise goats and produce goat cheese. Everything was local and organic. The lunch was outstanding. Rebecca took photos, so I didn't. I will get them from her to post here. We started with a tomato mush, an assortment of goat cheeses and toasted bread. It was like a deconstructed bruschetta. The tomato mush has a name and was delicious. I loved all the goat cheese except for the brie which was too strong for me.

Primi was homemade pasta with a cheese inside and a lovely basil-based sauce. Steve had his without cheese. Secondi for the three vegetarians was an interesting thing related to a Sardinian flat bread with cheese inside served with sauteed greens. The non-veggies had rabbit.

No room for dessert, so we all had coffee. A wonderful meal and how lovely to be with ST and SE friends!!

Lunch ended around 4pm and we were going to head up to Spello to do the aqueduct hike but Jim texted that it was pouring in Spoleto and we could see the rain clouds coming, so we drove home. No real need for dinner but I made a light vegetable soup that we had at 9pm.

View from our window.​

 

[Pauline]

I love meeting ST/SE people!

Pauline, @Linda Yoder , @Jim Zurer , Wes Yoder.

 

[Pauline]

We did a fabulous 6 mile walk this morning, walking up one side of the hill (the reverse of where we ended our last walk) across the hill to where the Ponte delle Torri brings you, then down the other side to San Pietro, then into town.

We got a somewhat early start because rain was predicted and @Linda Yoder was coming to Spoleto. We started out with fog on the hills but soon into the walk the sun broke through and it was sunny until about 3pm. It is 5pm now and the rain has only been sprinkles.

Walking through olive groves.

Ponte delle Torri and the Rocca from the trail.

San Pietro.

We were texting with Linda to meetup but having a problem with texts and calls but as we were walking into Piazza del Mercato I got a text saying they were having lunch nearby. We dropped in to say hello, looking cute in our walking backpacks (so I am told), then had lunch at the apartment and met Linda and Wes an hour later. By that time Jim was back from his morning out and joined us. We walked up to see Ponte del Torri and had coffee in the caffe up there.

We all scattered when the rain started.

Last dinner tonight with Jim and Diana. They leave tomorrow.

Ponte delle Torri from the town side.

 

[Valerie]

How fun! I love seeing the GTG photos!

 

[Jim Zurer]

It's been great that we overlapped with Pauline and Steve in Spoleto for the last five days....we enjoyed spending time with them in person after being "virtual" friends for so long. And it was fun to meet Linda and Wes Yoder as well....

 

[Pauline]

Last night's dinner with Jim and Diana was very good. We ate at a small place near Corso Garibaldi, Osteria del Trivio. Family run.

Bruschetta.

Vegetable Parmesan. It was very light.

 

[Pauline]

We started the day as we have every day here with espresso and cornetto at Caffe degli Artisti. Even though there is construction going on in Piazza del Mercato, I love sitting at an outside table at this caffe in the morning. There are a couple of people selling vegetables in the piazza. The people who run the shops and restaurants are out and about. Locals are sitting at the caffe. And there are a few visitors like us. The buildings on the piazza are striking - tall, with shutters on the windows, old. One has a design painted onto it. I will take some photos tomorrow. A beautiful fountain sits at one end and a Roman arch at the other.

This is our third time staying in Spoleto. The first was just 3 nights in 1997. The second was a week in September 2015. And now a week in May 2017. In the early 2000s we spent two weeks in Spello and visited Spoleto. I am in love with this town! It is beautiful, not very touristy, upscale but not over the top upscale, has a vibrant life inside the city walls and also in the modern area outside the walls. There are museums to visit, interesting lanes to walk, lots of restaurants including several vegetarian-friendly ones. There is a natural foods shop - or so I am told, we haven't located it yet (we have the address and we were on the street, but missed it). There is a large Coop in the modern area with free parking and they have a lot of organic grains and beans. There is good walking and you are close to a lot of interesting areas. Also, Roman ruins in the town - theater, amphitheater, Via Flaminia, etc.

Today we did a short hike in the Valnerina, the valley of the River Nera east of Spoleto. It was a 20 minute drive to Scheggio. It is the other side of the hill behind Spoleto. If we had kept walking on Friday's valley walk, we would have come to this village.

First we visited the shop at the Truffle Museum and bought lots of fun truffle things to take home - cans of pasta sauce with truffles, truffle sauce, dried porcini mushrooms. They had chocolates with truffle - odd because chocolate truffles have no truffle but look like a truffle. These chocolates had truffle. I kind of liked it. They gave us a few free samples to take.

We walked around the village of Scheggio. It is very pretty with the river running in front of it. Another branch of the river runs along one side of town and you can walk out through a park and further up the valley. We didn't do that walk today.

Then we put on our back packs and headed out for a short walk. One hour up the valley to the next town, San Anatolia di Narco, and back. We had a choice of trails - a new Greenway trail that went along the river, or the marked trail where we climbed up and then went down and met the Greenway trail. Oh well, good exercise.

