To try Umbria

And in Umbria, also, you can spend a night at a hostel. I found the first at the romantic lake of Trasimeno. It’s as big as a few lakes Bled and located between hills, so you can’t even spot it from the main road connecting Florence to Rome. But since I’ve admired it online I’ve decided to conclude a long day of travelling in a village of Torricella, right along the lake shore. There is a nice HI hostel in a huge building. The hostel is called La casa sul lago (the house along the lake), surrounded by a small but charming garden. There’s a swimming pool there, which must be extremely tempting in hot months. The garden with chairs, tables and attractive sunscreens already seemed like an attractive retreat for the next few days. I was also drawn to the hammocks and there are many corners inside the building with exotic decorative features. As all the beds were booked (you should book a bed well ahead) I stayed in a bit more expensive room in the house next door. Agnese, the women at the reception, suggested I take the Red room, as they have rooms arranged according to colour. So I had red linen on a huge double bed, with pictures and attractively painted wardrobe. The manager had all the rooms and halls of the hostel done with a lot of style. There were many pictures, statues, old decorative objects and many of them originated from India. I had my breakfast at the garden and the choice of food was great. It was there I’ve meed a nice dog, belonging to one of the guests. Yes, the hostel is dog friendly!

 

Torricella has no real tourist attractions. The lake shore and some restaurants are just a few steps way from the hostel, and there’s a beach there. The nearest picturesque town is only a few kilometres away thought. There are several attractive towns along the lake’s shore, so it took me two days to explore them. Unfortunately I ran out of time to visit any of the islands on the lake. One of the islands – Polvese – even features a hostel. When I return to the lake, I’ll try to get a room there.

Only 20 kilometres on there’s a city (about half the size of Ljubljana), which is the capital of the Umbria region – Perugia! The university city stretches around the hill on which the attractive old centre stands. In the hostel Casa sul lago they advised me to leave the car at the free parking next to the main football stadium of the city. From there I could take the mini-metro (it’s a combination of a metro and a cable cart). It was a great tip as I got to avoid looking for a parking along the narrow and steep city streets, which would cost me almost 3€ per hour. The round metro ticket cost about as much. 

 

In a rainy day I was mostly looking for attraction that were indoors, so I’ve visited a few churches and then headed for the covered market that is arranged on few floors next to the old city wall. Among the few museums I was really fascinated by the visit to the private palace Sorbello from the 17th century. It is owned by the marquees, who’s the last blue blooded person to own the house. The rooms are decorated with frescoes and full of expensive interior. The library is especially attractive, with over 1000 volumes stored there. Occasionally they prepare thematic exhibitions and at the moment of my visit there was the exhibition of illustrated children books. By the way, you can take the east room or the nearby lookout terrace to have a rest and read one of the books connected to the history of the city and the palace. 

 

I had lunch in a small place called La bottega degli sfizi, serving pizza slices. I had problems to find a place as it’s really popular among students. They offer cheapest pizzas in the city (a large piece costs 1€). I really loved the onion pizza. And for desert – if in Italy – I usually take ice-cream. But on a rainy day I was more for chocolate. The city is known for the Perugina factory that produces world known Baci chocolate treats. The factory on the outskirts of the city also has an interesting museum dedicated to chocolate and the over a century old tradition of the factory itself. One of the biggest attraction of the museum is the tasting. Each year in October Perugia becomes the capital of chocolate as they organize a traditional chocolate fair - Eurochocolate.

Near Perugia there’s an old fortified town I went to visit – Assisi. It’s mostly known as the birthplace of Saint Francis and Saint Claire. But the town is by no means visited by believers. It’s attractive to other tourists as well, as it features a medieval fortification, defence towers and many churches in narrow stone streets, with numerous restaurants, galleries, museums and souvenir shops. The town was so attractive I explored it for two days. I’ve marvelled at pilgrims on the streets, who reached Assisi after 24 days of walking. They begin the pilgrimage at 320km remote Dovadoli to the north of Italy. It is said Assisi is most attractive in the beginning of May as they hold a medieval festival of some sorts – Calendimaggio, for which the locals prepare the whole year around. The whole town travels back in time for these few days and the people of the upper and lower part of the town compete in medieval games and present the life as it was in the past. An un-bias commission observes the proceedings and the winner can claim the trophy for a year. 

 

The manager of HI hostel Ostello della pace told me about the festival. The hostel itself is set up in a former farm house from the 17th century and is only 10 minutes’ walk from city wall. Guests can stay in rooms of various sizes with bunk beds, and as there’s over 60 beds altogether, you usually don’t need to book ahead. The price includes a huge breakfast and if you pay extra you can also get dinner. They’ll prepare delicious Italian dishes at a reasonable price and as they are home-made you won’t be able to find anything up to pair in the city restaurants. As it’s usual today the hostel offers free WiFi and you can also use their computer with a printer. The hostel has an attractive garden that offers a great rest after a day of exploring the medieval town. And in case of bad weather you can spend the evening in the dining room, which is also a meeting place that features a reading room and a piano.