San Martino in Campo, Umbria

[ellen]

I'm taking a small group (just thirteen people) to stay in San Martino in Campo, a small town about eight miles south of Perugia. We'll be staying at what appears to be the only hotel in town, Alla Posta dei Donini, which has a well regarded restaurant called Pantagruel.

I imagine that we'll eat right there most of the time but I've been looking for alternatives, just in case. Does anyone familiar with the area have ideas?

No one will have a car but I'm sure the hotel can arrange taxis/car service as needed.

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[artnbarb]

How long are you staying? And when will you be there? If there's a festa or sagra going on, that might be fun.

I believe we ate in the hotel restaurant once, and it was very good. I also see that there's a Santino Pasticceria within walking distance of the hotel - highly recommended! Looks like there's also a pizzeria in town - PIzzeria Oasi 1982, but I don't know anything about it.

In Deruta, accessible from both the E45 (northbound), and from the main street that runs thru Deruta, is Asso Di Coppe, also highly recommended.

I also remember a restaurant in Torgiano, but right now the name escapes me.

A bit further south, just outside of Marsciano is our all-time favorite, La Locanda del Tramonto Infinito.

 

[ellen]

Thanks Barb. We'll be there for four nights in mid-October, during the week (Monday - Friday) so we'll probably miss any sagre in the area, unfortunately.

La Locanda del Tramonto Infinito looks wonderful, and what a great name, infinite sunset. I'm guessing that it's about a half hour away and might work if anyone is up for an excursion one evening. I'm sure the hotel has local drivers we can hire.

 

[artnbarb]

And tonight we all just happened to be there at the same time!

 

[ellen]

It's a small, small world.

Based on Barb's recommendation I brought a group of twelve to La Locanda del Tramonto Infinito this evening. Someone in the group asked me how I found the restaurant and I told them that someone I "knew" who used to live in the area recommended it. We were seated in a good sized room but as it was early for dinner in Italy, around 7:30 PM, there was only one other couple seated in the room.

As I finished my explanation I heard the gentleman at the only other occupied table say to his wife "they could be talking about us" in English, which caused me to turn and really look at them. I recognized Barb from her Slowtrav profile picture and simply could not believe that we were in this remote restaurant in Italy at the exact same time. What are the odds?

Anyway, it was a treat to meet both Barb and Art after reading about their adventures in Italy for years.

Thank you so much for the recommendation, everyone in our group had a great meal.

 

[ellen]

As weird as this coincidence was, someone in my group reminded me that a similar run in happened several years ago in Rome.

I had been chatting back and forth on line with someone on the Cruise Critic web site who is an expert on ancient Roman history, I'll call her "C". Somewhere along the line we realized that we would both be in Rome at the same time one October about eight years ago.

"C" told me that she was planning to visit Villa Adriana on the one day we would both be in Rome, me at the end of a trip and she about to begin a cruise out of Civitavecchia. We arranged to meet and go to Villa Adriana together, a real treat for me to have a free guided tour with an expert.

At some point in the months prior to this trip I had recommended a restaurant in Rome that I particularly liked on the Cruise Critic forums. I took several members of the group I was leading to this restaurant the night before I was to meet "C" to head to Villa Adriana.

The next morning I met "C" at Termini (we had never met before) in front of the book store and headed off to Tivoli. Along the way we were introducing ourselves to each other and talking about places we'd eaten in Rome. She asked me where I'd eaten the night before and when I answered she said "I know, I was the single woman at the next table reading a book".

This is less of a small world story than my evening tonight with Barb and Art, but in a similar vein. Nevertheless, the people in my group who happened to be there for both trips are still reeling from the oddness of it, as am I.

I'm convinced that there are a lot less than six degrees of separation, we just don't get to know one another well enough to find how we are connected.