Le Infiorate

Today, Sunday, is a special day for a couple of local towns.  It is Le infiorate, which after Eastertime, they celebrate the miracle of the eucharist of Christ.  All night long, teams place flower petals, leaves and seeds in elaborate designs throughout  Spello. We wondered what they did on windy days? Anyway,  the pictures usually tell Christian stories and they are truly spectacular up and down the narrow hilly streets.  Needless to say, the entire nation showed up at 7am when it opened.

Noah & the Ark

Last Supper

The turtle shell is artichoke leaves!

Some of the tapestries are done by families in front of their homes, done by flowers grown in their own garden.  Our children were invited to help create a small one and Kira's job was framing the picture with  pink hydrangea  petals.

From Market to Mountain

Kira, learning to haggle

Looks like our backyard

This Saturday morning we thought we would buy our picnic lunch at the market and then do a little hike at the top of Mt Subasio.   I forgot how distracting the market can be.  There is a little something for everyone.

Kira sized coffee maker

Fortunately, Allen was doing his job and bought us some porchetta, sliced right off the roasted pig.

Finally we were on our way up the hill.  Luke is still obsessed about the fort, so we admired that from our perch up high.

From the top of Mt. Subasio 

Good Tastes...

Would you eat one?

Something I didn't expect was the narrow variety of foods here.  Pretty much, if you don't like pasta, prosciutto, and pizza, with a little wild boar thrown in (chingiale, see picture), you're starving.  No Mexican, no Chinese (although I hear you can buy frozen sushi in some stores), no burgers.

Pizza By the Slice

The kids often choose a slice of potato pizza at the pizzeria near San Rufino and our apartment for a little variety.

Potato Pizza

San Rufino Church

Sunday we went to a festival where you tasted all the best of the town, from restaurants at the top of the hill serving appetizers to the restaurants at the bottom of the hill serving desserts.  At the pasta restaurant, they were selling the black truffles that they had cooked in the pasta.  Kira kept thinking they were chocolate, and not dug out of the ground.  Too bad they were $60/pound our I would have let her taste one.

At the winery nearby, they let the children taste olive oil while Dad tastes the good stuff.

Disneyland it was Not

Let the photos tell our story today:

Yep, that was Little Red Riding Hood's house, that was Kira driving a car, and our kids lost in a labyrinth.  We are exhausted.  

Crazy Camp and Quiet Afternoons

Luke & Kira have been attending a morning camp outside of Assisi.  It pretty much is a group of children running around, with staff keeping them inside the fences and taking turns for their coffee breaks, but it has been a nice time for mom.  :)

They swim in a shallow pool with an mountain sized slide (that is both of my children on top, Kira urging Luke down).  Both of them are learning a few new Italian words each day:  Aspetti!  Non che fa!  Wait!  Don't do that!

Our afternoons are usually hot, so we have been trying to do some nice cool hikes then.  Yesterday we walked to San Damiano, down to a monastery and most of the frescoes are dated in the 1200's.  Its a place of silence, so Luke learned to yell in a whisper.  

The Goofy Route to Gubbio

Beautiful Gubbio on the side of a mountain:

  Because the children had read about St. Francis taming the wolf, we were all excited to visit the town of the story, Gubbio.  We thought it should be about 40 minutes.  The signs were nonexistent as usual and the maps nondependable (who would know there was a landslide that closed the road?) so we trusted the GPS lady once again.  

We found ourselves driving through a corn field (bumpety bump) on the "fastest route" on our way to Gubbio.  You should have seen those farmer's faces when they had to pull their tractors out of the way.  The GPS lady must have been laughing her butt off.

All of those beautiful churches, frescoes, museums...mostly the children enjoyed the super playground.  Its a kids' world even here.

Not your usual...

Playgrounds.  In Iowa, we take them for granted.  In this town there are two tiny ones, and the one closest to us is a little unusual.  There are swings, but everything else is a bit more challenging than the usual slides and equipment.  The children are  mastering them a little more each day.  Especially after their Latte Caldo (hot milk).

I also noticed the Post Mistriss had a great way of getting around with her mail.  

Wally World

Today was a rainy day so we decided to go to Assisi's version of combination Monkey Joe's/Family Museum.  Of course it was quite a trek getting there, losing the address, GPS didn't help, but Allen found it anyway.  At last!  Finally we saw the multicolored signs and parking lot.

Luke's cry could have been heard for miles when I read the fine print on the entrance:  Chuiso Mercoledi.  (Closed Wednesdays).  Nothing about that in the brochure or website!

Luckily, the sun came out soon afterwards and we went to a close playground.

Someone please tell me what these fragrant flowers are!  These and the jasmine just fill the air everywhere.  And yes, a six year old girl is the best model possible.  

A Sabbath Walk

Today Allen led our family church service beside a quiet path on the top of the hill.  Kira read Psalm 8 and both children led in "Oh be careful little hands what you do."

 Afterwards, we had a light lunch and took the "scenic" route home (Allen's words).  My words:  The long, hot, way in which we had to carry Luke most of the way.  His Italian vocabulary is improving, because he said "soon stanco" and "fa caldo" all the way.  ("I'm tired and "It's hot").

I did enjoy the scenery, though.

Luke finally got his sword

Because this is a medieval town, there are knights and pictures of knights and toy wooden swords  in every shop.  We finally gave in when we visited the fort at the top of the hill.

It was a child's dream:  long passageways, dizzying lookouts over the valley, steep worn-out stairs.  It was a mother's nightmare:  long passageways, dizzying lookouts over the valley and steep worn-out stairs.  As Luke was climbing up the winding centuries-old stairs to the tower, he said "These must be NEW stairs.  They don't have ropes!"  

A Picture is Worth....

Yesterday was a slow day, so I had time to pull out my camera at the top of Mt. Subasio.