The Collegiata Church of San Michele Arcangelo

For a small village Panicale has an amazing number of churches. There have been eight that I know of and most are now used as exhibition spaces, museums and music venues.

The largest of the churches is the Collegiata di San Michele Arcangelo in the centre of the village. It was founded in the 10th & 11th centuries, enlarged in 1546 and rebuilt in the  17th century. We were pleased to see that the scaffolding that was on the facade last year has been removed so presumably the restoration work there has been completed.

San Michele is one of two churches still celebrating the mass. This is a huge church for such a small place and inside it enthralls with its mix of arts and styles. There are 17th century frescoes, a Nativity by Giovanni Battista Caporali dating from 1519, some unusual glass windows, a very old processional crucifix and even chandeliers.

A feature which I enjoy is the ringing of the bells half an hour before the service, again a quarter hour before and finally again at the appointed hour. There is no excuse for being late!

It is a special experience to go to mass in this dark but characterful and amazing old church.

 The rear of San Michele church from Piazza Umberto I

 Part of the front of the church from Piazza San Michele

The interior looking towards the altar

One of four unusual glass windows

Il Dolce far Niente

Il dolce far niente, or the sweet doing nothing, is to be recommended. However as this was morning three and we were awake early, we decided that it was time to start walking again. We walked out the Paciano road appreciating the shady trees as it was already 29 degrees at 9 am. I was appreciating the trekking pole too. 
On return Kel went to Bar Gallo for a cappuccino and cornetto marmellata (jam croissant) but I stayed home and had a big bowl of fresh fruit.

Love these convex mirrors

With a routine forming we got out our Italian language books and began work on the next level. We spent several hours happily working on reflexive verbs and environmental vocabulary. It is a tribute to the staff and teaching methods at Centre for Italian Studies in Carlton that the 22 lessons we did at the school have given us such a strong basis. This is not a course for tourists but one that prepares you for everyday conversation and we are amazed at our ability to understand conversations, and the phrases we have been able to use.

La pausa (siesta if you are in Spain) was spent in the usual way - some reading and a snooze.

Our rental car, a Lancia Ypsilon, had not been out for two days so later this afternoon we went to Paciano for gelati then back to Panicale for a prosecco at Bar Gallo. I'm sure we will go over to the bocce court later to see some more competitive games of bocce.

Yes, it is hot here and even the azzurro gelato was feeling the heat!

Y

Bocce starts about 10 pm.

This may not sound like a rivetting day but with the daily temperature being about 38 degrees every day and us still in withdrawal mode, this is a perfect day.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways 1 - 6

1. Church bells

2. Cuckoo bird calls

3. Tomatoes with colour and taste

4. Gelati

5. People with an uninhibited zest for life.

6. Melon and prosciutto crudo

Festival del Folklore

Last year we arrived in Panicale on the last day of their annual summer music in the piazza events. These are held every Thursday over a six week period and are free. This year we have arrived on the first week.

Experience told us that the best seats were at the trattoria Il Gallo nel Pozzo so we reserved a table, enjoyed a lovely meal and then had prime viewing. This week's music was a celebration of folklore with a local group and groups from Sicily, Poland and the Tyrol.

The costumes were colourful, the dance step intricate and toe tapping and the accompanying music made for a great night's entertainment. A fascinating thing for Australians is that these events don't start until 9.30 - 10 pm. Walking home at midnight when the temperature was still very warm made us finally feel like we were indeed in Italy.

Dancing and low light are not a good photographic combination but here are a few shots to give you the idea ... but first we need an Aperol Spritz!

Perhaps a tarte tatin with ricotta and strawberries would be nice too.

Balliamo!

Ci siamo - we are here

Ci siamo! We are here! This is our home for the next nine weeks. Villa Adriana is a delightful casa rosa, a pink house, and as they say on Escape to the Country, it has terra cotta floor tiles, beams, lots of features, double aspect and it's light and airy.... and has a view to die for! We have an olive grove, fruit trees and a vegetable garden.

Here is a little taste of Villa Adriana in Panicale, Umbria.

Some of you will know that Kelly was very keen to visit Biano, the local barber of 50 years. At 8.30 this morning he was in the chair and talking to Biano in Italian! Apparently they both coped very well. 

Day one ... day two and into day three

It is often said that Australians are good travellers. Out of necessity one would think! Thankfully we have that trait and it has been tested this past couple of days.

From out departure from home in Benalla to our arrival at our hotel in Rome was a 42 hour trip. The fabulously comfortable A380 Airbus combined with excellent service and food from Qantas had us arriving in Heathrow feeling very well and ready to tackle the quick change from terminal 3 to terminal 5.

All went fairly well until we reached security and the lady on the desk looked at Kel's passport and said 'Oh!' We said 'We don't like oh's, what is the problem?' We didn't expect the reply ' Your flight has been cancelled'. It seems that there has been a fire at Fuimicino Airport and each day they randomly cancel some flights.

The best they could offer us was an 8 pm flight, not sitting together, and a twenty pound food and drink voucher. Oh, they were a long few hours! The up side was that the plane had lots of young teen-agers so there was lots of parlate, parlate, parlate and I could understand much of what they were saying. The down side was our arrival was due after the last train to the city centre. Thinking we might miss our quick terminal change, I had noted that the last bus left at 12.38 am. Luckily we found that bus and eventually reached our hotel at twenty to two in the morning. 

Our favourite home from home in Rome, the Rimini had not only saved our room but also given us one of our preferred rooms. It was a little late, or was it early, to have drinks on our balcony so we collapsed into bed.

We awoke this morning to the ringing of church bells - one of our very favourite Italian sounds! 

                                                         View from the breakfast room

                                                 Enjoying the balcony the next morning

Left over wine

You know the joke about left over wine ... what's left over wine?

Well, this is left over wine! When we were in Panicale last year we visited La Querciolana, a winery only minutes from the village, and bought a supply of their very nice reds.When our last day arrived we found we had one bottle 'left over'. There was only one thing to do with it - pack it!

Tonight we are going to our friends' home for dinner before we set off for Italy again in three days time. It seems like an appropriate time to open our La Querciolana Grifo di Boldrino Rosso Riserva from the Colli del Trasimeno DOC region in Umbria.

Salute!