It was a nice walk mostly on white road to the next village (one hour each way). The trail that follows the Spoleto - Norcia Railway comes out near this village (trail is closed now). The trail we were on continues up and down the valley, so you could do a good long walk.

On the way back we took the lower, easier trail - the Greenway - and it was on a nice forest path instead of road. The sun was shining and it was warm. And then the clouds rolled in and we heard thunder like I have not heard since we lived in Santa Fe. This is very Santa Fe weather - instant storms. It started to rain but not that bad. We got back to town and thought about exploring the other river trail, but the rain was getting heavier. As we reached the car, the skies opened.

We were going to do a drive but instead went back to Spoleto and spent an hour in the Coop - always fun.

The sun came out around 7pm and we went for a walk around the Rocca at the top of Spoleto. There is a very nice walkway that goes by the medieval bridge, the Ponte delle Torri. This time we saw that some teenagers had jumped the barrier and were on the bridge.

Tomorrow is our last day. The plan is to do the aqueduct walk above Spello.

Scheggio.

Shopping for truffle products.

Trail signs in Scheggio.

Along the trail to San Anatolia di Narco.

Trail signs.

 

[susan]

It's been great following along with you & Steve while you are in Italy. I was in Spoleto back in 2000. I fondly remember crossing the Ponte delle Torri and then doing a fun hike on the other side. It's been fun seeing all of your photos! Enjoy your last day there and have a safe trip home!

 

[Sharon J]

Love all your pics and stories. I especially like seeing pics of different people from the board. My life started with the old AOL boards, then your Slow Travel, now here, so obviously I'm addicted to seeing what everyone is up to. Most of my travel information has come from all of you.

 

[Pauline]

Our last day was sunny and warm (71F). The weather changes tomorrow to be high 70s for several days. I am happy to be missing that - 71 is hot enough when you are out walking.

We did the Spello Aqueduct hike today. We drove up to the top of Spello (surprisingly easy to find out way), parked and started the hike there. It was a Roman aqueduct that was used for centuries, then abandoned, then fixed up in the 1700s and used into the early 190os. The walk starts at the end, where it enters Spello. There is a fountain there and the water is cold and good. We watched people stop and fill their bottles. We filled ours too. It is a mostly level hike for about two hours (more like 1 1/2 hours but we stopped for photos, to read the famous quotes that are posted along the walk and to have lunch sitting in an olive grove). It ends at another fountain which comes from the spring used by the aqueduct.

We then climbed up about 20 minutes on a steep path to Collepino. We were following the hike described in the Cicerone guide for Umbria and the walk continues from Collepino, goes higher, then returns to Spello. It was hot and we didn't want to do such a long hike, so we went back the way we came after walking around Collepino (very cute hill town with a caffe and restaurant).

Spello Aqueduct Hike - Spello to Collepino
7 miles, 4 hours, 1458ft ascent

We ended the hike around 5pm and walked into Spello. We found the apartment we rented in 2000 when we spent two weeks there.

Packing tonight. We kept one suitcase in the car - with all our hiking gear. I packed that one when we parked the car after the hike. We've been parking at the bottom of town, beside the entrance to the underground moving sidewalks, in Parcheggio Pasterna. The cost is 8 Euro/day but the day ends at midnight, so if you remove the car mid-day, you pay for two days. Expensive and there is free parking on the street and in a supermarket parking lot nearby, but we found it really convenient having the car at the bottom of the moving sidewalks, especially on the wet days.

Our conclusion on our third stay in Spoleto? We love it. I am going to try to stay here every year. Two weeks would have been better than the one week we had.

The really good news? I did not buy any kitchen tea towels even though the store is a block from us. It is a store from the Montefalco linens company and I bought two last time. Their cotton/linen towel is the best I have ever had, but I have a pile of beautiful tea towels from France and Italy and I don't need more. Of course, we don't leave until 10am tomorrow.

We drive to Rome airport for a 3pm flight to Heathrow, then drive home.

Hike along the Roman aqueduct.

Aqueduct with Spello in the background.

Lunch in an olive grove.

 

[Jan55612]

Thanks for taking us all along. It was fun! Great photos!

 

[devarae]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us! Spello sounds like a wonderful place to visit, and the photos are gorgeous. Safe travels home!

 

[jonathan]

I'm so glad Spoleto was a success, and all your photos & posts have certainly made me want to go back there. Have a good flight home!

 

[BryanS]

I hope it isn't something I said...you leave Italy and I arrive .
Glad you guys had a great trip and some new and familiar experiences.

 

[Pauline]

Home! It always feels good to be home, but I miss Italy already. We had a great trip!

 

[Kathy (Trekcapri)]

Home! It always feels good to be home, but I miss Italy already. We had a great trip!

Hi Pauline, I really enjoyed following along on your trip. All the places you visited looks very beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing your photos and experiences. I'm sure you have a lot of miles to add to your Walk 1000 Miles total.

 

[jan]

Thanks, Pauline. Loved your report.