Spoleto was a rare find, you don’t hear anything about it in travel magazines as it is overshadowed by Assisi and Cortona in the Umbrian guides, yet we spent 3 wonderful days wandering the tiny streets and climbing the million steps and stairs through art galleries and cafes while basking in the beauty of the town and the friendliness of the locals. There was a restaurant attached to the campground where no English was spoken, for a bit of a challenge we sent Cointha and Daniel to buy a pizza and they managed to return with exactly what we ordered, I don’t know what happened in there or what was discussed but they managed perfectly.
Pilgrimage is not the reason we travelled to Assisi, yet there is no need to be a devout Christian to appreciate Assisi. It is unique in its layout with the buildings and streets in pristine conditon and the gentle slopes make it a very easy stroll for young and old. Different to the many narrow streeted and steep stepped villages and towns we have encountered. Asisi is the home of Saint Frances burial chamber and his tomb can be viewed in the monastery. Monks were in abundance wandering the streets in there robes which was interesting especially to Daniel who thinks he can carve one out of a pine cone, I think we will put that challenge to him and see what transpires.
Back to Tuscany now and we are catching up with Maddy and Curl Haslem who are staying in Greve. It’s going to be great especially since they are restocking us with Vegemite which we have run out of and it is very rare in Italy, we can get it in France but at a huge cost and at any rate we might not be there for a while yet considering Italy has already taken up 3 weeks longer than we expected. At this rate we will see you all in 5 years.
Well we met Curl and Maddy, received the vegemite and Deb also got a few gossip magazines so that’s the end of her for a couple of days.
It was great to hear some news from home and we are still trying to figure out which two of you it was who got arrested down Allan street for getting too romantic.
Gail and Curl were having a bit of trouble with a well known hire car company in Australia, but thanks to Tanya and the gang at Boomerang Travel in Kyabram they seem to have it all sorted so well done to you Tanya and thanks again for the help planning our trip, it is well worth shopping local and when you have problems like this it is great to know that you know the person trying to help and they really do care.
While in Greve I showed Maddy and Curl a few of the local customs I have picked up. In Italy a pedestrian crossing is a guide only and cars are not legally required to stop for pedestrians so after observing what the Italians do, I now just stand on the road like a traffic cop putting up my hand up until the traffic stops then wave the family across, this skill is not for the faint hearted and you can expect to get a few horn blasts and quite a bit of abuse but as I do not understand Italian it means nothing so I just smile and go on our way, another custom I picked up was to just walk though doors and gates so we can enjoy the wonderful court yards and gardens that the locals have discreeted away for their own leisure, I picked up this idea from Sheena when we were in Lyon and I have run with it because it adds a new dimension to the cities and villages that were oblivious to us. To date I have not been asked to leave one yet and I think that everyone justs accepts that this is what the locals do when showing friends visiting the village it is like we are invisible, or maybe they are just happy that we appreciate these yards and they are happy to show them off.
Anyway, what is the worst thing that can happen?
By the way
If you don’t hear from us for a while please send some bail money.