Driving on the Via Flaminia we come to the fantastic ancient Roman hill town of Spoleto, our home for the next three days. The town has a castle and we are staying in a former palace-we are living in a fairytale!
Luke, Sara and I are driving North again on the Via Flaminia, following the road built over 2000 years ago by the Romans. Having had a late lunch in Narni we decided we better get going to our final destination of Spoleto before twilight since Spoleto was up in the mountains and there may be snow. The regional road SR3 took a sharp turn left at Terni (which is the birthplace of Saint Valentine) and headed North into the foothills of the snow-capped Apennine Mountains which run the length of Italy. We are now on the eastern branch of the Via Flaminia; the western branch ran through San Gemini where you can see some amazing Roman ruins at Carsule.
 |
| Ponte Delle Torri With Fortilizia dei Mulini On The Left |
Pulling into Spoleto the first thing you notice is the beautiful Rocca Albornoziana, the castle fortress of Spoleto and the highest point of the town.
Spoleto like Narni is far more ancient than the Romans who conquered here in 241 BCE. The original Umbri tribes lived here since the 5th century BCE and built walls around their settlements that are still visible around the city. The Romans called Spoleto "Spoletium" and evidence of their presence is everywhere; especially in the "Ponte Delle Torri" or Bridge of The Towers which is the symbol of the city. Along with this aqueduct, there was a Roman Forum, many temples and an amphitheatre. After the fall of Rome Spoleto became the capital of its own Duchy of Spoleto until it joined the Holy Roman Empire. There is so much history in Spoleto I could spend days exploring!
Our beds for the night lay in a former palace in the "Centro Storico" or historical old centre of Spoleto. TIP #1: ZONA TRAFFICO LIMITATO means you need a pass to enter into this zone otherwise there are fines of €100 or more! There are traffic cameras that photograph your licence plates and you will get fines mailed to you at home. Luckily, because it was Christmas holiday time we were allowed to drive up towards the castle and take a sharp right into our narrow lane Via Monterone that spits you out by the Porta Monterone where we had to find parking. It sounds easy but it is like a one-way roller coaster. This part of Spoleto was very damaged by the earthquakes in August and October of 2016, and scaffolding and braces hold up the ancient city walls.
 |
| Living Room |
 |
| Bedroom Ceiling |
 |
| Upstairs Dining Room |
The Airbnb house we rented in Spoleto was off the hook! It is called "Romantic Flat In A Medieval Tower Of Spoleto" and it was restored by the owner who painted the details by hand! It was an accident that we were here; our last booking with Airbnb was cancelled suddenly by the host 3 weeks before our trip so Airbnb helped us pay for this upgrade. It had a slipper tub in the bedroom and a huge eat-in kitchen with a private outside terrace! We could not let the beauty of this palace go to waste so we planned a photo shoot for Saras PoppyPants and my Gypsy Dream Padma skirts. But now that we had settled into our palazzo, it was time for dinner.
 |
| Hangry Face |
There was a small grocery store up the street called Sabatini's, but it was closed for the night. So we decided to head uphill to the see what was available for a small meal at an enoteca. We passed through another gate called the Arco di Montarone that was built by the Romans around 241 CE. Along with the porta at the bottom of the Via Montarone, these gates could seal off the neighbourhood should there be an attack. Through the arch and turning uphill again we followed Via Arco di Druso and passed what looked like a big Roman temple. It is actually a Romanesque church of Saint'Asano that has been built atop a Roman temple that has the crypt of Saint Issac in the bowels. Saint Issac was Syrian refugee that arrived in Italy in 519 CE. He was a monk and a prophet and became the hermit of Monteluco. In Latin, lucus is a sacred wood and Saint Isaac founded a hermitage on Monteluco called Abbey of Saint Giuliano.
 |
| Exorcise The Demons! |
Walking onward the road levels out and becomes Piazza del Mercado, where the Roman forum used to be. We found our own sacred place in the enoteca "Il Mio Vinaio" or "My Vintner" in English. Wow, an amazing selection of local wines and lots of food choices on the menu.
In Tuscany, you have the famous wine: Brunello that comes from the hill town of Montalcino. In Umbria you have it's rival, Sagrantino di Montefalco. Sagrantino is made from 100% Sagrantino grapes; a variety that is only grown in Montefalco and Bevagna. This wine is one of the things I so desperately wanted to try in Umbria. It tastes like: cherry.raisin.pepper.smoke! The brand "Scacciadiavoli" literally means "Cast out the Devil". SO GOOD!
TIP #2: IF YOU FIND WINE YOU LOVE IN ITALY; BUY IT! Chances are you can't find it at home. You can find this label in Ontario, but not the Montefalco Rosso which is a blend of Sagrantino and Sangiovese grapes.
 |
| Donkey Balls Anyone? |
You know what goes well with this wine? Pork and truffles! Oh yes my friends, these two are King of the Umbrian kitchen. We started with a charcuterie of various cured pork products: salumi, prosciutto, soppressata, mortadella, donkey balls, cinghiale sausage, 2 kinds of local cheese and local honey. Wait-what? Donkey balls? Luke freaked right out, even though we assured him these were not balls of any kind, let alone donkey. Bale d'Aso is named for the way this sausage looks like when it is being hung and cured; a pair of donkey balls. In northern Italy, this sausage is made with a mix of beef and pork, but the Norcia version is all pork baby! My favourite was the "Corralina di Norcia" that has a piece of lard in the centre and smoked over Juniper wood. Yum!
 |
| Polenta With Truffle |
For our main meal, we ordered traditional fare all made in-house with the famous "Tartufo" or truffle. Luke had meat ravioli with fresh black truffles grated on top, and I had polenta with black truffle oil and fresh truffle grated on top. The polenta was a super heavy dish almost like a cake, but WAY denser. Truffles are a mainstay in the Umbrian diet, and there are 2 varieties; black and white. The black truffles are in season twice a year; the winter truffle from November to March and the Summer truffle (which is less aromatic) from May to August. Truffles only grow underground in mountain forests, usually under Oak, Linden and Poplar trees. The truffles are "hunted" with the use of truffle-sniffing dogs. White truffles are SUPER expensive and hard to find.
 |
| Spoleto Duomo |
After that delicious and heavy meal, we decided we were in need of a little stroll to take in the view of the Rocca and the Ponte. The temperature had dipped outside and it smelled like snow so our walking pace was quick. A peek at the beautiful Duomo of Spoleto and it's poor crooked Christmas tree, then over to the base of the Rocca for an incredible look at the Ponte Delle Torri all light up.The cold was getting to us but we couldn't wait for daylight to come the next day so we could continue our exploring of this beautiful town. Tomorrow we delve deeper into Spoleto and tonight we dream about exorcisms and donkey balls!
Scacciadiavoli!
No comments:
Post a Comment