The Bruner Family Journey: The Adventure Continues In Umbria

Perugia - famous for chocolate and the dude who taught Raphael

Ok, so now we've left Tuscany and have moved on to Umbria, although to be honest, it can be difficult to discern any significant difference. Pretty much the same scenic landscapes, beautiful architecture, bountiful art and culture, and excellent food and wine - and the same difficulties trying to find a legal, adequately sized parking space. The region is named for the Umbri tribe, who were the main enemies of the Etruscans in pre-Roman times. It's a small region, but it's packed with sights.

We used the city of Perugia as our base to explore the area. I could go on and on about the city's long and storied history, but in the interest of brevity I'll just point out some of the key players: Umbrians, Etruscans, Romans, Goths (who wore black tunics and listened to nihilistic music), Lombards, a bunch of popes who lived here in the 13th century to escape the tumult of Rome, and Perugino, the artist who taught Raphael, the Italian master of Renaissance painting. Oh, and it's also famous for chocolate. So we've got the three essentials - art, history and chocolate - and there was even a long escalator from near our hotel that took us right up to the heart of the old city at the top of the hill. Now that's progress! It's an elegant, charming and lively place, with two major universities and a full agenda of cultural events, like the large medieval musical procession (replete with costumes and dancing) that we came across when we were in town.

The view from the top of the escalator

Getting ready for the performance

Getting ready for some chocolate

The pink sandstone of Assisi

Only a half-hour away from Perugia, Assisi is a world apart. Whereas Perugia melds the past with modern life through its young student population, Assisi seems frozen in history (except for the tour buses and the colossal modern parking structure) - like a sacred museum in honor of its native son, Saint Francis of Assisi. It is indeed quite a museum. Just follow the pink sandstone lanes lined with flowers, past one historic church after another, to the magnificent Basilica Papale di San Francesco, mother church of the Franciscan Order and one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Italy. The church is filled with brilliantly colored frescoes by Giotto, Cimabue and other giants of pre-Renaissance painting - the frescoes are an artistic highlight of the late Middle Ages and are critical to an understanding of the evolution of Italian art. And let's not forget that many great places from across the world take their name from Saint Francis of Assisi - like San Francisco, California and Saint Francis, Arkansas (and Saint Francis Hospital in my hometown of Hartford, Connecticut).

The famous Basilica Papale di San Francesco d'Assisi

Basilica interior (photos were not allowed, so this one is from the internet)

View from Assisi

The Gub

The next stop on our Umbrian adventure was the hilltown of Gubbio, which has been officially referred to as "The Gub" by certain members of our family. It's a very old place, as the hills above town were occupied by the Bronze Age. The town was an important center of ancient Umbrian culture, and was conquered by the Romans in the 2nd century BCE. But the most interesting historical tidbit is from Gubbio's glory days in the Middle Ages, when the town sent 1,000 knights to fight in the First Crusade. According to local legend, they were the first to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem upon the Christian conquest of the city in the year 1099. We didn't see any Crusaders in Gubbio, but I imagine they gathered on the Piazza Grande, Gubbio's large central square, and drew inspiration from the sweeping views of the vast, green valley below. The town climbs up a steep hill, both below and above the Piazza Grande, and we wandered the winding, cobbled streets until we were totally worn out. We rested on the shaded garden patio of a popular local eatery, where we enjoyed a tasty, leisurely meal.

On the Piazza Grande

Castello di Urbino

Our final destination before heading southward was the stately little town of Urbino, which technically speaking isn't in Umbria but in the neighboring region of Le Marche. Close enough. Urbino is renowned for its legacy as an independent center of Renaissance culture in the 15th century. The city attracted artists and humanist scholars from all over Italy and beyond and influenced cultural developments deep into the rest of Europe. Its subsequent decline and stagnation actually served it well by today's standards - by allowing it to preserve its harmonious Renaissance appearance and cultural heritage. Its period of preeminence was brief, but it made its mark and it remains undisturbed by more than five centuries of history. With its fabulous architecture and panoramic views, it's surprising Urbino doesn't get more tourists.

As we were getting ready to leave Urbino, a gentleman from Milan asked me for directions in Italian. Upon realizing I was an anglophone, he started to speak to me in (very good) English and asked where we'd been in Italy and where we going. I laid out our month-long trip from 1999 and our current itinerary, and he said he was jealous because we'd seen more of Italy than he had. But there's always more to see. So, we got in the car and started heading south along the Adriatic coast.