May in Southern Umbria

Todi:

Amazing sunset from airplane window

On the 25th of May arrived in Rome after an especially long flight... the winds were not on our side this time and it took over 9 hours.  We briefly toyed with the idea of securing a rental car in the Rome airport, but in the end decided to go by train.  This was not a stroke of genius... in the train station at the airport a handful of british tourists putzed in line in front of us and by the time we finally got our tickets, the doors to the train closing while we were no more than ten feet away.  So, it was then an hour wait and when in Rome... we grabbed our first real coffee (a cafe macchiato) of the trip at a little cafe inside of the station.  We had take to the next train to the smallish Umbrian city of Terni, where we had to make a transfer and get the local Umbrian line to Todi.  Of course, once again, by the time we lugged our bags up and down several flights of stairs and purchased our tickets at the Tabbacci in the train station "Food Village" (a little train station cafe), we again missed the train by the skin of our teeth.  From the train we called the lovely young Danish couple, Thomas and Lizbeth, who would be hosting us at their B & B, "Il Ghiottone Umbro"  (The Umbrian Glutton): www.ilghiottoneumbro.com

They very kindly picked us up from the train station that we foolishly thought we could walk from.  That would have been the same as our Cortona saga, but with about 50 lbs. of luggage in tow with each of us.  It would not have been pretty.  By the time we arrived at the B & B it had been well over 24 hours of being awake, so we were both a bit zombie-like.  The B & B is magical!  It used to be an old grain mill that has been very artistically converted in a minimalist style, but keeping the original architecture and accents intact with splashes of dutch (and I am assuming danish) modern furniture throughout.  It is stunning and to my particular delight, immaculate.  The beautiful stone building is built into the terraced hillside just outside of the town, literally a 5 minute walk.  

Path from B & B to the road into town

Dinner with a view

Once we settled into the B & B and showered the last 24 hours of travel slime off of us, we decided not to nap; that might be the end of us and we wouldn't adjust to the time change as well.  So, walked into town-the first thing we saw was this beautiful church set into the hillside with this amazing bank of steps up, functioning as a piazza.  It is the church of San Fortunato with the tomb of a famous Todi resident, Fra Jacopone, early mystic poetic/ holy man (pre-Dante).  Pretty radical, he even shook up the franciscans... themselves already known for being a bit "out there".  It is one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen.  It has a peaceful simplicity to it.  Unusual ceiling for Italy (all three isles are on the same plane), in the italian gothic style,  haven't encountered too much of in my travels.  

San Fortunato

Interior of San Fortunato