Zurers in Italy 2017

[Jim Zurer]

We are off again ... to Italy for the month of May. We leave on May 1 from Newark non-stop to Rome.

Here is our itinerary for 2017 ...

May 2-4: Viterbo (B)
May 4-9: Spoleto (C)
May 9-13: Panzano in Chianti (D)
May 13-15: surprise for Diana's birthday
May 15-20: Ancona (F)
May 20-25: Ferrara (G)
May 25-28: San Quirico d'Orcia (H)
May 28-31: Rome (I)

We return home from Rome on May 31.

Jim and Diana

 

[Kathy]

Sounds like a wonderful trip... I'll enjoy following along (and finding out about that birthday surprise)!

 

[Frank Gerace]

If you haven't been to Ferrara, you'll love it. It's very walkable. We stayed a block from the center in a reasonable hotel, and on a daily market to boot. It was the Corte Estense or something like that. If you can't find it, ask me and I'll do a better search. I have some more info on my posts, Noemi was good but expensive. Say hello to Luca and Chef Ennio at the Buttega. Do't miss the Ciclone.

Buon Viaggio, Ciccio (Frank Gerace on this site)

 

[Jim Zurer]

Hi Frank....we have been to Ferrara a couple of times and really like the city....last time we stayed there however, the weather was not optimal so we are looking for sunny skies and warm temperatures for our time there.

 

[PokeyMindy]

Looks like a fantastic adventure...

 

[Victoria]

Lucky Diana, she gets to celebrate her birthday every year in Italy! Enjoy your time there, looking forward to reading your reports.

 

[Cindy]

Sounds marvelous - can't wait to follow along and for the disclosure of May 12-15 location. Cindy

 

[Jim Zurer]

Italy 2017: Tuesday, May 2: Day 1: Viterbo

We fly out of Newark this year....the price of the flight was half that from Washington even with the cost of one way car rentals on each end. The drive to Newark and the flight to Rome were both uneventful. Happily, both of us have empty seats next to us...and the plane arrives in Rome on time. A side benefit of the long line for passport control is that our luggage arrives quickly. More waiting for our rental car but it turns out to be a spacious, new Peugeot.

Our first stop is at an AutoGrill for coffee and cornetti....the cornetti are just out of the oven and taste great. It is an easy drive to the resort outside Viterbo where tomorrow we will be meeting our Swedish friends--Ulf and Elinor--who are finishing their Italian trip as we start ours.

Since it is just past 11 am, our room is not ready so we sit in the warm sun in the lovely courtyard of the Alla Corte delle Terme.

Diana works on her quilting and I struggle to get the Sprint Global Roaming working on my phone. (We usually buy Italian SIM cards but are trying out Sprint's new international plan.) I am pleasantly surprised when my emails to the Sprint help desk are answered immediately and, after a series of back and forth messages, the plan is operational and I am connected.

The room is very nice...a suite with a sitting area, bedroom and lovely terrace that looks out on the resort's extensive garden.

We unpack and than take a short nap since we are now feeling the effects of not much (or any) sleep on the plane.

Later in the afternoon, we get in the car to go to Viterbo (about 6 kilometers away) for our first gelato fix of the trip. Our expedition almost goes awry when we enter inside the city walls, have difficulty finding a parking space and get enmeshed in the dense, narrow streets. Our primary goal is to escape without damage to the car and breathe a sigh of relief when we emerge unscathed. Not giving up, we drive around looking for a convenient parking spot outside the walls.

We find a good spot and walk through the Porta Romana

and follow the Google map on my phone through the narrow streets we tried to avoid in the car. Just before exiting the historic center, we see our destination--L'Antica Latteria--noted as the best gelato in Viterbo. We take a number and join the queue....we have number 82 and they are serving number 56. The two women behind the counter are unflappable and very sweet, especially with the large number of school age customers on line. After a half hour, it is our turn. Diana orders pistacchio and straciatella and I choose straciatella and ricotta with cinnamon (a new flavor for me). When asked whether we want whipped cream, Diana answers "no thank you." The server says that is is very good and Diana replies "Domani (tomorrow)". Smiles all around.

