Puglia to Emilia-Romagna (via Molise, Abruzzo, Le Marche and Umbria)

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This is the fourth ‘episode’ of another of 'our' travel experiences.

The collective ‘episodes’ (this being the fourth) describe our journey from our arrival in London, England (from the 2nd week of May) for an extended holiday primarily in Italy. After 9 days in London, we flew to Rome to begin a short visit to that city before hiring a car and deciding to point it in the direction of Naples. Since, we've ventured into the countryside and this 'episode' describes our journey from the province of Puglia to Emilia-Romagna, via the provinces of Molise, Abruzzo, Le Marche and Umbria. Eventually, we'll find our way back to Rome to depart for home.





We've attached a few pics that give you a flavour of our journey, and some may 'flow over' past the dialogue. If we do this, you may need to manually go to the 'spillover' page to see them.



As always, if you want to 'see' more detail in an accompanying picture, click it to enlarge.

Monday 6th June; to Monte Sant'Angelo...

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We left Locorotondo and headed south. The previous day we'd forgotten our 'mud map' and driven north to the Adriatic and look at Bari. Our 'mud map' had us go about an hour plus south and explore Lecce. Given the glowing reports of Lecce, we felt we'd just HAVE to add the extra miles and take it in. Was it worth the extra hours onto today's 'drive'? Yes, very much so.



The drive to Lecce largely follows the motorway (once on it) and should have been uneventful. However, leaving Locorotondo, the local road was closed for repairs, and a VERY minor road was the deviation. All the way along there just wasn't enough space for 2 cars to pass so it was slow going. But's not atypical in the region. But, driving around a bend came a driver flying along (for that section of road). BANG!! The driver smashed the drivers side wing mirror. She was prepared to continue but we reversed and she stopped. Once out, she emerged in a happy state. Don't know if it was something in the food, air, smoke, or this was a normal event. Not happy Emilia!



Continuing on, we arrived in Lecce so easily we were surprised. The address we'd put into the satnav was for the Centro Storica (old city) and as modernity had taken the financial centre elsewhere, the traffic build-up was also going elsewhere (not that we minded). The referrals were correct, what an amazing city. Clean, well preserved, and relatively easy to navigate (on foot). Perhaps the most surprising for us was the near universal Baroque representation in the buildings. A couple of the Basilica's were especially ornate. The exterior facade of Basilica di Santa Croce is 'crazy' - 'decorated' by brothers Antonio & Guiseppe Zimbalo. Oddly, the interior is conventional renaissance. Why? We don't have a clue. Piazza del Duomo is also a major attraction. It's really a quadrangle (of sorts) with a 12th century cathedral (but 'tarted up' in Baroque style) on one side, a seminary building on another and a palace on another (Palazzo Vescoville ). Within the Centro Storica a Roman amphitheatre had been excavated. Now it is used for concerts and entertainment. We liked that, as so often these 'exhibits' sit as they always have, but are used only for tourists to gawk at.



There is a 16th century castle within that we went to visit, but it was closed. It had been hired for the week. Oh, well, tough luck!!!!



Back on the road north, we enjoyed the highway 'scenery'. Each side of the 4 lane road had been plated with Oleanders. They were currently in flower and the bushes colours ranged in varying degrees from dark cerise to off-white. As the landscape was generally flat, and either vacant land or Olive groves, the Oleanders provided an enjoyable vista. Apparently Puglia provides some 40% of Italy's Olive Oil! And, about 20% of the wine grapes for the country. Of the latter, we were quite surprised to see so many grape orchards with plastic covering. While obviously temporary, that so many were doing so suggests either the grapes 'needed' to be retarded from the early summer sun, or hail storm damage was of concern. We didn't speak enough Italian to understand which (if either).



As we were heading to the Gargano peninsular we tracked past Brindisi as we had little time to venture in. Onwards we went, passing Bari. We couldn't bypass Trani as Lonely Planet described it glowingly. Mmmm. Here is a tourist town! Sort of like Byron Bay in that the focus was not of tourists intermingling with locals, rather, locals servicing tourists. That said, it was a pretty town. We learned that Trani was the port used by many Crusaders as they departed Italy for (modern day) Isreal. Little is left of those reminders - being destroyed by Sarecens. Trani also had a flourishing Jewish community - an irony given the crusading Christian treatment of Jews in (now) Lebanob. As the temperature was rising, we dipped our toes into the Adriatic Sea only to find the water had yet to match anything like the daytime temperature.



