Un bellissimo pranzo a Masolino in Panicale

Today we went for lunch at Ristorante Masolino, just off the piazza in Panicale. A meal at Masolino is a wonderful experience.

We started with a sparkling sagrantino and also accepted the recommendation of Andrea and had a bottle of Luteraia Nobile di Montepulciano rosso.

I had an antipasti of mixed crostini and Kel had the pate crostini.

For the main course Kel had the award winning guinea fowl served on a toast and served with spinach and I had veal with black truffles and grilled egg plant.

We concluded with a tiramisù and a zuppa inglese. They were perfection. To finish we were given a little semi frozen coffee mousse.

The service and the friendliness of the staff is always appreciated at Masolino.

Monte Petrarvella 2015

'Let's just walk up the first part of the walking track to Monte Petrarvella', says me (foolishly)

Was it this steep last time? Was it so steep for such a long way last time?

Come on, you can do it! We'll just go a little further.

Oh, look, the top of Monte Petrarvella. We'll just go to the top!

Ah, this must be the road to Paciano that Peter told me about. Let's do that!

(Last year we walked the left hand track to Missiano and back to Panicale, only 12 kms.)

Where are we, I wonder? There's no turning back now.

Eventually we came almost to the pine avenue that we walked on the Monte Paussilo walk. We were now in familiar territory so we re-joined the M23 walking track that headed back to Paciano, and from there walked back over the ridge to Panicale.

When I suggested we walk the first little bit of the track to Petrarvella I wasn't thinking 10 kilometres of rough terrain. 

Around and about Monte Amiata

Today's expedition was to go to Mount Amiata. It seems that every trip we have made to Tuscany and Umbria has included a view with the perfectly shaped Monte Amiata. It is a volcanic peak, a lava dome, and last erupted 180,000 years ago. It is 1738 metres high.
Despite the great length of time since it was active, it still provides the heat for the many thermal springs in the area.

Amiata can be seen on the extreme left of the first photo which was taken at Castiglione del Lago. The second was taken at Vernazzano, on the north side of the lake.

Our first stop was Sarteano, a very pretty little town with a castle fortification, several very old churches and a quite distinctive war memorial.

                                               Don't even think of knocking on my door!

Our next stop was Radicofani. We were beginning to drive through the famous Sienese Crete or Crete Senisi area where the clay soil has a distinctive grey clolouration which gives the area a lunar landscape appearance. 

Radicofani has a spectacular defensive position and can be seen for kilometres; as we twisted and turned through the mountain roads it swapped from left to right in our vision and we wondered if were were actually going to reach it. The last time we were in Radicofani there was snow lying around and the town fountain was a frozen sculpture.

When we reached the top of the fortress we found that there was a restaurant bar there so this was the perfect time for a lunch break. It was quite cool but a sunny spot out of the wind was just what we wanted. Kel ordered a tagliere which was a big plate with proscuitto, salami, cheese, olives, pickled onions, pate and other crostini and a basket of bread. He managed it all!

On to Abbadia San Salvatore where we hoped to visit the Abbey. Unfortunately signs pointed to it but the abbey never materialised. They were also asphalting the streets so parking and driving were chaotic. We gave up on that and headed for Bagni San Filippo. Who could have imagined that on a quite cool Thursday there would be hundreds of people so keen to be in the terme. Cars were parked in every small space all the way down to the entrance so sadly we had to give that one a miss too. We had not planned to go into the water this time and I'm sure the masses would have ruined a photo anyway.

This change of plans called for one of our impromptu turns onto a lesser road, and that was when we found Borgo di Contignano. A medieval castle of the cutest preportions with just two streets creating a loop within the fortified walls, a lovely little piazza with a well and a magnificent porta. The church was a perfect little model with 17 century art works and by far the cleanest church we have ever been in.

This view from the walls reminded us that we were quite near La Foce where the quintessential Tuscan photo was taken, so we revisited that area. It was quite strange to see the cypress pines in ploughed fields instead of the usual very clourful surrounds.

And so we returned home, having driven 157 kilometres but not visited Monte Amiata. In fact, I didn't even get a closer up photo of this beautful mountain!

