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A Wild Way to Start the Day....

10/31/2014

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Yesterday, I let everybody off the hook easy. Today, we're going to ramp it up a bit. In fact, we're going to get everyone's juices flowing by starting the day with a wild cage ride! 

The beautiful hill town of Gubbio has had these "birdcage" rides forever. They are so fun! There are two circles painted on the platform. One person stands in each. As the cage approaches the first circle, the attendant swings open the door, and the first person hops on while the cage is still moving. Then the second person hops aboard, the attendant slams the door shut, and you're off!

The ride takes you up the mountain side for spectacular views over Gubbio and the surrounding countryside. The trip is quite vertical, and today, it's quite windy. But my intrepid crew is ready for the adventure!
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Ok, we're all on board. Up, up and away we go!
The ride up is exciting and exhilirating and the views are spectacular!
The view on our way up.
The view of the historic center of Gubbio.
We're about to arrive at our destination at the top of the mountian.
It's a blustery day, so we just take time for a few photos and a look about before heading back down.
Back down to earth from our ride, our driver drops us off in the historic center of Gubbio. The group now has a little free time to walk around and explore this beautiful hill town before we meet up for lunch.
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The troops begin to gather....it must be time to eat! We are trying out a new lunch spot today, and we are so glad we did!


Lunch was outstanding and the service was really grand. We fell in love with our waiter Marcello who was just such a nice man. And to top it off, the owner of the restaurant himself, Ulise, came out and spent a lot of time talking to us about truffles. He was so passionate about his ingredients, his food, his restaurant....really lovely. And...the food was delicious!
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Gubbio has been so fun and treated us well, but it is time to move on. We're on our way to the Eurochocolate Festival (Yes, can you believe there even is such a thing?!) in Perugia, but we have a quick stop to make on the way. 

We'll be stopping at Frantoio Trampolini, an olive oil mill where we will have a chance to see how the oil is made, as well as have a taste. Antonio Trampolini, the patriarch of the family shows us an old mill stone, explaining how the olives used to be crushed in years past. Then he takes us inside to see the modern equipment used today.

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And now it's time to taste the oil. First we are offered a taste of the oil from last year's harvest. It's delicious, but then Antonio gives us some great news. Though it is early, just yesterday, they crushed a small amount of olives. So......we are so lucky to be able to test the freshly pressed oil! You can see (and taste!) the difference between last year's oil and the new oil. Delicious!
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Luckily, we arrive early....on the first day of the festival, really just as it is getting underway. I have been to this festival in years past when it has been so crowded as to be nearly unbearable. But this evening is perfect...we go our separate ways, strolling, ogling the chocolate, tasting the chocolate, buying the chocolate......
After lots of purchases and hugs goodbye, we pile back into the van and make the very short trip to Perugia for the EuroChocolate Festival.
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We're headed back to Spello now to end our day with a lovely dinner and more fantastic wine from Umbria. So I leave you with this final photo of the day, taken from the top of Perugia looking back over the countryside as the sun is going down.

We've had a long and very productive day. The back of the van is filled with olive oil, chocolate and other purchases made during the day. Ahhh.....Italy. Sigh.


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Tour Journal 6.0:  All roads lead to Rome

10/17/2012

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Dear Diary,

We started in Rome, meeting for the first time, and getting to know not only each other, but also the busy and hectic city.  Out here in the country, the pace has been more relaxed, and we’ve had time to talk over leisurely meals, during strolls along medieval streets and during time spent traveling together in our van.  As the tour winds down, we spend our final days in Umbria in the towns of Perugia and Spoleto before making our way back to Rome.

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October 10th has us in Perugia, where the group fans out on their own to sightsee for the morning.  We meet up for lunch at a cute little osteria where we have a delicious light meal and a glass of wine together.

First came a little appetizer plate followed by a delicious bowtie pasta with zucchini and sausage.  Yum!

After lunch we head to Frantoio Trampolini, the oldest olive oil mill in the Perugia area run by multi-generations of the Trampolini family.  We have a fantastic time here as Alessandro explains to us how the olives are made into olive oil, and shows us a short DVD so we can see the process.  Afterwards, we’re in for a real treat as in preparation for our arrival, they have built a fire in the fireplace and inserted the grill grate.  Sure enough, they start toasting bread over the open fire, and serve it to us doused in beautiful olive oil and sprinkled with salt.  It’s oh-so delicious and we munch away while we talk about the different varieties of oil and make lots of purchases.
Bellies full, we return to Spoleto with plenty of time for everyone to relax, or stroll and sightsee before our group dinner.  Dinner tonight is very special.  Chef Michele at Ristorante Appolinare has prepared a delightful menu for us.  He uses local and traditional ingredients, but prepares them with a special gourmet flair.  His friendliness has us all charmed and in addition, he presents us with the wine corks from the very bottles we have consumed for dinner, made into key chains! 
The following day (Oct. 11th), after a morning to further explore Spoleto, we board our van to return to Rome.  Some how, the van is much fuller than it was on the way to Umbria!  Everyone has made purchases of olive oil, ceramics, cashmere, leather, cookies, grains, and of course….wine.  Federico, our driver manages to make it all fit and helps us to unload as well when we reach Rome again.
All that’s left now is our farewell dinner.  Dinner tonight has been organized at our hotel in order to give everyone time to repack and reorganize for their flights home the following morning.  Pipero al Rex, is a tiny, but very elegant restaurant serving intriguing gourmet food.  It’s a good thing our waiter explains every course to us, or we might not know what we are eating!  It’s all unique and delicious and we have a fun evening reliving the highlights of our time together the past ten days.  
It’s been an absolute joy getting to know this group.  We’ve enjoyed each other’s company and seen and experienced so many fabulous things together.  Farewell hugs all around, and they’re off to return home; bags filled with wonderful treats and hearts filled with a new found love of Italy.  Arrivederci!  Until we meet again.
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