We continued on towards our destination on the Gargano peninsular; Monte Sant'Angelo. Not knowing the size of supermarket facilities in Monte Sant'Angelo, we did a bit if grocery shopping at Manfredonia. The town was built in the 13th century by King Manfred and named after him. Being nice, it's a backwater at best.



From the turnoff on the coast hugging road, we continued on to drive the 30 something hairpin bends up the range. Monte Sant'Angelo is some 800m above sea level and some 15 kilometres from the coastal highway. For us, the road just kept rising and rising and rising. We selected Monte Sant'Angelo as a base to explore the peninsular - especially the highly regarded national park. When booking, we had no idea of the religious history associated with the town.

Tuesday 7th June; to Gargano peninsular...

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Sitting atop the town of Monte Sant'Angelo is an old Norman castle (fort?) and the Sanctuary of Saint Micheal the Archangel (church). While only the castle walls remain, we pondered at the 'domain' of the Normandy peoples; Britain, France, Italy, where else? The castle is said to have a ghost who/which appears infrequently. The 'church' is only the entry and belltower as the actual church is deep down the side of the mountain in a cave. The story is that the archangel St Micheal appeared here in about 490 AD and re-appeared a couple of times later. A church was built on the current site by (or in the era of, we can never tell) Charles 1st of Anjou in the 13th century. Apparently, few Popes have missed coming to pay their respects here. We arrived at the church early am and descended the multiple flights of stairs to the cave 'chapel' to find a service had just started. Judy found pleasure in the service, despite being in Italian. The fact of the service made for a peaceful and pleasurable ambience.



We continued our (day's) journey by heading down from the mountain into a valley before heading up the other side to a forested area. This was the entry into Gargano National Park and 'Forest Umbra', one of the targets for the day. The term 'Umbra' reflects the umbrella type canopy. We learned that the 20 hectare centre of the forest has never been logged and is said to not also ever been inhabited. Hence, it is a climax forest. Wiki notes it is the last remaining part in Italy of the 'montane forest' that once covered temperate Europe. We parked the car and went for a hike. The species we encountered were of Oak, Beech, Pine, Maples, and others we didn't know. We read the area is also home to native species of orchids, anemones, violets and cyclamens. Sadly, it was either too early or too late to see any. With no one else around, it was a magical peace that enveloped us. We walked for ages on last years autumnal carpet.



Having our 'fill' of fresh mountain air, we again descended towards the coast to the regional 'city' town of Vieste. Lonely Planet waxes lyrical about Vieste so we had high expectations. Sadly, our expectations were dashed. If one removes the touristy bits, the town is a functional regional centre for a limited regional population. It was the touristy bits that irked. As the Italian 'summer' holidays were some weeks away, these facilities were closed. Thus, it was like a busy centre spread throughout a ghost town. The nearby beaches were also raved over. YUK. Either the beaches had been privatised with costly entry and umbrella's deck chairs, or the 'free' areas were so filled with rubbish not to be attractive. Following the road from Vieste northwards around the peninsular, very few beach areas were not fenced off. We Australians should count ourselves very lucky that our forefathers reserved the beach-scapes for all. And, despite some rubbish evident in popular spots, we mainly pick up after ourselves.



Continuing around the peninsular north-westwards, we arrived at Peschici. Here was an exception to the above. The quaint little white pained town overlooking a harbour had cleanish beaches. With the afternoon sun warming us after our 'exercise', we parked the car under a shady tree and took a 'Nanna' nap (a little nap). We continued on westwards taking in the scenery and return to Monte Sant'Angelo via the forested national park road.

Wednesday 8th June; to the Appenines...

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We'd read that the province of Abruzzo was a little 'special'. More relaxed, more artisan, and more community than the typical tourist destinations. It was also the heart of Appenine mountain country. Specifically, the Parco Nazionale della Majella (or Majelle National Park) is centred around Mt Majella - reputed to be the 'mother mountain' of the central Appenines. We later learned that 'mother mountain' referred to the seat of seismic activity; earthquakes are a regular occurence in Italy and this region especially. We'd booked ourselves into a period villa at Sulmona for a couple of days.



