The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
May 8 - Panicale, Citta della Pieve and Umbertide

I like traveling with these neighbors -- they have the same laid-back morning style that we do! We finally got going at the crack of noon and went off exploring some of the local hill towns. Actually, the first thing we had to do was find an Alfa Romeo dealer and get my headlight fixed. Turns out it was just a burned out bulb (halogen lights are so much easier than sealed beams!) so it only took about 20 minutes and eleven Euro to get me back on the road.

Then we headed out to a couple of small hill towns. Despite everyone's assurance as we left the house that they could easily forego lunch, by the time we got to Panicale, everyone was ready for a bite to eat and some liquid refreshment. The piazza seemed like the ideal spot (actually the only spot) to accomplish this, so we took a table in the sun and did the al fresco local thing. Nothing fancy -- sandwiches and a beer -- but somehow in that setting even a panini seemed exquisite! The town itself was ancient (no surprise there) and just texture upon texture. We wandered the back streets to walk off the lunch, then decided to motor on down the road.

The next town down the road was Paciano. Now I can't say that we saw a lot, but we certainly got up close and personal with it. The gate into town was about a foot wider than the cars ... and the interior streets were narrower. A saner person would have passed on the whole exercise, but I was leading the procession and felt adventurous. Once we started into the maze, there was nothing to do but keep going. Try turning your car a sharp 90 degrees from one 8' wide street to another! A few times I was not sure we were going to make it, at least not without some leaving some paint on the stone buildings, but somehow we managed to sneak through -- once or twice with some verbal assistance from amused locals.

A perpetual stop for us is Citta della Pieve, our first and favorite hill town in Umbria. We love turning friends on to this place as it is not on many tourist maps and has a gentle charm that always makes us feel good. We wandered around town a bit, took the group down the narrowest street in Italy (about two feet at the widest point) and relaxed on the piazza for gelato. Very civilized!

The days seem to pivot around meals so after a brief stop at the house to freshen up, we headed to the neighboring town of Umbertide to search out some dinner. Sunday can often be a difficult day to find things open and several of our first choices were dark. As we drove into town, Joanne spotted a pizzeria that seemed to have some action, so we decided to give it a try. Turns out it was an excellent choice, if a bit oddly themed. I mean, would you go to Italy and eat in a place called the Pizza Saloon with a US-style Western theme?

Sights of the Day

Dining Italian style ... sort of


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