Latest update from Umbria

From Vanessa, so sans links

 

Cortona

On the transit from Tuscany to Umbria we went to Cortona, a pretty town just inside umbria. It was pretty, it was also steep. Because we are masocists we climbed to the very top to visit the Rocca and view the valley. It was very worthwhile (admittidly in part because we could use the bathrooms), and was until Assissi the coolest Rocca we had visited.

 

After Cortona we arrived at our accommodation without hassle, apart from the small stress of driving Millie up a dirt road. Still, she made it without incident and the place we were staying was FABULOUS.

 

Narni and Perugia

We went to Narni to see the underground, where there are a series of rooms used by the Inquisition. The tour was in Italian only, although we did get an english guide sheet, and took a long time if you didnàt speak the language. Still the cell where the inquisition held its prisioners was the highlight and was amazing. The rooms were all bricked up and only discovered in 1979, despite there being a church from around 1200 attached. The cell itself is covered in graffitti, and was very cool. We couldnàt take pictures but have the brochure that shows what it looked like. Interestingly, we did the tour with 10 or so bikies who were on a weekend ride or similar. Talk about extremes.

 

After NArni we went to Perugia. As previously mentioned, Eurochoc is on. Lonely Planet describes the festival as the most over hyped festival in Europe, and recommends avoiding the town when Eurochoc is on. So we went.

 

It was like Ekka for chocolate, but bigger. The historic centre was jammed full of suger happy people grabbing at hot drinks and bags full of chocolate. I would go as far as to say it was overwhelming. I even muttered, I donàt need free chocolate right now - thats how crazy it was.

 

Of course, we did buy some (its gone now sadly) and it was good. I also had hot chocolate with whipped cream ... so jummy.

 

Assissi

Yesterday we went to Assissi. It was lots of fun, mostly because of the Rocca and the hour or two we spent exploring it. Firstly, of course, we went to the San Fransico and did the tourist thing, including seeing assissi's burial place. It was interesting, but a little unsettling - for example, our audio guides pimped the gift shop. Didn't seem to fit with the overall message.

 

The Rocca on the other hand was excellent. When we were there it was mostly deserted, which made exploring lots of fun. It's still in pretty good shape, so you can roam nearly all the rooms, and most of the towers. The coolest tower was the polygon tower, which had amazing views over the valley. However, we did also enjoy the staircases that went to little arrow windows, and that went to bricked up dead ends. So much fun!