By motorway, Monte Sant'Angelo to Sulmona is only a couple of hours. But, we wanted to see more along the way and took an alternate route through the Molise region. First, though, Judy wanted to visit San Giovanni Rotondo (a few kilometres up the road), the centre for Padre Pio, a friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic now venerated by the Catholic Church. He was both beatified (1999) and canonized (2002) by Pope John Paul II. Judy was very moved by the centre. Bruce noted reports indicating some 9 million faithful visit each year, looked around at the constructed facilities and recognised the wealth being generated. Bruce also noted the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church that holds 6500 seated inside and 30,000 in the forecourt. Apparently it is well attended. Judy calls Bruce a heartless cynic.



Moving on, we dropped down off the Gargano plateau onto the plain and into San Severo before heading to Lucera. The plain was wide and flat and grain dominated the agriculture. Lucera had a few interesting 'lookables' so we had a delightful lunch and a quick squiz around. The temperature at Lucera when we left was 31 (it had been 17 when we left Monte Sant'Angelo) so we appreciated the aircon. We headed into rolling hills and what appeared to be an economically poorish region. It has two 'provincial centres - Campobasso and Isernia - and we tracked through both. Campobasso (the first we 'met') is at about 800m so the temperature reduced to a 'nice' 24. The satnav took us on some 'interesting' routes and whether a longer freeway would have been easier to drive, the route was very scenic. What has been surprising us is not only the number of wind turbines (perhaps even more than Spain) but the amount of solar voltiaic panels. So many farmers have installed (or had someone install) large arrays of solar panels on their land. They typically placed them on what appeared marginal land - that is, steep, or stony, or over watercourses, etc.. Given the size of the arrays, we assumed they were feeding into the electricity grid.



After Isernia, we moved into the Ibruzzia province and found our way to Sulmona and our 'period villa' to find it was an 18th century 2 story building (somewhat in need of repair).

Thursday 9th June; to the mountains ???

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We'd planned to go visit the tops of the central Appenines, but... As was the tradition, the 'period villa' had fully closable window shutters (not curtains) and when closed, no light comes in. Though we'd been awakening after dawn at around 6-ish, today we didn't. The most comfortable bed coupled to no dawn light witnessed a late awakening. Maybe we'd been pushing it and needed to sleep in - well, that's OUR story. By the time we'd gotten ready to do 'something', the sky looked decidedly gloomy.



Recognising the mountains were out of the question, we pondered our 'opportunities'. We decided to go do a bit of shopping, look for a new 'mouse' as ours had karked it, and go look at some local 'attractions'. We'd not been out an hour when down she came! And, we mean DOWN! Accompanied by plenty of thunder, the storm rain covered the streets with inches of water. With 1pm close time (siesta time), we headed back to the 'period villa' to do 'stuff'.



The rain departed about 3-ish and we headed to the local village Popoli some 15 km away. We'd read it had a 14th century dwelling with a facade that hadn't been altered over time. Once in the 'centro' (centre) we found a village with buildings that appeared not to have adapted to the 20th century. Of course they had running water, electricity and sewerage! But it was the external appearances that gave us the impression. The narrow cobblestone streets, even narrower mossy laneways, and quietude that evoked this sentiment. The local church (Chiesa in italian) presented with a very rustic exterior facade. However, on the inside it had had a 1990's makeover and was light and airy. We've encountered many of these contrasts in our journey. In some respects, this is Italy. Just when one thinks they've got things 'sussed out', contradictions pop up. We found the Taverna Ducale with the 14th century exterior. It is now a museum and open till 1pm. Apparently it was built for some Dukes' wife (hence the name Ducale) to deal with social issues. Over time it became abandoned and gained a renewed life as a tavern. It fell into disrepair and was refurbished as a museum. That the exterior is extant is a reminder of the need for community investment in 'history'. Sadly, while we could see the exterior, scaffolding from the repair of a property on the other side of the street prevented a decent pic. That's life!

Friday 10th June; to the mountains...

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The weather report for Sulmona was 90% chance of showers. But, we also recognised by recent experience that the day starts sunny and storms move in later. Depending on several variables, the storms can appear anytime from 10am through to 4 or 5pm. We gambled that today would be OK in the morn so unlike yesterday got up at 6am and headed out at about 7am. Success, brilliant sunshine!



