Spoleto

We’ve had beautiful weather so far this week – cold but clear with a bright sun and blue skies.  But we woke up this morning to overcast and light drizzle.  And a forecast that suggests the same for tomorrow.  Oh, well! It’ll make the farmers happy, as the saying goes.

Weather or no, we were off for Spoleto, which turned out to be rather stressful.  First, we thought we had found a parking place – well, we had! but the parking machine took coins only and guess what we were fresh out of?  I was about to try a nearby tabacci for change when a man came up to pay for his parking.  We asked if he could change a five euro note, he said no but gave us a 2 euro piece.  Wasn’t that nice?

We started off walking – up – in the direction we thought we wanted to go, but it was very up and very far. Also very cold.  We got as far as the tourist information place, and asked the nice lady for a map and information, both of which were helpful, but neither of which took care of the hill or the cold.

After a cup of tea we ended up driving back down to ground zero – at least I think that’s what we were doing, but our GPS had a mind of its own.  Driving these hill towns is NOT for the faint-of-heart! Eventually we found our way to the park place that leads to the escalator that takes one to the duomo or all the way to the top of the mountain for the castle and aqueduct.  At that point — and because clearly there would be no view today — Frank stayed in the car and I explored on my own.  At the top of the mountain – eight escalator rides up – the rain had turned to snow and I needed wipers for my glasses.  But the aqueduct was visible – sort of – in the fog, and I had a sense of completion.  At the duomo, I took a selfie and sang a few notes in the place where the Spoleto Festival takes place.  I had it all to myself! A quick peek inside the cathedral and I was ready to head back to the car and Frank and to warm up.

So Spoleto remains a misty place, and we really didn’t see much.  I’m glad I took a pix of the castle on our way into Umbria last Saturday, because it sure was fog-shrouded today!