The town of Spoleto is a unique mix of remnants from its Roman and medieval past which goes back to the Bronze Age. It’s an ancient hilltop city with sparkling Umbrian views and a population that swells during festival season. The Festival dei Due Mondi – the Festival of Two Worlds- with rich offerings of music, theater, dance has been going on since 1958 and brings in the crowds from around the world. This ancient city marches to a different drummer as music, dance and theater lovers from around the world visit each summer to attend these events.
As we approached the town, I was surprised to see a distinctly modern addition to the landscape: escalators. These so-called travellators wisk the visitor to the top of the hills – very handy for the modern concert-goer. Up we climbed..effortlessly. No huffing and puffing. When we got to the top, I also spied elevators. Very handy.
From the modern to the ancient: at the top of the hill, we viewed the ancient 13th century aqueduct and bridge, il Ponte Delle Torre.
As we walk from top to bottom, we see the beautiful 11th-13th century Romanesque duomo cathedral of S. Maria Assunta, which was cut off from us because a film crew was in residence. The most popular TV soap in Italy, Don Matteo, is filmed here because it is considered to be the purest of all Italian cities, not having been spoiled by tourism. Not to be thwarted, our ingenious Alice knew of a back route to the cathedral, so we followed her lead, and, with our guide, were able to gain entrance into the interior and learn about the stunning frescos at the altar made by Filippo Lippi.
We had time on our own to wander the streets and check out the local population. There was a small produce vendor selling his wares and people relaxing in cafes and strolling into shops
Time for lunch! After all that walking, we needed to fortify ourselves..but first, more local color shots.
Okay. On to the food!
Fortified by pasta, roasted vegetables and delicious chocolate dessert and having that slight glow from the never-ending glasses of wine, we propelled ourselves to our next activity: rafting on the Nera River for some, enjoying the unspoiled village of Scheggino for others. Guess which activity I chose?
Vicki and I had time to visit the truffle museum, wander the winding roads of the village, do some nice photography, pop into the local church, watch the ducks and visit locals playing cards. Of course, we had a gelato. Very relaxing.
Later, with Irene and Marcel flanking Vicki on the bench, we awaited the return of the rafters.
And here they come. Everyone agreed that it was an exhilarating adventure. Kickass, in fact.
The day isn’t over but this post is. After dinner in Trevi, we had seat reservations to the Palio, thanks to Alice. I’ll tell you all about it in the next post. Being a temporary local in a small village and having a great guide can be very advantageous.
Ciao ciao for now!