Our target was the slopes of Mt Majella. But, to get there required a steep drive through gorgeous countryside. At the first 'mountain' village (Pacentro), we snaked along the ridgeback with dwellings on each side. At the top of the village, we came across another a Norman Castle. This had been restored (somewhat) as a tourist destination but sadly it was too early for anyone to have opened the access gates. A bit further along the windy switchback road a sign on the 'other' side of the road stated "Strada Chiusa". We sussed it had a meaning but headed on. Later, when we'd stopped to view a scene we looked at the translation and it meant 'Road Closed'. While the road was dodgy in places, we had yet to see anything that would close it. We hunched from the several concrete block winter closure 'gates' we'd passed that it was a leftover from winter when the road was REALLY closed. We continued onwards (and upwards) to the Passo San Leonardo where a small hotel was located. To this point, we'd encountered a treed landscape but now it changed to grassy slopes - ideal for cross country skiing. Surprisingly, the hotel had many guests, some of whom were strolling the fields with baskets and what appeared to be walking sticks. but they weren't the usual stick. We didn't stop and ask, but assumed they were seeking some form of food.



A little further on we turned off the narrow road and headed along a track for Lama Bianca - in English 'white blade'. After 'arriving' at the end of the track, we understood the name to mean 'meeting of white rocks'. The track we followed entered a beautiful Beech forest and the canopy converged over the track. Unlike the Forest Umbra a couple of days ago, this was an almost monospecies forest - predominantly Beech's. That said, the carpet of autumnal leaves was similar. After a while, we saw the starting point for several walking trails we'd read about. We stopped the car and entered one of the trails. We noticed the Beech trees had green leaves at the end of the branches, but most had turned brown. We wondered whether it was the leftover from last Autumn. We deduced no as the snow would have ensured they dropped. That there were the telltale signs of recent emergence alongside the leaf bracts, we surmised they had endured drought. We hadn't read/heard of any major drought so in the end, we could only hunch. We continued on and walked through the forest for nearly an hour before returning back. Along the walk we were fascinated by the patches of wildflowers where the Beech canopy opened to the sky. Beside the typical wildflowers - many of which we'd not ever seen but were somewhat like what we'd see in Australia - we encountered small hooded Orchids and Cyclamens.



The sky was closing over as we returned to the car. We headed further up the track to eventually be met by a rockslide preventing further access. We stopped, got out and discovered the track actually ended some 100 metres in front. This was the 'base' from which walkers could hike to Mt Majella summit. In the misting cloud, we could at times see above that we were at the apex of several scree slides. The rocks forming the scree were limestone and so presented as 'white', though in reality various shades of grey. But, from afar, the slides could look like a 'meeting of white rocks' - hence the Italian Lama Bianca. By now, the forest had departed and snow grasses covered the terrain. Amongst the grasses and rocks we discovered many beautiful wildflowers. The ones that really took our attention(aside from those with magical perfume) were the native Viola's. Often wedged between rocks, their colour was stunningly beautiful.



We made our way downwards and once back on the narrow road, took a turn to the village of Roccacaramanico. What, why and how this snowline village existed was far beyond any reason. Completely stone buildings (walls, roofs, fences, etc.) were well designed for the elements. We parked the car and a villager suddenly appeared and opened the taverna. Judy had a coffee, Bruce a beer and we marvelled at the vista towards (now obscured by cloud, but sometimes fleeting glimpses) Mt Majella. We met a Sunshine Coast couple and yarned for a while before heading back to Sulmona along precipice type tracks (roads) and tunnels. The rain set in as we arrived at Sulmona and though we'd have liked to explore more, we had no regrets.

Saturday 11th June; to Umbria...

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We were headed north to Cannara which is very close to Assisi - a place Judy had long wanted to visit. Cannara is near the Umbrian province capital of Perugia. The journey was only a couple of hours by freeway, but we'd read the region had endured (suffered?) an earthquake in 2009 and the towns (cities?) along our route had not only been badly affected but also lost much of their urban icons. We decided to continue the 'natural' agenda and deviate from Spoleto (on the freeway route) and visit Norcia.



As we left Sulmona, the sky was clear and delightfully inviting. It made us a little glum that we'd experienced less than enticing weather the previous couple of days. But, having no control over the weather, we have to just enjoy what the day brings. The motorway drive was uneventful - other than the E motorways (the best class) are tolled and expensive. But, as we learnt after Rome, the alternative is less than appreciated.



We stopped off at Spoleto to have a bite, and found a most delightful town. There wasn't anything special in the sense of an entry in Lonely Planet (or similar). Rather, it was clean, had a pedestrianised old centre (which city doesn't?) and was friendly in a way that we'd not often experienced. Maybe because it's not on the tourist trail that enabled the town folk to be 'human'.



