Sybilla Oritur

July 31, 2009 – Orvieto

Although Orvieto is a relatively short distance from Perugia as the crow flies, to get there by train is a two-hour ordeal lengthened by a required transfer at Cordona. This made us decide to plan our trip on a weekday, when trains are more frequent, and we still had a transport [...]

June 23-25, 2009

Thursday is cleaning day – and it’s a good thing as our landlord dropped by for a visit on Thursday evening after being a sweetheart again and taking us out for dinner at a local agriturismo where we were stuffed with black truffle gnocchi, roast veal and lamb and homemade cantucci (cookies). I [...]

June 22, 2009
It feels a little odd to attempt to write a travellog about my excursion to Spoleto yesterday given that there was a motorcycle accident which took the life of Alberto, our favourite barman at the often-mentioned cafeteria which I had been visiting every day. Sunday night we had sat talking for about thirty [...]

July 18, 2009

We are very lucky to have such a great landlady who decided to take us touring her favourite spots between Perugia and Spello on Saturday.
We told Jacqueline all about our previous day’s trip to Assisi – and she was unwilling to let us miss Santa Maria Maggiore – the church where St. Francis [...]

June 16-17, 2009
After a Thursday of house-cleaning and Latin, we decided to head to Assisi on Friday to let loose a little in this pilgrimage town. Little did we know that the day would be one of 37 degree heat and intense sunshine – but even as we wilted like proverbial flowers, there was still [...]

July 15, 2009
I spent most of Wednesday reading Persuasion on the grass outside Templo San’Angelo, planning day trips and cooking. This seems like the perfect opportunity to provide an overview of the guided tour led by an art historian affiliated with the Universita per Straniere that I was privileged to tag along for on Tuesday.

We [...]

I wish that i could find the motivation to wake up in the morning for sunrises - the closest i have come thus far was a close-call to a nuit-blanche spent reading Stranger in a Strange Land. Finally in possession of my photos from Rome and now inspired to start being a shutterbug in Perugia, [...]

Although i have been touring Perugia and Umbria by day, my evenings before this week-end had been devoted mostly to chatting with friends back home, watching streamed television and reading. After Friday’s successful trip to the Umbria Jazz box office, i worked up the courage to correct that and have been enjoying more of Perugia’s [...]

July 8-9, 2009
After having spent more than three consecutive days on a bus, I REALLY wasn’t expecting to get car sick for the bus ride to Gubbio – but there I was trying simultaneously to control my queasy stomach AND enjoy the Umbrian countryside. Although Gubbio is only 43km from Perugia, it takes over an [...]

July 5, 2009
Sundays are still days of rest in Italy. Almost all stores are closed (including my favourite cafeteria) and church bells sound on the hour. Nevertheless, I kept myself occupied with reconnaissance work. Michelle, who lives in the apartment below ours, and I went for a long walk in a new direction to find [...]