More smiles as we sit outside on a bench and enjoy the gelato...it is truly excellent and worth the effort.

Meanwhile, I get an email from Ulf saying that their schedule had changed and that they have arrived a day early and were at the hotel. We agree to meet for a glass of wine after we return.

We have a wonderful reunion with Ulf and Elinor--we had met Ulf "on line" pre-internet. We were waiting to buy tickets for Pompeii in 1995 and we have kept in touch over the years. He and his family have visited us in the States, we once went to Lund for a short visit and we have had numerous get-togethers in Italy. Happy hour turns into dinner at the resort....the food in the restaurant is very good....Diana and I share a plate of salumi, I order a pasta dish with tomato sauce and pecorino cheese and Diana has ravioli. We enjoy the house wine....a very drinkable local red..which is finished without a problem.

Around 9 pm, since it is our first day in Italy after the trans-Atlantic flight, we start to fade....and say good night but it has been a wonderful start to our trip.

Jim and Diana

 

[Valerie]

Ben tornati! The hotel looks nice! I spent a week in Viterbo with my parents last November. We liked the area and made daily runs to the hot springs!

 

[jan]

I love following along with you. thanks for posting.

We have nightmare memories of driving in Viterbo.

 

[PokeyMindy]

what a gorgeous place to stay! Driving in small hill towns and not getting in an accident feels like such an amazing accomplishment! Bravo to you!

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Enjoying your report. I've never heard of Viterbo. Going to look it up

 

[Jim Zurer]

Italy 2017: Wednesday, May 3: Day 2: Viterbo

We manage to sleep through the night and wake up to a sunny morning with a bit of a chill in the air....hopefully our transition to Italian time is accomplished.

Breakfast is fine and we have a long discussion with Ulf and Elinor about plans for the day. We decide to go the Villa Lante, a formal 16th century Italian garden with fountains, grottoes and cascades, in nearby Bagnaia and then to Lago di Bolsena for lunch.

We had been to the Villa Lante years ago but as we enter Bagnaia, the entrance to the gardens seems to be in a different place than I remember. We make a couple of circuits around the (small) town including a brief but challenging foray through a very narrow portal and a fountain in the historic center.

Finally, following the signs, we find the parking lot for the Villa Lante and make our way up to the gardens.
The gardens stretch up the side of a hill and there are a number of levels covered with manicured hedges, flowering shrubs, carved water channels and elaborate fountains. We climb around the grounds for about an hour before heading out. Gardens are not really my thing but the others seemed to enjoy it.

For more detail, this web site has lots of information and photos...
https://www.romeartlover.it/Bagnaia2.html

The road to Lago di Bolsena is through heavily wooded areas so there is not much to see until you descend to the shore of the lake. The town of Bolsena is an agreeable waterfront resort with a small historic center capped with a medieval castle. We skip the sightseeing and head straight to the lake for lunch at a waterfront restaurant. The setting is very tranquil...tree lined streets and a promenade.

Lunch is fine....Ulf and Elinor have pizza, Diana has a plate of excellent grilled shrimp and I have a delicious preparation of lake perch. The only thing that mars the lunch is a testy waiter.....

After lunch, the consensus is that we return directly to the hotel rather than any additional sightseeing.

While the others stay at the hotel, I go out for a short expedition to the nearby town of Tuscania. We had stayed there previously and had fond memories so I wanted to take another look. The town is noted for two very old churches located a short distance from the center....their isolation gives them an extra layer of interest. I explore the one church that is open today--Santa Maria Maggiore. It is very old with an interesting facade, elaborate carvings, colorful frescoes, an intricate floor and a number of Etruscan funeral monuments on the floor inside.

The historic center is much as I remembered it....not touristy but lively and very walkable. I stop for a gelato (not as good as the day before in Viterbo) and walk past the hotel we stayed at previously.

Back at the hotel, we continue catching up with Ulf and Elinor over wine and taralli and then have dinner together at the hotel restaurant. The food is not as successful as the previous night....but the wine is just as good.

