The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
May 11 - Umbertide and Gubbio

Each town has at least one market day ... and on Wednesday it is Umbertide. The markets are a real slice of life with vendors selling everything from clothing to food and flowers. We found the whole thing fascinating, not only for the selection and prices (which were not all that cheap), but for the sheer logistics of what it took to get in, get set up and pack up at the end.

The six of us did the clothing section of the market, then browsed the food section before camping out in the Cafe Centrale to sip wine and watch the show. A bottle of local wine was five Euros (about $6) in the restaurant, so we were able to stay well-lubricated throughout the final stages of the market and the packing up process.

When everyone had packed out (around 2:00) we headed up the hill to Gubbio to poke around. Gubbio is one of the better-known hill towns in the area and as such attracts a higher percentage of tourists. Again we recoiled at hearing so much English spoken in the streets. We must be becoming localized!

Dinner in Italy doesn't happen before 7:00pm, no matter how hungry you are! We waited around for the Pizza Saloon to open before finally giving up and heading back to the trattoria where we had dinner last night. Cheap and good win out again!

The Umbertide Market and Gubbio

Market Logistics and Dining


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