Perhaps we had become a little too comfortable in England – the amazing summer weather, the fabulous fresh produce at reasonable prices in Tesco, the Wetherspoon specials with cheap beer and the friendly people. With Brexit looming menacingly on the horizon and a new prime minister to rival the maverick, divisive president of the New World, it couldn’t possibly last and we knew it. So we left for a new adventure in the familiar comfort of Spello in Umbria, Italy.
Our London based friend Stephen, the globetrotting transport expert and cricket tragic, has opened up his holiday home to us in the medieval hilltop village of Spello, overlooking the Vale of Assisi. It has all the rustic charm of a 16th Century stone village built on Roman foundations with meandering cobbled streets, frescoes churches, grand piazzas and, of course, cafes, restaurants, tavernas and gourmet shops selling local artisanal fare. We love it and are always eager to return, so when Stephen suggested we join him and his wife Sima in August, we didn’t hesitate.
Unspoilt by tourism but with plenty to satisfy the art historian, wine connoisseur, gourmet foodie and nature lover, Spello is perfect. We climbed the steep, narrow streets to Stephen’s bird nest on the old city walls, sat in the sun on the terrace drinking in the scenery and the very good local beer and wine, cooked honest simple pasta and fish dinners and just relaxed. Wonderful.
The railway line from Rome to Florence runs through the flat lowlands of Spello and we took a train early one morning to Spoleto, a larger town 47km away. We are quite familiar by now with the beautiful pink and cream yellow stone buildings and astonishing Renaissance architecture of the hilltop villages and towns in the Vale of Assisi. The town of Spoleto is another gem and now one more of the growing Lotto dream places where we could very easily divide our time between home in Perth and a stunning little villa with a terrace garden overlooking the town’s rooftops and church bell towers to the olive groves and rolling hills beyond. We’re already living the dream, but the Lotto dream is the icing on the cake.
After a couple of days Stephen’s wife Sima joined us from their London home. We have become good fiends over the years and we enjoy enjoy each others’ company. More wine, G&T, beer and wholesome Italian comfort food on the terrace followed with several other ex-pats who have fallen for Spello’s charms and bought holiday homes here. Lively conversations watching the sun set over the Vale without a care in the world.
In the few days we had together, we visited the neighbouring villages of Todi (with a welcome funicular railway to transport weary tourists and locals alike to the old town centre above), and Bevagna, both beautiful and unspoilt. We feasted at two very typical osterias serving fresh local produce roasted and grilled over huge open fires. The last of these on our final day was the Refugio san Gaspare, perched atop the tallest peak of the Vale at just over 1,000m on the site of an ancient pilgrim trail dating from 1099AD.
We sat with Italian families, conscious of being the only non-locals at this very traditional Italian eatery. This gave Stephen, Sima and Sue the opportunity to practise their ever improving language skills while Graham smiled and nodded agreeably, munching away contentedly thorough several kilos of vegetarian antipasto, chargrilled bread with oil and aged balsamic, and freshly made linguine alla tartufo. Some people think that Italy just about crumbling old ruins and gastronomy. Take it from a couple of crumbling old ruins – it is!
Clapmacks Foray into Retirement 