Last day in Spello

Friday was our last day in Spello. We really loved this town a lot and hated to say goodbye. We went to a spa out in the countryside where I had a wonderful massage while Kent read his book in the lounge (aka napping).

We had our last Umbrian dinner at a cute little restaurant with a lovely terrace. A great finish to a great week. Kent got some great photos of the amazing sunset ...















Next stop ... Amalfi Coast!

Perugia

Ahhh, the chocolate tour! We toured Perugina chocolate factory, which is over 100 years old ... And was bought by Nestle a few years ago. They make a lot of candy, but the most popular is the Baci - chocolate and hazelnut blend with a whole hazelnut on top and then drenched in dark chocolate. Each one is wrapped in foil with a love note inside. Very cute and very yummy! We got LOTS of samples! (couldn't take photos in the factory though.)








After that we went into Perugia, the largest city in Umbria. Very nice, but very crowded.


























Then we headed back to Spello for a late dinner ... A really great one at La Cantina. I had roast pigeon, which was ugly, but tasty. Kent had his new favorite - pasta with wild boar ragu sauce.

Bevagna

Went to Bevagna for the "world's best pizza" on Thursday. The town was very cute and the pizza was good, but probably not the best ever. We had sausage and black truffle...very yummy.





























More shots of the beautiful countryside ...

More Spello

We had our first bad weather day yesterday ... Rained all afternoon and evening. Fortunately we spent the morning walking (hiking!) around Spello and were ready for some R & R in the afternoon. We ventured out later to go to an amazing little enoteca (wine shop/cafe) for a wine tasting and some dinner. Food and wine were both great...again.

Sites around Spello...






















Outside our apartment...










Enoteca for dinner...



This one's for you, Linz ... The guy I was telling you about (ha, ha)!

More hill towns

We took a road trip on Tuesday to Gubbio and Gualdo Tadino in the northern part of Umbria. Very pretty towns, although they are still rebuilding from the earthquake of 1997. So sad to see the damage it caused. The countryside was beautiful though ... Never get tired of that.

Cooking Class

We had an all day cooking class today, which was amazing. It started with a tasting of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, truffles, cheeses, meats, and grappa at a gourmet shop. Then we drove out to her B & B in the hillside above Assisi to make and eat the food. We made two different kinds of fresh pasta and tiramisu. SO good and so much food! Oh, and wine of course. Oink.

First the tasting...







Then the prep work and cooking...









Kent got on his knees because the table was so low for him.












And now we eat ...



And lemoncello to end the meal of course.



Relaxing on her terrace...


Her adorable dog, Google.