We have enjoyed Tuscany, with its rolling hills, and rural scenes.
We even experienced Tuscan hospitality. We camped at a derelict house, with a great view. We thought we were being inconspicuous but shortly after we had set up and settled down with a glass of wine we were visited by a lovely man who lived nearby. He was disappointed that we were only staying one night, and hurried home to return with a gift of a bottle his own wine (which was very nice) and 4 eggs from his chickens. Unfortunately he wouldn't stay to have a drink with us claiming domestic duties, but we did feel quite welcome.
A cat came along with him too, and stayed after he left. That cat cried all night, keeping us all awake. We thought it must be caught in the raspberry bushes, and Joe got up in the night to check, only to find it sitting on our steps! In the morning Sally walked it to the nearest farmhouse, hoping it would have a better time the next night.
Suddenly we were out of Tuscany and in Umbria. We camped in a campground at lake Trasimeno.
It rained heavily during the night and our window, newly sealed in Milan, held up. Our bed was still dry in the Morning!
23 April 2016
The day has been overcast and raining. The views have been lovely.
Tonight we are camped at another derelict farmhouse, with great views of a nearby town. Will we have another visitor bringing wine? Probably not. But as long as we can have a good sleep it will be a great camping spot.
23 April 2016
We were stopped checking our maps when an enthusiastic Italian man with not a lot of English came to us gesticulating and showing us his phone. He declared that there was a medieval festival in a small town not too far away. He offered to lead us to it. Well why not! So off we went to the township of Camoro.
Here we learned that the population of this town is 7 during the winter and swells to 200 in summer when all of the residents return for a family reunion. There are two main families who return to the families homes to maintain the houses and socialise.
Lorenzo cared for us magnificently, providing us with a traditional lentil stew, and a tour of the town. We had a lovely time!
Meandering along country roads brought us to Eggi, an old walled town that doesn't appear on our map! There was good parking on the edge of the town! And we saw a notice advertising a "concerto". Expecting a stringed orchestra we decided to stay. But when we followed the crowd we found, to our surprise that it was an "asparagus festival"! So we dined on asparagus soup.
And then the band struck up. It was not a string orchestra but we were in the mood and the band was very good. So we danced till after midnight! Great fun!
And so ended one of the most unexpectedly social days (and nights) we have had in Italy.
25 April 2016.
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