We headed east and quickly entered a steep sided valley with a small fast flowing brook (Sordo River). At one point we stopped and wet our toes in the very cold water. The 'smoothed' river pebbles of marble and sandstone were quite hard on our now 'soft' feet. At home we spend time shoeless, here we were spending all our time in shoes or sandals. We continued on to Norcia to find a quite tourist village. It's the sort of place that has few locals, but a big number of shops catering for day trippers. A sort of Mt Tamborine / Marysville / Camden / wherever. That said, it was surprisingly quaint. Apparently there is a large wild boar industry here as a goodly number of shops dealt with the spoils such as prosciutto, salami, sausages and various salumi (cold cuts of ham). We deduced that this was an important drawcard. We also discovered that Saints Benedict and Scholastica are buried here. We appreciated that their burial crypts looked 'original' (if that's possible) in that they hadn't been tarted up over the past few centuries.



We took our leave and headed over the hills (back way) to Cannara. Being a little earlier than anticipated to arrive at our booked lodgings, we headed for nearby Foligno for some supermarket provisions. Unfortunately, a tyre cut 'popped' and the car needed repairs. Stupidly, the Nissan has no spare - just a pump and a bottle of liquid 'gunk'. We tried the roadside 'repair' but the cut was too large. After a few telephone calls, the car was towed away leaving us stranded. The owner of the Airbnb lodgings was very kind and came and picked us (and our gear) up. Our accommodation is out of the tiny village of Cannara, on a farm with goats, dogs, cats, geese, chooks, and enough fruit and olive trees to feed multiple families.



Through broken English and hand signs, we understood that the tyre will be prepared. But, as Italy closes on Sundays, it won't be until Monday!!!

Sunday 12th June; carless...

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Upon awakening Judy announced that it is a blessing to be without a car for the day. At least it will allow us to relax and go slow!!!! Bruce responded with mmmmmmmmmm!!!!! Bruce delved onto the internet and discovered a well regarded restaurant in Cannara. We decided to go have a looksee in case. In spite of the threatening sky, the walk along country laneways was delightful. We learned that St Francis (of Assisi) 'spoke to the birds' here. The spot attributed to the event is not far from where we are staying. On our return from Cannara, Judy was reflecting on the marker for that event when a gaggle of geese came towards here. She spoke to the man caring for the geese and they had a 'chat' (each not knowing what the other was saying), but the experience gave her much joy.



The restaurant turned out to be great. The food was 'typical' Umbrian and the Maitre'd appeared to take a liking to us as he made sure we were made welcome, not only with conversation but also later when 'sampling' desert wines. On departure, we could see a storm brewing. The only question was whether we'd beat the rain before arriving at our apartment. We did! For a day without a car, it was certainly a delightful and unplanned experience.

Monday 13th June; xxxxxx...

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The car was supposed to be ready at 10am. The owner of the accommodation was going past at about 10 so offered a lift which was greatly appreciated. Upon leaving, her car had a flat battery and within 20 minutes she had organised the local mechanic to replace it and we were on our way. Arriving at 10:30 to the car found nothing had occurred. One of the staff begrudgingly responded to Bruce's request for information indicating he wanted 200 Euro to organise a tyre. Bruce wasn't appreciative and the employee bailed out with 'wait boss'.



The tow truck driver who'd been so good on Saturday returned but things didn't get better. By now, Bruce had had a gutfull so called the 'emergency assistance' people he'd used on Saturday as they could speak English. Over the course of the next hour the 'situation' became - the car won't be moved until Avis approves a tyre, and a call to Avis was 'we don't have the car here so we can't make a decision'. And, the Avis staff member wouldn't authorise the car to be taken to the Spoleto (some 1/2 hour away) because they couldn't 'see' the problem.



Guess what happened next?



Yes, it was 1pm - siesta time and everything closes down.



Bruce 'communicated' with the towie that he'd walk to a supermarket (for some lunch). After walking for a short distance - beep beep - the towie wanted Bruce to go with him. Bruce was 'deposited' at a supermarket in nearby Spello. The walk back eradicated any calories consumed over lunch.



At 4pm when they aroused from their slumber, the circus started again.



