Summer 2010 part one (From Western Telegraph)

July 2010

12:30pm Friday 2nd July 2010

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It is always exciting when visitors arrive as we take time off from our daily routine to explore and share the Italian countryside with them. This time we decided to try to revisit places we had explored briefly when we were just visitors ourselves looking for a region to live in.

First on our list of things to do and see was the parade of ladies held the day before Corpus Christi in Orvieto. The women and children were to assemble at 4pom to parade up the main road, all closed to traffic naturally, before assembling in the cathedral square to perform ad traditional dance. Then at 6pm they were to attend a special mass before rejoining their waiting families in the town. Like most things it started late. The ladies were still rounding up the junior members at 4.30 and the actual parade didn’t get underway until after 5pm. Anticipating this we had secured a good bench seat well before the time and were in a prime spot to view them as they paraded. Each of the towns 4 quarters were represented by the colour of the clothing worn by the ladies as they twirled and pirouetted along the streets. The dance in the main square was missed, as they were running late, to be accomplished after the service. Knowing we had a long day ahead of us we slipped away through the throng and drove home to a pizza and a jug of red wine.

We went to see Montifalco, known as the balcony of Umbria, to see what all the fuss was about. It is a small town south west of Perugia with the most astonishing view of the Perugian plains to the mountains. The vista opens for miles, valley of Umbria, Assisi, Spoleto, Trevi, Bevagna, Foligno, Bettano, and a collection of other small towns and villages, hills, vineyards. They have a great red made locally, but don’t they all.

We drove on to see Bevagna as they were having their annual month of medieval revivalism where the towns folk dress in the old style and there are foods and crafts from that era on offer. The oldest streets and alleyways are strewn with hay and decked out with colourful cloth, and various set-pieces - taverns, market stalls, theatres, potters, dyers, blacksmiths and so on - are constructed to create a sense of medieval atmosphere. One can dine on authentic - and delicious - Umbrian cuisine, and enjoy an array of hearty local wines. The local people really take part and during festival time, many don colorful medieval garb and become enthusiastic characters in the extended "play" of the festival. They reopen the old workshops so children can learn to make paints from raw materials, make candles and so on. Huge fun and well thought out with plenty of parking and easy access to everything we wanted to see.

A week later we headed down the A1 “strada di sole” (road of the sun) motorway to Orte, passing fields full of ripening corn and poppies, paid our toll of 4 euros (for about 80 km) and struck out west across the top of Lazio. Taking the most direct route we passed by Bomarzo, the rediscovered park of the monsters where huge rocks were carved into fantastic faces and animals in the garden landscape and entered the city of Vieterbo. I say entered more like kissed the outer perimeter using the by-pass system and exited the city to the south heading for Villa Lante at Bagnaia.

The gardens are why the town exists. The small house and gardens were the summer residence of a prince and the water cascade and fountains with formal hedges are the ideal Italiante gardens. It is said this particular garden inspired Napoleon to build Versailles. It was lovely to see the school children enjoying the tour although them racing through the knot garden playing hide and seek was not on the agenda we suspect. The entrance fees are very reasonable just 2.00 per person over school age and not retired, they get in free on producing a passport or ID card.

Fortified by ice creams and a glass of wine in the bar in town, we decided to head homewards. A good thought but as the road signs are minimal we got lost and headed south towards Rome, all roads lead to Rome, and ended up at Nepi looking at one of the best preserved Aquiducts in the area. Having found our bearings we accessed the motorway and arrived home before 7pm.

The local saints day was celebrated by the street of flowers display as usual. This years subject was Walt Disney through the decades, although they also had John Lennon, and several other notables too. The petals were placed between the painted outlines on the road by each group like a “paint by numbers” panel. Citta della Pieve isn’t unique in this, Bolseana and several other towns also decorate the streets with pictures created using petals for their towns saints day parade.

The “third” also opened the communal open air kitchen, offering three courses with a large choice for each course, all cooked and managed on site to be served on long shared benches and tables by those attending the event, at reasonable prices.