We approached Assisi from the south- the view that was waiting for us made us stop the car, leave it by the road, and walk through the field as a daydreamer attracted to the town imprinted into the hill and a basilica sitting atop a majestic row of supporting arcades. Even though I've seen Assisi on the photos before, they did not prepare me for the view. It is one of those places where the best thing you can think of saying is simply "wow, look at that".
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Umbria road trip: Perugia
I mostly knew Perugia as the home of Perugina (a producer of Baci, delicious chocolate kisses filled with an entire hazelnut, a true delicacy from my childhood), as the capital city of Umbria, and as a university city, specialized in languages. For us, it turned out to be a gastronomic capital as well, as we found there one of the best (yet, unpretentious) restaurants we've ever been to, and a certain delicious substitute for our favorite hazelnut spread- the Nocciolata.
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Umbria road trip: Lago Trasimeno
The landscape around Trasimeno lake might be one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, the thing you have in mind when someone mentions Italian countryside- hillsides dotted with olive trees, pines, and cypresses, surrounding a lake the color of the clouds with three islets floating in the middle of it all.
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Umbria road trip: Cortona
Sometimes it happens that what was supposed to be a summer vacation turns into an autumn vacation, and what was supposed to be Southern Italy turns into- Central Italy, or Umbria to be more precise. Almost two years ago now, we had a hectic summer and our plan to spend a week in Sicily in the height of summer didn't quite work out (it did, however, work out last summer and you can read all about it here and here). Since our trip was postponed to October, I already switched to autumn mood- longing for hearty meals, countryside, hills (hilltop towns of course), maybe a lake... beaches would have to wait till next summer. And so we ended up booking a trip to Umbria...
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A day trip to Kyoto
Deciding on what to visit in Kyoto in just a day can be overwhelming, so we simplified things by heading to eastern Kyoto and simply wandering around Nanzen-ji temple complex. A walk from Keage Station to the temple grounds is a romantic one- it starts with an abandoned railway track lined with cherry trees, where we were not the only ones taking photos of the blossoms.
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