Some Random Thoughts on Weather and Laundry as We Leave Panicale

As you leave each town in Italy, you will see a sign like this with the town name and a red slash.
Good bye, Panicale!

Those of you who know me well know that I spend a lot of time looking at online travel forums before we take a trip. One of the questions that always makes me laugh is when people ask something like..."We're going to Paris in October. What will the weather be like?" Generally, the folks who respond to this question say "Be prepared for anything" or "Look at the weather history for that area" or "Who the heck knows?" When you travel to Europe in the spring and fall, it isn't easy to plan what clothes to bring and what weather to prepare for. Traveling to Italy in March, we thought we'd experience cool weather and probably some rainy days.

This is why Greg decided the one jacket he would bring would be his rain jacket. And I think because he made this decision, we have had one hour of rain in the past 2.5 weeks! The weather has also been unseasonably warm, and as we head to Florence next week, for forecast is for temperatures in the 70's and sunny skies each day. So if any of you are considering a trip to Europe and think the best time is in the summer when the weather is warm, think again. It has been ideal for us so far.

That beautiful blue Umbrian sky we see from our back door.

Most homes in Italy do not have clothes dryers so when the weather cooperates, we dry our clothes on a rack in the garden. If the weather is bad, we drape everything over the radiators which is probably not a good thing for the clothes or the radiators. I've learned to love drying the clothes outside, and I've decided to get a rack like we have here when we get home. Maybe it's kind of a back-to-basics kind of thing but it's nice to come home and find our clothes hanging in the garden rather than wadded up in the dryer. Do you think I'll be kicked out of Mequon? Greg says I'm nuts and proclaims that he will buy chickens and a rooster for the yard if I'm hanging our clothes outside.

Today (Sunday) we pack our bags and get ready to leave in the morning. We've truly enjoyed life in this little town of Panicale, and the house we rented has been amazing. The woman who managed this home plus several others in town said that the number of visitors to Umbria is way down from past years because of the earthquakes. She asked that we encourage people to visit this wonderful part of Italy and let them know that while the earthquakes were tragic, they are not close to this village. So here is her (and our) recommendation that you visit.