Hiking for Exercise and for Bread

We're now in Umbria in the tiny hill-town of Panicale. Because I doubt we will be able to get a good picture of the entire town, I'll steal this one just to give you an idea of how small but beautiful it is.

There's a small square inside the walls, and there are 3 restaurants plus a cafe/bar in this piazza that surrounds a fountain. This is where all the locals hang out. Down a side street, there is a butcher and two small stores that sell groceries and fresh produce. That's it! No touristy shops selling souvenirs in Panicale.

We met with Katia who manages several rental properties in Panicale, and she showed us our fabulous home for the next 9 days. Even though the building is old, the inside has been recently renovated so it is very comfortable. AND even though we are right in the middle of the town, we have this awesome garden!

I knew before we came that Panicale is a very popular spot for Americans and folks from Britain. Several American couples come here and spend months at a time, and we've already run into a several of them. They come every year, settle in, and live with the locals. I can already see how nice that would be. As a result, many of the locals do communicate in English even though we still try to fumble our way through Italian.

We spent yesterday afternoon wandering around the streets and trying to find our way back to our house. Oh, and there is a gelateria in town and we had to sample that to make sure it was ok. And it was.

We had dinner last night at Osteria Il Gallo nel Pozzo, one of the three restaurants in town. This one is owned by Aldo who also owns the bar/cafe across the piazza. He's quite the local character, and he's very outgoing and welcoming. Again, I won't bore you with pictures of each dish, but the highlight was definitely the salad called Carpaccio di Carciofi, rucola, parmigiano e olio 2016 di Panicale (Salad of fresh artichokes, rocket, parmesan cheese and new olive oil). And not only did it taste great, it was beautiful!

Door to the restaurant. Flowers are blooming!

I never knew you could eat raw artichokes! They were sliced paper thin and were really good!

This morning we hiked to Paciano which is another small town about 2 miles from here. We walked along a very rural, hilly road to get there, and somehow it seemed it was uphill each way. Some of the hills were the heart-pounding, gasping-for-breath kind of hills. But it was worth all the exertion. In Paciano there is a (we think she's Dutch) woman who bakes twice a week (Sundays and Wednesdays) and she sells her breads and baked goods in her home. I'd read about her online and wasn't sure if we'd find her or she really exists. But voila! It was quite an experience. First, the pictures of what she was making today.

Assorted pastries. We had the one in the lower right corner. :)

A beet and gorgonzola focaccia! We took this home for lunch. Amazing!

Lia decorating hot cross buns.

While we were there, an American woman came in to have coffee and a roll. She used to live in Las Vegas but has lived in Italy for ten years. Then a German family arrived. Then a few Italians. It was quite an international event.

On our walk, we stopped often to take some pictures. These are the kinds of things I like:

I think this says if you go over 30 you will fall off a cliff.

And this one says beware of rain and snow.

And now we need to be careful of weather and falling rocks! Yikes!

Of course, a few things caught Greg's eye too.

Some locals out walking their donkey

More to come.