The car eventually got taken to Avis and they offered a tiny car instead. Bruce did an Italian 'job' and remonstrated that it was impossible to drive without a satnav. Bruce doesn't know why, but a man came into the Avis office and said "we cannot replace your tyre with the sort that Avis will approve as there are none nearby. But, I have went and got this old 2nd hand tyre which if you put on you can continue driving but I cannot get it done it would be against Avis policy". More acting and the man got his mechanics to put the 2nd hand tyre on. Bruce departed Avis at 8pm!!!



Judy, on the other hand, had a wonderful day. The sun was shining nicely, the rural air laden with butterflies and wonderful scents, and with a good book she enjoyed the lovely rural peace.

Tuesday 14th June; Ravenna via Assisi and San Merino...

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Having 'lost' our time to wander around Assisi - the primary reason for staying at Cannara - we arose early to try and maximise our visit to the 'home' of St Francis. Cannara and the surrounding area is on a large flat plain. Assisi is a village on the side of (at 450m), and climbing up, Monte Subasio (at 1300m). Built using local limestone, it is visible from a great distance away. St Francis is one of the most venerated figures of the Catholic church community. For Judy, St Francis is one of her two primary religious icons. Thus, the visit to Assisi was always going to be an important part of our journey in Italy.



The streets of Assisi reflect the urban design of St Francis' 12th century presence. With more than 5 million visitors annually to this 'sacred' place, parking is at a premium (unless one pays for a space in an underground carpark). More by luck than good management, we were able to find a park 'around the back'. The walk through the walled entry gate gave a great 'feel' as we made our way down the street to Basilica San Francesco. Upon entry, we found the interior of the Basilica elaborate with stunning fresco's on the walls. We thought we'd seen all there was to see (aside from the tomb of St Frances), but what we didn't know was that the Basilica comprises two levels; the upper and lower Basilica.



Though roughly the same size, the lower Basilica was more intimate. Judy felt it drew one into the spirit of St Francis. The decorations were equally stunning, but while earthier in colour were more 'warming'. As Judy observed, it was almost like going into the womb of the church.



Below the lower Basilica was another large sanctuary, holding the crypt of St Frances. Here, the decoration was more muted.



The founding stone of the lower basilica was laid in 1228 by Pope Gregory IX - two years after St Francis's death - which speaks volumes about the reverence held at the time for him. We couldn't understand why the upper basilica was undertaken over the lower, but both were consecrated in 1253. Today, the Basilica structure comprises only a very small part of the overall Francescan Friary.



Had we had a day in Assisi (as we'd planned) we'd have visited several other sites of interest. However, with limited time we headed to nearby San Damiano. San Damiano is critical in the Francescan history for two reasons. First, St Frances saw the wall mounted crucifix of Christ in San Damiano come alive and say to him "Frances, don't you see my house is crumbling'. Second, Frances came to believe this message meant that both, the physical church (initially of San Damiano, but later all churches) neede to be in good repair, but also the work of Christ needed to be concentrated not on the partriarchial structure but on the provision of services to those deserving of Christ's love (ie. the poor). It was here that St Frances repaired this church and enabled (follower) Clare to provide a sanctuary for the poor. The story of St Francis is not complete without also the story of St Clare (nor hers without him). Theirs was a love story - not of the romantic kind, but a platonic love story conjoined in their love of God. We learned that Clare became a devotee of Frances at the tender age of 18. Dante in his Divine Comedy paints St Frances as the 'orient' (meaning 'rising sun') and Clare as the 'pianticella' or little planet. Interestingly, we also learned that February 14th has long been the date that Francescan's celebrate the 'love' between Francesco and Clare.



For us, the journey 'into' San Damiano was unlike any we'd undertaken before. Instead of a majestic display, the 12th century buildings are rustic in and out. The ambience reflected the humble nature that was St Clare. Unlike other religious icons we'd visited, there was a numbered 'tour' through the various buildings. Each 'number' held an interesting historical story. For us, this is the 'stuff' of castle 'museums', not churches. Nevertheless, we appreciated learning about the building and St Clare in this manner. As we departed, some Nuns were in an 'off limits' room singing canticles. It was a sheer delight to witness.



Unlike the 'scene' in San Giovanni Rotondo where Padre Pio's followers have created a vast commercial enterprise, the Francescan's of Assisi have taken a very low key approach. Over 800 years, the Francescan's have developed a large religious physical (and spiritual) presence in Assisi, but it doesn't overtake the ambience of the town. Instead, it supplements it. This was one place where we lamented we didn't have enough time to further explore.



