Hike - Day one - May 25, Monday; Spoleto, Hotel Clitunno Today's daily itinerary states: We recommend you arrive in Spoleto by train. After your arrival, you have time to explore the town, one of Umbria's finest hilltop towns. The focal point is the fan-shaped Piazza del Duomo, site of the magnificent 12th century cathedral, with a superlative fresco cycle by Fra Fillipo Lipi. Other important monuments that you should not miss include the Roman theatre, the 14th century aqueduct and the Romanesque church of Saint Eufemia. We arrived at our next hotel, Hotel Clitunno, in Spoleto and [View Full Entry]

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Jeff and I had to switch trains to go to Assisi. Once again, we had to ride a bus into the town of Assisi. Fortunately, our hotel, Hotel Berti, was located just inside the city walls. We got into our room and since no one was there yet we decided to walk up the hill to the Basilica of St. Francesco. Jeff and I walked all around the Basilica and viewed the lower church as well as the upper church as well as the tombs below where St. Francis is entombed. The entire Basilica was covered with frescoes and all types [View Full Entry]

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The bus dropped us off at the main Piazza Quaranta Martiri in Gubbio. I had directions on how to get to our hotel. We walked up a very steep, cobblestoned, road that was only wide enough for one small car. We came upon a small store that sold various important sundries and we made our first purchase of wine. Jeff wanted to buy local and so we purchased a couple bottles of red wine grown in the region. They each cost around 3 to 5 euros. We were thrilled. We also purchased some local cheese that had the regions famous black [View Full Entry]

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On Wednesday, May 20, 2009, I left my home in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to fly to Rome, Italy, to meet up with five other friends. We had contracted a Self-Guided tour using Girosole to hike 7 days/6 nights in Umbria. In using the tour company, they made all of our hotel reservations and provided us with maps and detailed instructions for each days hike. Each morning we would deposit our luggage downstairs at the front desk and then proceed on our hike only carrying a daypack. The tour company would pick up our luggage and transfer it to our next hotel. [View Full Entry]

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