Umbrian food, music, peace and friends - a story in pictures

Expecting to stock up on fresh fruit and veggies at the Saturday morning market in Assisi, we were surprised to find it wasn’t on. No problemo! Di, Jan and Marg enjoyed finding supplies in the shops tucked in the back streets of Assisi.

 

 

Fascinated, we watched a Franciscan priest buying a litre of white wine in fruit and veg store, dispensed from a vat into a plastic bottle (1.80 euro for the wine – about $2.20 – and 60 euro cents for the bottle, which could be returned to be refilled). We had to try some, so lashed out and bought a litre of white and red. The white was drinkable, the red is only good for cooking - just.

 

Poor Win's leg was still terribly painful on Saturday, and Birgitta kindly offered to go to the ‘ospedale’with her. A helpful doctor allayed fears re heart problems and blood clots, and prescribed stronger pain killers. Dear Birgitta then drove several kilometres to Bastia to find a pharmacy open after hours, dropping them home after 8.30pm.

   

 

We booked tickets to see Chiara di Dio on Sunday afternoon, an enchanting musical which tells the story of St Clare in dialogue, dance and song. Clare was an amazing woman who’s devotion to God, example of service and love for Jesus continues to touch lives today. Win and Di saw the short version in 2008 and Marg has seen it many times. We invited Birgitta to join us, and she was as moved as we were by the beauty of the story and music.

Jan has seen the musical a few times so stayed home for some quiet time.

 

 

Monday we bought a thank-you gift for Birgitta in nearby Bastia, had a brief peek at the old town...



... then headed back to Santa Maria degli Angeli for a delicious lunch in a ristorante behind the imposing basilica.

The next day a brighter Win was ready for more activity so we drove to nearby Spello, a delightful little town which has fewer tourists and lots of lovely shops selling hand made goods such as woodwork, jewellery, paintings, linen and clothing. Jan and Win retired to a café with a panoramic view from the terrace to have coffee while Marg and Di spent time in one of the many churches in the town, revelling in its glorious frescoes.

They joined the other two then for ‘prodotti tipici’ (typical local produce) lunch on the terrace – cheeses with fig jam (also good with honey - try it!), cold meats and salad with ‘torto al testo’, a flat bread common in Umbria.

Hmm, we seem to mention food quite a lot, don’t we? Our clothes still fit so must be doing enough exercise to balance out the intake!

 Win and Di were leaving on the train for Rome and home on Wednesday afternoon, so Di and Marg squeezed in another early morning at the hermitage ...

....and then off to lunch at Birgitta and Piero's. A nice way to finish off their time in Assisi.