We'd (pre)booked accommodation at Ravenna and on the drive wanted to visit San Marino. Though the motorway route would have taken about 2/12 hours, somehow our Nissan satnav (again) stuffed up the journey. We later learnt that it didn't have San Marino in the database. The Republic of San Marino is an enclaved microstate adjacent to the east coast of Italy. We couldn't get a 'listing' on the satnav for any San Marino town, so used a nearby village. Having not been in the region before, we thought the satnav was 'onto it'. Sadly it wasn't. The satnav 'took' us through some wonderful countryside, but at an average speed of around 30kph we were confronted with chasing time and being 'wowed' by the scenery.



Looking at Googlemaps, we could see by driving towards the coastal city of Anconia we could 'connect' with the freeway/motorway network. After a while, the satnav stopped telling us to "make a U turn", etc., and 'liked' where we were travelling by remaining silent. We also departed the spaghetti roads twisting over the rugged terrain and joined a motorway that went through the mountains. eft Assisi in sunshine but as we sped towards Anconia, we could see storm clouds building up fast. Close to the coast at Anconia, the skies opened. At one stage we slowed from 130kph down to 40kph due to the torrential downpour. To 'solve' the problem, we stopped for lunch.



When a child, Bruce had read about San Marino in one of the family National Geographic's. Ever since, the tiny state has been on his bucket list. With the storm passing, but the sky still threatening, we headed north and then west. We were heartened when we saw the occasional sign pointing to San Marino. Italian signage is unlike Australia. If lucky, there may be a sign. Whether it is pointing in the right direction is anybodies guess. After a while the satnav took us on lesser and lesser roads. Out with the googlemaps to find our way back to the only road into the tine state. Along the back roads way to the 'main' road, we noted the rifting from earthquake activity. All around the Appenines the back roads had evidence of minor rifting (parts dropping), but this was severe. It seems the local 'authorities' had only money to put clay on the edge of a rift to enable vehicles to 'get up' the rift. This was turning out to be an odd drive.



Eventually we got onto the 'right' road and drove into San Marino. Like so many other 'Centro Storica' (old town centre) it was walled. We found a place to park the car and walked in. We could see the place was also a tourist town - the main (modern) centre being further back down the ridge. While the place is quaint - especially, the city 'guards' with resplendent uniforms - we could see another storm coming in so kept our visit short. Our reading suggested there were more impressive historical attributes elsewhere (in Italy). Given the day's driving, it was more a 'tick off the bucket list' than explore. And, we still had to get to Ravenna - supposedly about an hour away, but we no longer had surety with the satnav.



We headed down the ridge, filled up with a coffee and cheap fuel for the car and headed towards the freeway. Again the satnav took us down little lanes we'd not normally venture, but eventually we got onto the motorway. It was with relief that we eventually arrived at Ravenna.

Reflections

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Those that read our last 'travelblog' will know that aspects of Italy have challenged us. Aspects of this 'travelblog' experience indicate we are still being challenged. If our journey was all about us, then we may whinge about what we dislike. But, it's not all about us. It's also those with whom we come in contact. Put an Italian behind the wheel of a car and lunacy emerges - especially around Naples. But, once out of the car, we've enjoyed some wonderful exchanges with really friendly people. Maybe because we are obviously tourists, there's no point in not being nice. But, on reflection, the warm hearted Italian people have made our trip so far a largely wonderful experience.



The first two Italian 'travelblogs' on this journey were about the urban. Here, we changed direction and focused mainly on the rural and natural. We feel more at 'home' outside of cities so have really enjoyed the past few days. The Umbra Forest on the Gargano peninsular was a stand out. To be able to experience an untouched section of the type of forest that covered much of western Europe was profound. perhaps the most riveting aspect of that experience was to stand still, look around and wonder how the hunter-gatherer humans could make a comfortable life. The canopy is dense, hence light (and warmth) minimal. While there is plenty of fuel for fires, back then the capacity to fell trees with stone axes was almost negligible. It does make the mind wonder.



For Judy, there were two 'outstanding' moments. First, the (unscheduled) time at Cannara allowed time to 'smell the roses' in a delightful rural setting on a wonderfully warm bucolic day. the second was the visit to Assisi.





For Bruce? On reflection coping with the madness that is Italian drivers / highways/ road surfaces / signs / etc. AND not going mental over Italian junior 'bureaucratic' decision-making.





Cheers

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