Tomorrow we leave for Spoleto....

 

[Jim Zurer]

I was unable to include one picture from Tuscania...I was very taken with this guitar shop and the intarsia display of the lute player.

 

[Jim Zurer]

Italy 2017: Thursday, May 4: Day 3: Viterbo-Spoleto

Another beautiful day.....after breakfast, we pack up and say our goodbyes to Ulf and Elinor. We were very happy to spend the time with them.

The drive from Viterbo to Spoleto takes just over an hour, mostly on limited access highways but I decide to leave the highway near Terni and take a country road through the mountains. The road is quite curvy as it climbs and then descends, and views are limited by lush foliage but it is a pleasant diversion.

The arrival in Spoleto is less pleasant...neither the GPS or Google maps easily locate our hotel so we spend a bit of time "exploring" before we reach our hotel. However, in our meandering we do locate two porchetta trucks so it isn't a total loss.

We drop our bags at the Hotel San Luca which is located at the bottom of the town just inside the walls. I decide not to park in the hotel's pay garage and they direct me to a free parking lot in front of a supermarket just a few hundred yards from the hotel. By now, it is time for lunch and the very pleasant young woman at the desk recommends a couple of places convenient to the hotel.

The distance is less than half a mile but we get our first introduction to the challenge of staying in Spoleto....there is a short but very steep hill to climb followed by a steep descent. (We later figure out that the hill could be avoided by walking a slight extra distance around the hill.)

The restaurant that we choose is a small vegetarian place called La Piazzetta delle Erbe. We are greeted enthusiastically in English by a very jolly young man and while we check the blackboard and decide whether to stay or not, the group of six mature gentleman eating at a table tell us (in Italian) that all the food is great and that we should sit down and eat. So we do.....and have an interesting and delicious lunch. I have a thick soup made with chickpeas, couscous and cabbage and Diana has dish that includes an asparagus puree in small "boats" of bread with a tasty cabbage salad on the side. We both have a small glass of wine and I have an excellent cup of coffee made fresh in a machinetta. It is brought to the table with a three minute hour glass to let you know when it is ready.

The food is good and the experience is a lot of fun.

Back at the hotel, we unpack and rest before heading out to explore the town a bit. Since our last visit to Spoleto, the city has installed an elaborate system of underground moving stairways and elevators which help overcome the challenge of the very hilly topography of the town.

The entrance to the most extensive of the moving walkways is close to the hotel so we walk over and head up to the Duomo. The approach to the Duomo in Spoleto is very dramatic...you turn a corner and the church appears down a long flight of stairs, set on a wide piazza with the green countryside as a backdrop.

We take a quick walk around inside....just to get a flavor. One of the artistic highlights is a fresco cycle in the apse done by the 15th century Florentine artist Filippo Lippi.

We walk back to the hotel and are struck by how elegant the city is....and how steep the grades are. (Pictures will be included in reports from subsequent days.)

In the late afternoon, I walk over to the modern town outside the walls in search of additional electric plug adapters for our electronic gear. A friendly woman in a computer store does some research for me and points me in the right direction and I find what I am looking for.

We are meeting Pauline Kenny and Steve Cohen for dinner...I have "known" Pauline online for many years...she created and ran the Slow Travel web site which was a very robust internet community until she sold it several years ago....but we have never met in person. They are overlapping with us in Spoleto...they are in an apartment in the upper town.

Dinner is a lot of fun...we have a lot to talk about--Italy, the internet, people we know in common. The food at the Taverna di Spagna is also very good. Since Pauline is a vegetarian, there are a lot of vegetarian options. Diana and I split a plate of salumi and cheese followed by a tasty dish of turkey in the style of porchetta for her and a delicious preparation of cabbage parmigiano for me.

Since the moving sidewalk closes at 9 pm on weekdays, we have to return to the hotel on foot. The town is very quiet and even more elegant by street light. We take a longer route in order to minimize the hills and make it back to the hotel without incident.

Tomorrow, we plan to spend the day in Spoleto visiting the sites.

