I woke up and finished Bella Tuscany, wrote a while and headed out for a morning run at about 8. I decided to see what I could see of the Trasimeno battlefied and the sights that were promised form the signage on the main road. I ran all the way out into the field area and found one of the markers and then headed back past the campo sportive and found the Roman Column. Oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh. I made it back before nine and we were all at breakfast by 9:30.
Puntana!
We all sat around the breakfast and had a great conversation about out kids and the youth ministry and did not leave Capricci until 11. We decided to head up to Gubbio for the day. Gary had asked the owner Andrea for directions and she said it would take about 50 minutes to get there. We headed out on the main road and as Andrea’s directions took the exit at Mantignana then headed up toward Pierantonio. We thought we could be lost a couple of times as the signs were few and far between but we figured we could always go to Umbertide and figure it out from there. There were a whole lot of trucks on the road, three sometimes four at a time. Then we saw the first one. She was sitting in a chair with a green umbrella. A woman sitting next to a busy road country road? I immediately remembered what I had read in Bella Tuscany. Francis had told a story about seeing women sitting all along a road. The ones she describes were black, from somewhere in Africa, and had been forced to become some kind of sex slaves. I didn’t see her that closely but Gary said the one we had seen was definitely black. I explained to everyone in the car what I had read and what I guess she was, but nobody (especially Peggy) quite believed that was what she was. In just another couple of minutes there was another one. What was the probability? Then three were two more standing by the side of the road who looed like hookers. By the time we got off this stretch of road I think we had counted seven that we had seen. Later that evening we had asked Cristina one of our servers what they were and she smiled and immediately gave us the Italian name I had been looking for–puntana!
Gubbio
We got to Pierantonio and head up a main superstrada, but got off pretty quickly at the turn for Gubbio which was still 15K or so away. The terrain was pretty, but the big question was building: “Would Gubbio be anything?” I remember seeing stuff on it in the guidebooks, but I could not tell you a single thing except that I think it had a Roman theatre. The number of K on the signs on the side of the road was decreasing as the anticipation was rising. We even were able to tell each other the three things we liked best about Gubbio before we got there. 1. the main piazza; 2. the duomo, 3. the frescoes!
When we got into town after seeing the Gubbio sign we were feeling disappointment. It seemed more like Gubberbia. Nothing exciting at all. Then we made a left turn and there it was sprawled up that huge hill. It seeped like a mix of many amazingly different shapes and architectural styles. We all gasped and started cheering. Gubbio was definitely something! We passed the ruins of the Roman theatre. I had been right about that. WE then blazed into town and immediately foudn the parcheggio. I got in trouble from Christine when I used the WC with the door open (couldn’t figure out how to shut the door). We quickly sighted the tourist information place and got maps and a guidebook from a guy who called every man who spoke English “mister.” Armed with maps and info we headed up the hill and stopped at one church and then kept heading up to the main piazza stopping along the way at several cerimiches. Apparently the Gubbio area is also know for it’s ceramic majolica ware like Deruta.
We probably had looked in three or four shops when we came into an art gallery with a bunch of paintings by a man named Christiana (?) done on glass with exquisite scenes of Tuscany, Italy, Girasole, and red poppies. We all fell in love with both the pictures and the fabulous frames. WE found the price list and they were in the $400-$1,500 range. We stayed there for a long time–looking, pricing, deciding which ones we really liked the best. We walked out of the shop over to the piazza and I told Gary if Peggy didn’t follow us out of the shop in 30 seconds they were going to buy one. Thirty seconds passed and we still hadn’t seen them. We walked around a bit more and looked for stuff to see, but most everything was shut down for the midday break which here goes from about 1-3. We eventually decided to stop walking and have a bite of pranza. Little sandwiches, Fanta, water. This time, €10 per couple. He even threw in several bruschetta. It was a nice relaxing time.
We walked back up the hill to the painting shop and after much discussion they did not buy the big gorgeous one with only red poppies, but a smaller one with red poppies and a scene of Tuscany. The whole thing with shipping and insurance was c900. the perfect 30th anniversary remembrance. However, it was quickly evident Christine would have really liked one too but that the time just wasn’t right. Maybe one day. One of those long ones would have looked really good over the kitchen area.
Peggy was then on a mission to buy something with the Gubbio crest on it. The main symbol on the crest looks like a baseball mitt but I bet it must be a shell. On some of them there is a cute little smiley face. Not sure what part of the middle ages it represents. They looked, but Gary wasn’t really in to it so I think in reality they bought nothing for the boys with the crest on it. We retraced out steps back to the car and took picture by the WWI monument and then headed out of town to find an internet point. We never did find it and so decided just to head out of town to Perugia via a new route. WE were looking for puntana but only saw an empty chair next to a parked truck. Our eyes were peeled looking for the next one and we turned a corner and there she was sitting on a chair, quite big, old and not pretty. Ewwwwwwwww we all screamed. And then it was over.
I had asked Christine what was the percentage that she really wanted to shop for ceramics in Deruta and when she said absolutely zero, we quickly changed the plan and headed back to Capricci. WE did stop in a small town along the way to look for an Internet point and after talking with at least three people, one of whom acted like he had never heard of the internet, another thought we might find it in a fotografia shop and another swaid a guy down the street might let us use his, we 9ave up and returned to Tuoro. We knew there was a spot in the library/tourist office but when we tried in the morning it was being used. When we arrived, I jumped out only to find a guy on it but he said he would only be another 20 minutes. Gary had gone to park the car at Capricci and drop Peggy off, so Christine and I sat in the big comfortable couch in the lobby area. Gary came back and then went for a walk around town. But soon we were on and all was well. I checked some email and some of my accounts and it looks like the Euro is right around $1.36. Just about what I had thought. We made it back to the Capricci somewhere before 4 and 5. So there was still some good time for reading, napping and relaxation.
I met Gary down at the spa at about 6 and I got the new and improved dinner plan. He had talked to someone and found they had some interesting special so why don’t we just eat here on the last night and totally enjoy the evening. It sounded good especially because it meant Gary would not have to drive. I checked with Christine and she agreed although neither of us really were looking to eat that much.
When we sat down at a little after 7:30 Gary and Peggy were already there. Christine had to take a call from Rebecca about the property apparently some papers are going to have to be signed on Monday, but it does appear that the deal will be going through in October. The team was all there to take care of us Sergio with his cravat, Christine with the diamond in her tooth, and a new guy Piccollo Mauro who may be even shorter than Gary. We did finally determine that Livio IS the chef. So on Monday for lunch it was the chef who served us. It was much warmer and less windy than it had been on Tuesday night. We began with flutes of Prosecco and an amuse busch of ricotta and zuchinni rolled together. For the starter we had these amazing BAKED stuffed zucchini blossoms, then Christine and Peggy had a baked ravioli dish and I had the raviolo I had had at lunch on Monday. They got the order wrong and had to go back and make it I think. Livio sent out a dessert with his compliment. We also had a great Sangrantino from Montefalco, a great Umbrian wine.
The whole exchange with Christina when we asked her about the women on the side of the road and here immediate connection answer Puntana was an absoluter hoot. How fun it was to have such a great set of servers. They really made the plane unlike Stephano and Andrea who were really pretty weak at being innkeepers.
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