When you get to the last week

When you get to the last week of a holiday such as we have had, you have lots of emotions going on. There is the desperate need to fill every moment and not waste time, to do more new things and to re-live the precious parts. We are view cramming - we can't get enough of the view from our terrazzo or from the Belvedere.

A good sunset has to be preserved (I liked it better when I could say 'captured on film' )

I even risked looking at a sunrise to get a good photo of this very interesting tree!

One last visit to the wonderfully casual and delicious ' Il Pellicano' ...

and one last trip to Castiglione del Lago market. I even made some purchases today - a couple of small clothing items, some gifts and porchetta for lunch. The fresh porcini mushrooms are on sale at roadside stalls, at the market and in special dishes at restaurants. Only a few thin slices added to a pizza at Il Pellicano  made the pizza really special.

Just outside the porta at Castiglione del Lago is this sculpture of a saxophonist. C d L is very much involved in the Umbria Jazz festival and this is their symbol.

Many of the things we have done this year have been re-visits (sometimes up to four or more times visited) and the Museum of Tulle in Panicale warranted a second visit. Officially called the Anita Belleschi Grifoni Museo de Tulle, it is housed in the former Church of Sant Agostino. There are still many remnants of frescoes on the walls.

We re-visited during the festival of lace and embroidery when exhibits from other European countries were also on display in this building.

Anita Belleschi Grifoni learnt to make lace whilst she was a student at a convent nearby. Later she developed her own style which is now called Ars Panicalensis, she drew her own patterns and taught the local ladies how to work this interesting style of lace making. This was something of a cottage industry in the past but is now just a hobby that the ladies are proud to continue.

This lace is created by embroidering over drawn patterns onto tulle fabric.

There are so many intricate and beautiful pieces on display that a second visit was just as rewarding as the first.

I will finish today's post with an interesting point we have been pondering. In eight weeks in Italy we have not seen one tourist coach or one group of people wearing name tags and following a sunflower umbrella! This proves that you can visit a huge range of amazingly interesting places in Italy and not be swamped with tourists.

Hannibal and the Second Punic War 217 BC

The Carthegenians under Hannibal ( Annibale in Italian) defeated the Romans under Consul Gaius Flaminius at Lake Trasimene in 217 BC. This was the Second Battle of the Punic Wars fought between Rome and Carthage.
25,000 men fought for the Romans and Hannibal had considerably less. This battle is remembered because it is the biggest ambush in military history. Hannibal's men were in the low hills around the lake, the Romans marched into the trap and under cover of fog at least 15,000 Romans were killed, including Flaminius. Hannibal lost about 2,000 men in this battle that lasted less than three hours. Incidentally, Hannibals's elephants had all died prior to this battle.

Why the history lesson? Because today we went to walk the Cammino di Annibale ( or Hannibal's Pathway) on the hills around Tuoro sul Trasimeno. The path is 15.8 kms in length but due to the Italian obsession for not giving enough instructions, we wasted the first half hour trying to find our way out of Tuoro. Yes, we had a map from Info but previous comment still applies. When we located the path we found we were going in the reverse direction but we could cope with that!

The path led us around the hills past a number of explanatory boards, some with a historic feature but all giving a good insight into the battle. Again we walked through olive groves, past palazzi, past little farming communities, on sealed roads and tracks. We didn't do the full walk because the last section involved walking on a fairly busy road and that was going to spoil the experience for us.

We took our picnic panini and mortadella to enjoy along the way (down hill from Sanguineto), and when we returned to Tuoro we rewarded ourselves with gelati.

Then it was back in the car and a short drive to Vernazzano where there is a natural history path. There has been a village at Vernazzano since the 1000s but several centuries ago an earthquake caused damage and the land was unstable so the village was moved. The new church built in the eighteenth century is dedicated to San Michele Arcangelo but also honours Santa Lucia, as the old one did. The ancient castle has a very serious lean and is heavily scaffolded, I guess its age encourages them to try to retain it. 

Now a third more modern town has ben build down nearer the lake.

If you are thinking about walking, riding or driving the Hannibal Path, I suggest that you download the app on your smartphone and all will be well. Alas we have not graduated to such clever phones and could only look at it on the tablet before setting off.