Friday 7th October

In the morning we had breakfast in the breakfast room which also had amazing views through the picture windows. Then it was time to check out and although Stefania feigned annoyance at my having paid for the rooms, she was not too upset!! MAC and I went shopping briefly for a few items. We came upon a shop which sold personalized items and the man who ram it had an old 90 year old sewing machine and without computer help he, manually, controlled the machine to inscribe whatever name you liked on an item. We bought an item for Fra and Gorka’s newborn, Gabriel and also for Everliegh. We also bought som either knickknacks in a souvenir shop; for people at home. Then back to the hotel and check out and into the car.

The view from our balcony at the Hotel Giotto

Breakfast room ay Hotel Giotto

The embroidery shop where the machinist manually embroidered items.

The beautiful streets of Spello

A local church where a wedding was held as we watched. It was indeed wedding season in Italy.

The tiny streets and squares of Spello

A wine festival gave information about the subject.

Spello is quite the most delightful place and the steep climb to the top of the town was well worth it.

Stefania had given us the choice of places to visit on the way home, either Gubbio, Perugia or Spello. All of which had their attractions but we picked Spello as it was already on the way home and was described as one of the most beautiful towns in the area. It proved to fit its description perfectly and the steep narrow streets were picture-perfect. It did not have the touristy feel of Assisi and was more quiet and relaxed. We soon came upon a church where a wedding was to take place and took a peek inside, then awaiting the arrival of the bride who had a stunningly simple dress. Left them as they entered the church. This was at about 10.45 and when we returned at well past midday, they were still in there!! We walked up the streets past small stores full of clothes, food, some souvenirs and some of the local Acqua di Fiori scents and perfumes which are a local product. We continued on right to the top which was very steep and hard work but very rewarding when we reached the summit with sweeping views of the area. There was a Capuchin church at the top which was simple but very lovely.

Then we started on the descent and it was quite hard going, leaning back to keep the balance. We met Stefania and Bruno at a café halfway down and shred a wonderful freshly squeezed orange juice before continuing on down to the car park where we had left the car.

We had a slight directional issue on the way home with taking the wrong direction but correcting ourselves and eventually getting to Tolentino where we head a nice lunch in a small restaurant. Afterwards, we took a short walk around the town, much of which was under repair after a severe earthquake in 2017.

Then it was on to the trip home which proved top be a nightmare for poor Stefania as the roadworks coupled with Friday night traffic caused hold-up after hold up and made us switch from the autostrada to local roads and back again several times. A trip which should have taken a couple of hours took about three and a half, not getting us home until 7.30 p.m. in the dark. All were very tired by then and we went straight back top our ‘house’. MAC made bruschetta and we had some cold cuts and glass of wine before retiring to bed.