Gubbio and the Bird Cage Ride

I am on my 2nd day in Rome as I post this, although I wrote it offline 2 days ago. Internet has not been easy to obtain here, free WIFI depends on having an Italian SIM card for identification purposes, so I have been dependant upon hotel WIFI, which seems to be flakey at best in the small owner-operated hotels we are staying in. Also, now that I am in Rome, there is scant time for blogging since I only have 2 days here. I will catch up when I can, but hard to believe that I have only 8 days before I leave Europe!

As I write this I am battling a terrible cold (in 38 degree temps!) and I have lost hearing in one ear - a complication of the cold, no doubt. We visited a pharmacy and they prescribed some sort of naturopathic medicine - 30 drops mixed in water from the left bottle 3 x per day and 25 drops from the right. Not sure if it is works g, I am on day 3 of this regime, but if it doesn't improve in a day or two I guess I shall seek a doctor. Going on a plane with an ear infection is likely to be very painful.

And so onto the Day 2 Gubbio Blog:

My 2nd day in Gubbio was full on sightseeing and a great Umbrian dinner.

There was a cable car ride up Monte Ingino to the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo. There are tremendous views of the Apennines and countryside of Umbria at the top of the mountain.

My tour guide Serena had her 27th birthday while we were in Gubbio. Her parents came from Rome to join us in our trip up the mountain.

The alter in the Basilica which contains the remains of Sant Ubaldi, Patron Saint of Gubbio

According to Wiki:

Gubbio is home to the Corsa dei Ceri, a run held every year always on the 15th day of May, in which three teams, devoted to St. Ubaldo (the patron saint of Gubbio), S. Giorgio, and S. Antonio, run through throngs of cheering supporters (clad in the distinctive colours of yellow, blue and black, with white trousers and red belts and neckbands), up much of the mountain from the main square in front of the Palazzo dei Consoli to the basilica of St. Ubaldo, each team carrying a statue of their saint mounted on a wooden octagonal prism, similar to an hour-glass shape 4 metres tall and weighing about 280 kilograms.

The photo above shows the three 280 kilo ceris.

We had a beer on the patio before walking down the hill.

The Roman Ampitheatre seen from above. I visited it in the afternoon.

If you look closely the clock is actually a sun dial.

We had a great dinner at the hotel restaurant. But first we had drinks in the garden.

I am getting behind on these blogs. The next day we headed to Assisi, and as I write this 2 days later I am getting packed for our trip to Rome in the morning. I have some catching up to do!

 

Gubbio and Wonderful Umbria

Umbria is in the center of Italy just to the lower right of Tuscany. We caught an early morning train from Venice and after 8 hours, 3 trains and 1 bus later we were in Gubbio. Gubbio is a wonderful Umbrian hill town but it is really hard to get to and so there are fewer tourists. That was a nice change from Venice, which was packed with people, made worse because it was so hot. It is great to be in a small village with views of the Umbrian countryside.

Map from Google Images

Our hotel, which was also a fabulous restaurant. Although they had tables set for about 100 places the night we had dinner there, we were the only patrons. I guess the state of the Italian economy had affected them a lot. The owner was a wonderful lady who came and shared some wine with us.

Looking down over the Umbrian Valley from the Piazza.

Gubbio is a walled City. This is one of the city gates.

In this area Saint Frances (as in "of Assisi") is big. Apparently, in Gubbio he talk,Ed the local wolves out of eating the farmers cows, or so the story goes.

We had the most scrumptious dinner at this little restaurant, hidden away on a little side street.

The food was spectacular and the wine excellent. A good time was had by all. We are one more day in Gubbio before heading to Assis. Tomorrow we take the "bird cage" up the mountain to see the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo.

I am quite liking the sweet dessert wines dipped with biscotti