Norcia

For ages I have wanted to visit Norcia in the southeast of Umbria, by the Monti Sibillini National Park, but it always seemed too far and too difficult. We finally did the trip and what an excellent day we had.
It took just under two hours to drive there and with each kilometre the scenery became more spectacular. Norcia is an extremely attractive town and has much to offer the visitor. 
As the signs coming in to town say, the area is famous for pork and wild boar products such as salami and prosciutto, for truffles, for pecorino cheese produced from mountain sheep's milk and for being the birth place of Saint Benedict. It is also great location for walking, mountain biking and rafting.

A shop that sells these pork products is known throughout Italy is a Norcineria. As you can imagine their displays of goods are very appealing.

Saint Benedict overlooks the piazza.

We had a lovely long lunch at Ristorante Granaro del Monte. First courses of pasta with wild boar ragù / a variety of Norcineria products. Second course of local lamb grilled over an open fire and seasoned with lemon & rosemary/ pork fillet wrapped in lardo with pecorino cheese, pear and truffles. We even had dolce - tiramisù/ parfait with custard, chocolate and crackled spelt. For those of you who know our Buon Ricordo plate collection, we gained another plate for the wall.

From Norcia we continued on a scenic route to Piedivalle and the Abbey of St. Eutizio. What a spectacular place to live! Syrian monks founded this place in the early 400s and it was from here that the Benedictine monastic system sprung. We saw a number of young monks around when we were there so both the life and the location still draw followers.