Jim and Diana

 

[Valerie]

Nice! It's fun to revisit the Viterbo area through your photos. We went to Villa Lante and Tuscania, too, and were amazed how few people visit them.

 

[Jim Zurer]

Italy 2017: Friday, May 5: Day 4: Spoleto

It is partly cloudy and a bit crisp as we look out from our terrace but the forecast calls for sunny and warm.

Breakfast at the hotel is very good and the waitress is very efficient and accommodating.

Our plan this morning is to do a bit of exploring up in the historic center to try and get the lay of the land. Since the town is extremely vertical, it is sometimes difficult to ascertain how to walk between attractions--sort of like a 3-D chess board.

We take the underground moving sidewalk up to the Piazza del Mercato, which is sort of the center of things. We expect to find a market but are disappointed that the square is under construction and there are but a few vegetable sellers there.

The is the Torre dell'Orologio...one of the symbols of Spoleto.

However we do meet Pauline and Steve who are having coffee in one of the bars...their apartment is just around the corner. After sitting with them for a while, we continue our exploration.

We pass under one of the many Roman arches that still stand in Spoleto...this is the Arco di Drusus--named for the son of the Emperor Tiberius.

We find that many of the main streets are broad and straight but are only accessed by steep, hilly, mostly pedestrian lanes...some with stairs.

This is a particularly elegant example of the "vertical streets."

I notice that we are just below the old Jewish section of Spoleto (the Jews were expelled from the town in 1569) so we climb up a narrow street to Via San Gregorio di Sinagoga to take a look. There is not much evidence of Jewish presence but it is a very picturesque street.

For lunch, we descend to the modern town, find one of the porchetta trucks we had passed on our drive into town, buy a couple of sandwiches and some strawberries and eat our lunch in the charming courtyard of the hotel.

After lunch, we get into the car and drive to the nearby hill town of Trevi. Trevi--famous for its olive oil--is one of the most picturesque of Umbrian hill town, crowning a hill that is heavily planted with olives on its slopes.

As steep as it looks from a distance, the historic center at top is mostly on level ground...there is ample parking outside the centro. As it is after lunch, the town is quiet but we stroll some of the back lanes and visit the Duomo. While I venture a bit further in the back streets, Diana checks out a store that sells the local oil and buys a small can. (We had bought olive oil in Trevi on our first trip to Italy in 1993.)

On the way back to Spoleto, we stop at the Fonti di Clitunno, a spring that was known to the Romans. Now somewhat of a tourist trap, you walk around several pools of clear water with ducks and geese swimming in it. All very peaceful and relaxing.....

We decide to eat dinner at one of the places recommended by the hotel and, coincidentally, just about the closest to the hotel. The restaurant, 9 Cento, is decorated eclectically with early 20th century memorabilia, and the meal is terrific.

We both start with a cheese flan set in a bed of lentils topped by guanciale, which is excellent. Diana has a plate of tasty steak tartare and I have zuppa made with black chickpeas....delicious. Desserts are also outstanding--a crostata for Diana and panna cotta for me. The wine...a sagrantino/sangiovese blend from a local producer was outstanding. And this terrific meal cost all of Euro 55.00 (about $60.00 US). I bet we will be returning.

And it is a short walk back to the hotel......

Tomorrow, more exploring of Spoleto and a drive to the Roman site at Carsulae.

Jim and Diana

 

[Jim Zurer]

Italy 2017: Saturday, May 6: Day 5: Spoleto

Rain is forecast for around 1 pm so after breakfast, we head out and take the moving sidewalk

all the way to the top to take a look at the Ponte di Torri, the medieval bridge behind the large fortress that dominates the town. The Ponte also served as an aqueduct and a path across the valley. Recently it has been closed, possibly until it is checked for earthquake damage. It is a very striking sight ... 80 meters high and 230 meter across ... set over a deep ravine with a background of green hills.

After admiring the view, we retrace our steps and move down one level to make a return visit to the Duomo ... this time with a downloaded guidebook. The floor of the church is especially appealing.

