Umbria

Our next destination was the Umbrian countryside; a region of rolling green hills, valleys and hill top towns.




Marmore waterfall

We made a brief stop here; a fairly impressive waterfall at first site, but somewhat disappointing since its man made and they turn it on and off via a switch! They divert the water to create hydroelectric power. Therefore if you visit at the wrong time you would merely see a dribble!

It starts as this



And ends up as this, where the spray can be felt from about 100 metres away

Spoleto

A charming, medieval town in a beautiful location, Spoleto was lovely to wander around both during the day and evening; quaint shops and cobbled streets gave way to attractive buildings and fantastic views over the Umbrian countryside.

Piazza del Mercato gives a feel of the market town roots and where the local old folk hang out.

The Duomo; the elegant cathedral is approached via a sloping piazza, behind which is the open countryside.

Week 16 – 17th to 23rd September

Assisi

We had a wander around one other hill top town before heading to Assisi. We were in two minds as to whether to visit Assisi actually since we had the feeling it was going to be a tad too commercial but of course, it housing the burial place of St Francis, the Basilica is said to be one of Italy’s great buildings, so we decided to have a look.

It is a nice enough town, but was indeed somewhat spoilt by too many tacky tourist shops and didn’t detain our interest for very long. That said, the Basilica di San Francesco is a fine building and the interior is beautiful, with almost every space covered with beautiful frescoes (we couldn’t take photographs inside though).

And the views were worthwhile.