Day 9 (4/11)

Travel day. We drive … it’s not very exciting…

We arrive in San Manaio around lunch time. Perfect. The Waze app and Jack direct us directly to the hotel. The last 1/2-3/4 mile or so is very narrow, rather steep (up and down), 1 lane, 2 way. We all think Yah, we’ll just stay here … no need to go out for anything. And, THERE’S PRIVATE HOTEL PARKING! Yes, I know that maybe I am being a bit more enthusiastic than warranted but … it really is nice.

The Park Hotel Villa Maria is a lovely old school small seaside retreat. Elegant but not ostentatious or stuffy. And, It’s pink!

The rooms are that quaint mid century Euro-chic. A little plain with deco accents and light switches that make no sense.

After we check in, we gather in the dining room for lunch. The menu is very seafood-centric. To be expected 300 yards from the Adriatic. It is also delicious.

We toddle off to our rooms full and a bit road weary. Some folks take a walk down along the road that leads to the water. Some folks, ahem, drift off for a minute or two.

The location and the scenery is oddly everything. There are towering pine trees with crows and jays making a racket. There are lemon trees heavy with fruit and there are palm trees that wave in the breeze. It is raining a bit but not enough to dampen spirits.

We while away the afternoon planning for tomorrow and simply relaxing in the moment.

Dinner in the hotel restaurant. Vitello for me, absolutely delicious with grilled zucchini and red bell pepper.

We make an early evening of it. Catch up on emails etc.. tomorrow is a long drive.

Day 10 (4/12)

Breakfast in the hotel dining room. (what a surprise) No seafood this time. Double espresso for me and I’m ready to go.

50 tunnels (in which we lose all cell and gps connections), a lot of beautiful views with the Adriatic to our right and the mountains to our left. 5-1/2 hours later, including a stop for lunch, a stop because we had lunch a little while ago and a stop for gas, and we arrive in Spoleto. GPS, (we call the front seat calls the voice Eleanor now, the back seat is still lobbying for Gertrude.) again took as straight to the hotel. It has been 10 years of using GPS with our paper map constant back up verification. I might start to trust the technology before too much longer.

The parking lot is a little small but we find space. After we check in the lady at the desk asks which cars are ours. Well the two giant ones parked in outside the front door. We are informed we will have to move them. The front desk lady also informs us that she will direct us where to park.

She is not impressed with our understanding of what she wants us to do and eventually just moves the cones and chains and puts us off in the restricted area of the lot. Works for me. I want to ask if she has been sucking lemons all day because of the expression on her face but…

We meet in the lobby after freshening up to go for a wander about town. We have been to Spoleto before but it has been many years. Spoleto is a fairly small town for the size of it’s character and its sophistication. Though some people in Spoleto are a little … haughty.

Oh … and cats!

Day 11 (4/13)

A day of exploring and taking in the sights of Spoleto. We don’t have any tours planned or schedules to keep so we wander down to breakfast around 9:30… and it’s a feast! Two tables full of pastries, fruit, cheese, cold meats, cereals, eggs, yogurts… etc. I’m impressed. Especially for 90 euro a night! A double espresso… and I’m good to go.

We explore a couple of churches, the wonderful duomo and just wander lazily through the tiny winding streets. This is the way I like to experience Italy. There is a circular walk around the top of the town that is well worth the time. You can see the Ponte della Torri (Tower Bridge). Built in the 1300s (on foundations of a bridge that was built 600 years earlier) the bridge is 265 feet across a steep ravine and just about 300 feet tall. 9 arches … 300 feet tall?! Built of stone when dudes were still wearing metal armor and gunpowder was a crazy new invention. The mechanical clock was pretty new and radical and the wheelbarrow was a relatively recent invention. They say Dante was impressed and inspired by the bridge. Well yah. It’s pretty impressive.

As we pass the bridge, we hear some crazy noisy birds flying around over head. I see swallows and wonder what the heck kind of swallows make that noise… then I see parrots. A bunch of parrots. Big blue and red and yellow parrots… like pirate parrots. They’re in the trees and on the light posts and sitting on people’s shoulders. Turns out there is a parrot club. A bunch of people that have pet parrots that bring them out and fly them around like … I don’t know… trained parrots. They fly around and then the guys have whistles and call them by name and they come swooping in scaring the little kids and squawking like their tail feathers are on fire. Wasn’t expecting that.

We go up and explore the castle fortress / museum at the top of the city which is also definitely worth a look if you get to Spoleto. Very nicely done.

I thought I lost D in the museum… the place was a labyrinth.

Around the fortress there is a thick high wall with arrow slits in it and the whole medieval thing. The view is extraordinary. Of course if you are too short to see over the wall you have to find another way to see the view…

Dinner. We find a place called Ristorante Sabatini Giordano. I call from the room to make reservations for 10 and I’ll be darned, it works. When we get there they are actually expecting us. Yay me.

The waiter’s name is Genaro. He is from Naples and he is a riot. He is charming and accommodating and funny. The menu is expansive and has all the things I love about central Italian cuisine. Wild boar, sauteed spinach, grilled veggies, truffles, grilled all kinds of stuff… guinea fowl, asparagus…

Everyone enjoyed the whole experience immensely! Alberta even poured herself a second glass of wine!

At one point Genaro looked over the table and realized that D was the only one that didn’t have a plate in front of her, (she didn’t order anything for that course) he got a funny look on his face, marched off and came back with a small plate of cheese and honey. Just because he didn’t want her to feel left out I guess.

After dinner I asked for an alloro liqueur. (bay laurel) Genaro said he didn’t have such a thing but that he had something called zafferano liqueur… (saffron). Ok. I’m up for trying new things. It turned out to be a very nice flavor somewhere between a limoncello and an alloro. A star at the end of the meal.

As we got up to leave, Genaro asked if I had a bag… and winked and nodded at the bottle of zafferano on the table. I said, “no” then opened my jacket, “but I have a pocket.” He tucked the bottle in my pocket and gave me a hearty two-fisted handshake and said it was a pleasure to have us wished us good travels. We faded into the evening fat and happy.