As we leave the Duomo, the threatened rain begins as a drizzle and we head for the Piazza del Mercato hoping to find a store that will sell us an umbrella. We buy one as the rain begins to fall harder. We then decide to visit the Casa Romana which is just around the corner. The house dates to the first century AD when Spoleto was a Roman outpost. It is small but has a number of surviving floor mosaics and some Roman wall paintings which are quite remarkable.

The rain continues as we leave the Casa Romana so we take the moving sidewalk down and return to the hotel. The forecast predicts an end to the rain in the mid-afternoon so we decide to take a chance and get in the car for the 45 minute drive to the excavations at the Roman city of Carsulae, near Terni. We luck into a bar on the way where we have a quick lunch -- porchetta for me, slice of pizza with onions for Diana -- and by the time we reach Carsulae, the rain has stopped and the sun is trying to come out.

We park in the sizable parking lot

where we are the only car. The approach to the entrance is confusingly long and, combined with the fact that there are no other visitors, gives us pause as to whether the site is closed. But we reach the ticket office -- which is housed in a large modern building with a bar, a teaching center, a museum and three staff people. We first watch a very cheesy film in Italian -- thankfully short -- with many shots of actors playing gladiators fighting and emoting. "Avanti!" There are some good CGI effects showing the site as it is now and superimposing what they think it looked like in Roman times.

By now the sun has come out, the sky is blue and we are alone with Roman history. The site dates back to the 4th century BC when the town was a stop along the Via Flaminia. One of the most striking features of the site are the stretches of Roman road that are still visible.

There are significant remains of the basilica and the forum,

an impressive arch,

some imposing funeral monuments,

and a modern sign that shows that someone on the site has a sense of humor.

It is a terrific experience having all this history to ourselves and enjoying a beautiful sunny afternoon. By the time we are leaving, a family with small children has arrived to share it.

We plan to return to 9 Cento tonight ... and dinner is again excellent, though perhaps a bit less magical than the previous night. We share an extraordinarily large antipasto platter which we are sure is a double order (it isn't) followed by a strangozzi (local thick pasta) cacio pepe for Diana and tagliatelle with ricotta, pecorino and guanciale for me -- both excellent. We have the same wine as the night before which is still very good. However, we can't manage any dessert. The bill comes to an astonishingly low Euro 40.00.

Tomorrow we have lunch plans with Slow Travel people at an agriturismo outside of Bevagna and we hope that the rain holds off.

Jim and Diana

 

[Jim Zurer]

Italy 2017: Sunday, May 7: Day 6: Spoleto


I wake up with a slight sore throat but after breakfast, I start to feel much worse....a bit woozy and uncomfortable. We wait for an hour or so hoping that I will feel better but by 11, I am not and we decide that we can't go to the Slow Trav lunch get together outside Bevagna that had been planned for a while.

I try to rest and Diana reads and quilts. We then spend time watching some of the televison shows I had recorded and brought with us.

Rain starts in earnest in the late afternoon and I don't feel up to walking outside so we order some simple sandwiches from the hotel and eat them at the bar. A real bummer.....

From Diana: I finished the book I started on the plane--Giving Up The Ghost by Hilary Mantel. This 2003 memoir by the English novelist is brilliant, disturbing and fascinating. She grew up near Manchester in a poor Catholic family and her memories seem to go back to when she was an infant. School and the church were miserable affairs. Her home life was fraught - at one point her mother moves her lover Jack (who will become the stepfather) into the house and her husband is like a boarder. Mantel is ill, seemingly her whole life, but never properly diagnosed or treated until too late - too late to have children because of the treatment for her endometriosis and also too late to avoid the effects of all sorts of medication. This is an unusual memoir, brilliantly written, imho, and I'm happy to recommend it.

And we do have a picture for this report. I sewed one of my Dear Jane blocks, 4 1/2 inches finished:

Tomorrow, we plan to drive over to Norcia, the town that felt the brunt of the series of earthquakes in 2016.

