Water, Water Everywhere
Before our departure from Perugia, there was one critical task to accomplish. We both had to purchase some chocolate – as it is considered the chocolate capital of Italy, if not the world. It was amazing how many different types they had, and watching them bring in everything fresh from their “laboratorio” – the place where they make it right in Perugia.
Getting out of Perugia was a nightmare. Within 2 blocks of the hotel Marzia and I were separated. Within 5 minutes, we were both lost and called each other to confirm that we would both somehow find our way to the adjacent little town (Montebello) one our route notes for the day. In all the cities I’ve been in throughout this country, this has to be the most confusing. In fact, it was the 3rd time I needed the GPS to guide me out of the city since getting some directions from people proved to be “sketchy” at best. I ended up in Montebello before Marzia (see, technology can come in handy sometimes!).
From there it was pretty smooth sailing, with sunshine, rolling hills and beautiful countryside. In fact, the countryside views were so fantastic, I wasn’t making any headway at all – I was stopping every km it seemed like to frame pictures.
So… since this was just a normal beautiful day riding through the country – I’m going to take you on a side road for today’s update. I never told you why Marzia was so upset with me the day we arrived in Perugia. She had lost a good friend to a cycling accident about 5 years ago (I did not know this previous to Perugia – not that it would have changed how I rode, but just that she hadn’t yet shared that with me). So, when she didn’t see me pass by her in one of the last towns before Perugia, and it began to pour down in buckets, in her mind something had happened to me. In fact, she sat there for over 1 hour waiting for me to “pass” (of which I had long passed, but apparently in a “blur” J ). During this time, she created a whole Steven Spielberg movie in her head where I fell of the side of the road, hit my head, was uncontious, my phone had broken so no one knew who I was, and a farmer found me lying there and didn’t know what to do. Since she had so much time to play that movie in her head, she began to ask the local farmers if they had seen me (a person riding by with a blue helmet). Of course, they couldn’t remember NIENTE (nothing/anything). When I eventually called her from the hotel lobby, she was on here way to talk to the police.
OK, back to my more “boring” but lovely day. The farms and vinyards couldn’t have been more picturesque and eventually we arrived in Todi. Naturally, Todi was at the highest point of any place in the area – forcing my legs to really “wake up” now. It was a good hard climb, but the climbing wasn’t over after arriving in the city. Marzia parked and we walked up another half km of extremely steep grade to get to the town square that was on the top of the top of the city. The traffic was one way coming down, and there was no way for me to ride my bike on that narrow street against traffic (although, that could have made a better story…)
The side alleys though were full of surprises and beautiful photo opportunities, and we happened to hit is just as school let out so we were treated by both steady car traffic and kid traffic simultaneously.
We decided on Pizza for lunch, but while were were eating inside (it was already too cold outside), it began to rain a steady cold rain outside. Well… at least I was going to get to use all the clothes that I brought. I put on my rain pants and jacket after lunch, and shivered my way out of town. Before even 2 km though, I was warm enough from riding that the rain didn’t bother me. In fact, by about the 10km mark, I had to take my middle layer off because I was too warm.
You’ll notice some long shots of a river in a canyon with what looks like bridges built into the side of the mountain. Those are actually tunnels build into the mountain, and I arrived inside of them at the precise moment a torrential downpour started and lasted for about 20 minutes. Of course I’d like to say it was all part of my rather precise planning, and Marzia’s precise management of our time schedule, but…. Well, heck – yeah, that’s why it happened that way – we’re good, no we’re great!! Anyway, after my dumb luck in the tunnel was over, I headed out for the remainder of the ride which was predominantly around another beautiful lake. Between the rain, the river and the lakes, it was “water, water everywhere” today. And the Lake did it to me too – I couldn’t get very far without stopping for more photos. While it would have been even more beautiful on a sunny day, it was still able to stop in “in my tracks” many times.
Orvieto was very typical of most of the other towns, with the exception that it might be more geared towards tourists than the others. There seemed to be less shops simply for the local daily living requirements than there were for the tourists who would obviously flood into such a beautiful area. However, the crown jewel of this city is the Duomo. From my experience, it just may be the largest I’ve seen to far. The art work and detail on the front of the duomo is hard to wrap your mind around. The pictures will give you an idea, but the detail and magnitude at the same time was phenominal.
After watching the Saturday evening gathering and strolling through the streets for no reason (which Marzia disdains as an Italian, and which I love as an American), we headed for dinner and then more gelato to cap off the day. I did accomplish one record though – never done before on any of my previous trips to Italy. I had 9 scoops of gelato yesterday! Yes, I had it 3 times, after lunch, after the ride, and after dinner. Yikes!! I better get this under control before I return to the states, or I might have to find a support group J.
