Epic Europe

The bus to Gubbio was either before 8am or at 11.23am. As Gubbio is just a small medieval town, we decided that the later bus would give us enough time for a good look around. The first settlement in Gubbio dates back to the middle palaeolithic period. It was an ally of Rome from the 3rd century BC, and traces of Roman influence can still be seen in town. Most obviously in the Roman Theatre which we did not get to due to the rain.
We started our visit with a delicious all tartufo lunch at a Locanda del Tartufo. Then we braved the rain to get up to the Cathedral of San Mariano and Giacomo, fortunately with the help of an elevator. Gubbio has kindly provided 2 sets of elevators to take you to 2 different landings for this steep hillside town.
Maybe due to the rain, Gubbio was deserted. We were the only ones in the churches. The quiet and the sanctuary the church provided from the wind and rain must have contributed to my feeling of calm and serenity.
We then walked the medieval streets in the rain till we came across a fountain also nicknamed "la Fontana dei Matti" that according to tradition, anyone who ran round the fountain three times, and baptized by the water would be symbolicly be certified a "madman of Gubbio". Ruby and I ran round the fountain three times but didn't baptize with the water. Instead, we collected water from the drinking fountain next to it. So I have concluded that we are certified only half mad, or totally mad as we have drunk from the waters.
We also visited 2 other churches and took refuge in the Church of San Francesco to wait out of the rain for our bus back to Perugia.
We have not had a day trip without some trouble. When this trip went smoothly from the start, I was rather apprehensive when waiting for the bus back. I asked the the bus driver who dropped us off where to catch the bus back to Perugia, and he pointed across the road. So there we waited with a lady from Africa. Ruby then remarked that the bus across the road has Perugia written as it's final destination. I crossed the road to ask the driver and he confirmed that he was going to Perugia. Meanwhile, the African lady told Ruby that the bus to Perugia left from her side of the road, confirming what the bus driver from Perugia told us. Anyway, Ruby crossed the road to board the bus. Our bus tickets would not validate. So thinking we had the wrong bus, we left the bus and crossed back. I then started to worry that if this was the bus and we missed it, the next bus would not be for another 3 hours. So Ruby and I crossed back to the bus, and I had to buy tickets from the bus driver. The ride there costed us €1.50 each. The ride back was €6.50 each. To complicate things, I only had €12, or a €20 note and the driver did not give change. Fortunately, the African lady crossed the road to see if we were ok, and she happily gave me the €1 to make up our bus fare. Another travel angel. Would you believe that all that crossing of road (in the rain with cars zooming by) and confusion took place inside of 2 minutes.
We are back in the apartment safe and sound. We planned to do another day trip tomorrow and one from Rome, but with the inclement weather forecast and our track record, we are not doing anymore day trips. There is only so much stress and excitement 2 old travellers can take and there is only so many travel angels the universe will give us. I fear we're in debit on that account.
Distance walked 6.2km Czytaj więcej