Italy: Discovering Spello

FLOWERS Yesterday we spent most of the day in Spello, a short drive from Perugia. Spello is an old Etruscan town and one known for its annual religious flower festival, Infiorate di Spello, around Easter. There are many window boxes on buildings and walls, and folks collect and dry the blossoms to be used for …

Italy: Glimpses of Perugia

PARK SCENES Situated high up on the ramparts, Perugia has a small park with a view out over the buildings below and over the valley to the mountains. TOWN HALL In the historic center is an attractive town hall and museum with on one side sculptures of a griffin and a lion, both symbols of …

Italy: Orvieto

DUOMO DI ORVIETO Yesterday we traveled from Rome to Perugia via Orvieto.  It was a pretty ride and a combination of winding country roads and some time on the highway.  We spent several hours in Orvieto, focusing mainly on the striking 14th century Duomo di Orvieto.   This cathedral, unlike others of gray stone, has beautiful mosaics on the …

Italy: Fascist Period Architecture in Rome

This morning the Chief Penguin and I had a guided tour of some of the architecture of the Fascist period in Rome, ranging from a post office to train stations to the grand buildings of the EUR area.  This is architecture from Benito Mussolini’s time in power, roughly 1922 to 1942. Our guide, Liz, a transplanted …