Our camera is broken. Probably dirt or sand in the mechanism. Gayle is quickly on a mission to replace it. The problem is that it's Easter and there's not a lot of choice. At the hostel we use the kitchen to cook our dinners. We meet Monica, a mum from the north, who chats to us while we cook. She is surprised to see us preparing courgettes with tortellini. Who'd have thought it? We comment on how good her english is and she is pleased. She's a history teacher who teaches in english as part of a six-year EU project in northern Italian schools. The project is about to end because the new government doesn't approve.
Foligno was a Roman city on one of their trade routes. The current city centre was shaped from the 1400's when it fell under the Poe's control and formed one of the Papal States that lasted until Italian unification in the late 1800's. It's great to go about the centre which is now predominantly pedestrianised and very pleasant to walk or cycle. It's also rather handy for visiting nearby Perugia and Assisi.
We take the train to Perugia and then a funicular up to the old town. It's teeming with tourists over the holiday weekend. Walking down some of the streets we are stunned by the height of some of the old buildings - 5 or 6 storeys high - and wonder how they've survived the earthquakes that plague this part of the country.
We cycle up to Assisi where the tourist level has upped a notch or two. St. Fancis' basilicas are teeming with visitors. We join the queues to look around. It's all a little too much for me. I much prefer the lovely back road route to Spello, another hilltop town, and the narrow streets of tightly-packed houses there.
On reflection though, I prefer Foligno above all because it feels like a normal lived-in city. It also has lots of visitors, but it plainly has plenty of locals still living and using the centre. It has a life of it's own. And it has bike paths. And not a cement works in sight.
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| I can't imagine why this shop closed down |
We take the train to Perugia and then a funicular up to the old town. It's teeming with tourists over the holiday weekend. Walking down some of the streets we are stunned by the height of some of the old buildings - 5 or 6 storeys high - and wonder how they've survived the earthquakes that plague this part of the country.
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| Perugia |
We cycle up to Assisi where the tourist level has upped a notch or two. St. Fancis' basilicas are teeming with visitors. We join the queues to look around. It's all a little too much for me. I much prefer the lovely back road route to Spello, another hilltop town, and the narrow streets of tightly-packed houses there.
On reflection though, I prefer Foligno above all because it feels like a normal lived-in city. It also has lots of visitors, but it plainly has plenty of locals still living and using the centre. It has a life of it's own. And it has bike paths. And not a cement works in sight.
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| Foligno |
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| my favourite shopfront |