Jim and Diana

 

[Jim Zurer]

Italy 2017: Monday, May 8: Day 7: Spoleto

After a day of rest and a good night's sleep, I am feeling better. After breakfast and after looking at the overcast sky and the rain forecast for early afternoon, we decide to drive to Norcia in eastern Umbria. Norcia had been hit with a series of earthquakes in 2016 and there was significant damage reported but I had also heard that the town was ready for tourists.

Leaving Spoleto, we enter the long tunnel under gray skies and emerge to bright sunshine. The drive to Norcia mostly follows the course of the Nera River (this is the Valnerina) so there are few hills but there are green mountain slopes on both sides. We see signs along the way advertising rafting on the river but the "river" seems so narrow from the road that it is hard to envision.

As we approach Norcia, we enter a broad valley and in the distance, we see the snow-capped peaks of the Sibillini mountains. Up to now, we see no apparent earthquake damage but as we get to the city walls, the gate to the city is held up by braces and is covered by scaffolding. We circle the walls to the other side of the town and see a lot of damage to the walls...at points, the road is narrowed to one lane due to the collapsed structure.

We park at a gate on the east side of town and start to walk to the center following the Google maps directions on my phone. But as we walk, we see many houses either damaged or destroyed and our path to the center is blocked by many streets that are blocked off by red tape and signs saying "zona rosa".

IMAGE Missing

We retrace our steps, get in the car and drive further around the walls to the next gate. At this gate, there is a lot of activity and many temporary buildings and tents housing shops, offices and repair crews.

Photo by Jim Zurer

Walking through the gate, there are soldiers directing traffic and red signs showing which streets are open.

Photo by Jim Zurer

When we follow the designated route to the main piazza, the road is almost completely blocked by trucks and a bulldozer digging out a collapsed building but we are told that we can squeeze through between the trucks and houses and we continue. The bulldozer operator pauses his work as we edge past.

Photo by Jim Zurer

In the main square, there are some shops open and restaurants are setting up for lunch but it is very quiet. We buy some strawberries at a "frutta verdura" and notice that the road from the first gate we had come to was open in spite of the scaffolding.

As we stand in front of the duomo, we seethe facade is standing but the entire church in back has collapsed. The tower of of the city hall next door has also been heavily damaged.

Photo by Jim Zurer

Photo by Jim Zurer

We are very disheartened seeing the conditions in the town and think it will be a long time before things are back to normal.

Photo by Jim Zurer

We drive back to Spoleto along the Nera in a different direction....and instead of returning to town through the tunnel, we opt for the panoramic route over the mountain....and are rewarded with incredible vistas and beautiful scenery.

Photo from http://www.umbrianrefuge.com/

Photo from http://www.norciavacanze.it/

Back in Spoleto, we have a quick lunch at La Piazzetta dell'Erbe but this time it is empty and the food doesn't seem as good.

In the afternoon, I walk up to Piazza Mercato to meet Pauline and Steve and Wes and Linda Yoder, Slow Trav veterans who were at the lunch that we missed yesterday. We take them to see the view over the valley from the Ponte di Torri and have a coffee at a cafe where we discuss our mutual passion for Italy.

The rain threatens to begin and they have to return to Assisi so we make for the moving stairway and say our goodbyes. I take a quick look at Pauline and Steve's apartment (beautiful view over Spoleto from the terrace) and walk back down to our hotel, just beating the rain.

It is raining fairly hard as we walk out to meet Pauline and Steve for our final dinner in Spoleto. We have a very good meal at a very traditional trattoria just across the street from 9 Cento.

The Osteria del Trivio is a very pleasant family run place and our meals are delicious.

Photo by Jim Zurer

Diana and I share an extensive antipasto platter, followed by pappardelle with broccoli and sausage for Diana and strangozzi with fave, pecorino and guanciale for me. There is a sufficient choice of vegetarian options for Pauline.

We have enjoyed our stay in Spoleto both for the very appealing city and its sights and for the chance to spend time with Pauline and Steve.

Tomorrow we are off to Tuscany with a stop for lunch with Letizia Mattiaci (Alla Madonna del Piatto) at her agriturismo above Assisi.

Jim and Diana