Roman stone arch in spello
It’s always great, when somebody takes you by the hand showing you the hidden places of his home town. That’s what happened to me when I was invited to Umbria, the heart of Italy.
I’m Italian. I live in Italy and I know where Umbria is, but actually never thought of going there. I’ve been many times to Tuscany. So, I was expecting a similar experience. After all, Tuscany and Umbria are neighbours.
All wrong.
Umbria is unlike anywhere else. And by the way, never ever compare Umbria to Tuscany. The Umbrian get very angry about that. And I do understand that now.
The most popular destinations in Umbria are Assisi, a world famous Christian pilgrim site and Perugia, famous for its recent criminal history (see the murder of Meredith Kercher). But is there anywhere else in Umbria you should know about?
Personally, I’ve never heard about Spello. From the highway, it looked pretty similar to many other old villages I’ve passed. I mean, Italy is full of them.
However, there were three things that impressed me most about Spello.
Firstly, entering the city from one of the incredibly well preserved, three roman stone archeways really brings you back in time. Fascinating.
Secondly, having a chat with the locals. Spello is a medieval town with many grey stone buildings. Old and alive: more than 8.500 people live here, I’ve been told, representing the soul of Spello. Warmly welcoming soul. From a few “buonasera” greetings and I was quickly involved in a chat with a father and his kids. The bulletin board at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore is a great testimonial for the community in the area- displaying news about marriages, baptism and catechism. Spello teems with life.
Thirdly, having dinner on the terrace of il Ristorante La Bastiglia. It’s a place with a great view of Spello’s backyard. The restaurant serves a modern interpretation of Umbrian traditional cuisine. That’s where I discovered one of my favourite red wines ever: the Sagrantino di Montefalco.
After Spello, I’ve visited more fascinating places like Gubbio, Perugia and Spoleto. Only the time factor prevented me from more extensive tours. I would have loved to have visited Bevagna, a place voted ‘the most fascinating village of hidden Italy’ by I Borghi più Belli d’Italia.
But my next stop wasn’t so bad. For wine lovers, it’s a must. Wine tasting at Arnaldo Caprai Winery in Montefalco. Exactly, that’s where the red wine I drank and loved so much – Sagrantino di Montefalco – comes from.
I will talk more about this in my next post about Umbria.
About the Author:
Michele Aggiato is passionate about human relations, travel and food. You can find him tweeting in Italian, English and German on twitter and on his blog http://micheleaggiato.tumblr.com.
Spello is definitely amazing, especially when the olives are harvested and you get to try the fresh olive oil directly from the producers on grilled bread! For me Spello is the embodiment of the Umbrian hill town. It’s just perfect in that regard.
Spoleto I also love. The Ponte delle Torri is just awesome at night. You should visit Gubbio on 15 May for the Festa dei Ceri, it’s just wild and amazing, the eugubini are just nuts.
And who can say no to a bottle of Sagrantino di Montefalco? Though if you’re on a budget the Rosso di Montefalco is definitely a good substitute!
Ah, memories of life in the fotlhiols of Piemonte, because of this article now I probably know the reason my aunt told me to pick the wild field greens only as the sun was coming up. The people in her hamlet called wild salad greens either insalata Francese (French salad) or salatamatta, insalata matta, meaning crazy/mad salad, I don’t know the reason behind that name but I sure like it Actually it might be because there is a crazy mix of different greens? Don’t know. Thank you for the article!
I love the sound of Spello. And I couldn’t agree more that having a local take you round a place gives you the best ever experience – even better when people are up for chatting. Makes you feel you’re part of it, rather than a gauche tourist.
Thanks Stefan and Laura for your comments. Agree the Festa dei Ceri in Gubbio is a must, incredible event. I hope to come up shortly with the second post about the wine testing experience at Caprai Winery in Montefalco. Viva il Sagrantino
!
io vivo a ca stiglione del lago e te lo cisgonlio veramente, ma anche norcia, spoleto, perugia, gubbio, assisi, e se te piace la bicicletta, partendo dall’ex aereoporto di castiglione puoi fare il giro di tt il lago, passando per la pista ciclabile e per i paesi. io questa estate l’ho fatto con i miei amici, ed c3a8 uno spettacolo. cmq la classifica: castiglione, cittc3a0 di castello, assisi, norcia, cascia, spoleto gubbio, cittc3a0 della pieve, perugia e tt le altre