We had a free Friday for a change. Normally we have our Italian lessons but our teacher went on holiday to the beach. Where else? To Italians the beach is the only place to go in summer. I’m asked constantly by Italians in my town, “when are you going to the beach?” I usually say a date and they nod happily.

With our Friday freedom, we decided to go for a drive. From Umbertide we headed towards Montone and then took that road east towards Pietralunga. A nice town but we passed it by and headed into the big Apennine mountains. This is the spine of Italy. It runs all the way down the peninsula. They are a formidable border between the western parts of Italy and the Adriatic coast. Most of the roads through these mountains follow river valleys cut deeply into the earth. These roads are very old. They were used by the Umbras and the Romans for thousands of years. We didn’t stop along the way so I only got a couple car shots. Sorry.

Our chosen end point, where we would turn south and head homeward was Cagli in the Marche region. Before today I didn’t know of it. It was just on the way. What a nice town it is. Walled and gated. Several churches and towers. Notable history since the sixth century. Once a woolen, silk and hide tanning city. Quite prosperous. But then the Papal state took it over and they had to adhere to the rules of Le Marche. They were told to grow cereals. But the soil was poor and the yield, low. So the town went into decline. Later they built a railroad from Fano to Fabriano to Rome. So the town again prospered. Then the Nazis destroyed the rail line. It took until nearly the present day for them to recover. They have and they have several very interesting sounding festivals annually. One is an international gathering of people celebrating charcuterie – the area is famous for it.

All together it was a couple hour drive and we have decided to go back to Cagli soon and this time stop and visit…and maybe lunch!

Once back home I started laundry. First the colors! Sorry, I just thought it was a pretty picture 🙂

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Let’s talk about Italy and what’s happening here. Almost all restrictions have been lifted. Only wearing of masks inside of buildings is still mandated. I note most people continue to wear them outside too. It has gotten to be uncomfortable to NOT have one on.

There are ominous rumblings however. Today I read that last week, for the first time in 10 weeks, the virus has increased – by 10% across Europe. Opening up wide so fast may be contributing to this…also the prevalence of the Delta variant. We must take into account the fact that 63% of Europeans are still waiting for their first dose. So the continent is not protected. I don’t know what this means for the future of travel here. Will they lockdown again? It is what makes travel in these times so difficult. One never knows what to expect or what new edict will come out, or when.

As of July 1st the EU has unveiled the “green pass”. It will allow travel across the regions. It is an app which has a QR code which has your vaccination, immunity or testing information. It will be mandatory for entry into sports venues, museums or to travel between countries. We still await our second shot so we don’t have one yet. We are scheduled to get the shots July 13. Then just two weeks wait for full immunity.

This all said, our region, Umbria, has very good numbers…and the daily new case numbers continue to drop. All good for us I guess.
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Buon fine settimana a tutti!