Italy
Trip Report May/June 2002
In Caesar's Footsteps
Todi, Umbria
In Caesar's Footsteps
Todi, Umbria
Hotel Fonte Cesia Mini Suite 186€
This hotel has an excellent location, 2 small blocks from main Piazza dei Popolo. Excellent staff with its own restaurant - La Palme. The Fonte Cesia is a modern 4 Star hotel whose lower public rooms used to be a convent. Our room was very large (Rm 111) with a large balcony (5m x 6m) that looked over the hotel's La Palme ristorante and the Piazza Fonte Cesia further below. Our view was roof tiles, with mountains far off in the distance. A very nice room - we loved it. The builder had a thing with strange light switches & the shower doors took some getting used to. |
Day 5 Amalfi Coast to Todi, Umbria
We made an early and easy exit from the coast up and over the mountain again through Castellammare di Stabia directly to the Autostrade. I'm gonna miss that drive . . .
Once on the Autostrade, it was clear driving north. We exited at the Orvieto and then it was a great drive through the hills of Umbria beside the Tiber river. Total drive time was around 5 hours. Todi is perched on the peak of a hill with a commanding view of the valleys around. You enter through various gates in the Medieval/Roman/Etruscan wall. Tour buses can't enter and you must park in a large lot below the town to the west, where they have an elevator to bring people up to the street level. We drove right in to the main piazza and parked illegally until we found our hotel. They whisked our car away to a hidden parking spot - the location of which we only discovered later.
This ancient hill town was everything we had hoped. Large enough to have a variety of restaurants, yet small enough for easy roaming. It has good tourist savvy, and yet it is not overrun. Easy to reach, either via the twisty road from the Orvieto Autostade cutoff or via the Terni/Perugia expressway but watch for carabineiri on this road!. Todi has a central piazza (surprise!) and our hotel was in a secondary piazza that was a small block away. The town had numerous sites: a 12th century Duomo, numerous palazzas of various vintages and several very nice churches of different sizes and periods. It also boasted Etruscan, Roman and medieval walls and gates. The views from various points on the walls were tremendous and the medieval feel of Todi's streets was just what we wanted. And as I expected from my prior research, it was never overrun with tourists.
After arriving and getting settled, we kicked back and relaxed and explored some of the town.
For dinner, we slipped around the corner to the Cavour Ristorante for some pasta. Since we were in truffle land, I ordered a truffle pasta concoction for a starter and my wife ordered the same for entree. Mine was so 'truffly' that I hated it - too much truffle oil or something. My wife canceled her main and subbed another but in the end, we paid for it anyway. Wine was a local Montefalco Sangratino. Service was so-so but the waiter was really friendly and busy. Make sure you sit outside in the back for a great view of the countryside. 20 - 30€ (excluding wines).
We made an early and easy exit from the coast up and over the mountain again through Castellammare di Stabia directly to the Autostrade. I'm gonna miss that drive . . .
Once on the Autostrade, it was clear driving north. We exited at the Orvieto and then it was a great drive through the hills of Umbria beside the Tiber river. Total drive time was around 5 hours. Todi is perched on the peak of a hill with a commanding view of the valleys around. You enter through various gates in the Medieval/Roman/Etruscan wall. Tour buses can't enter and you must park in a large lot below the town to the west, where they have an elevator to bring people up to the street level. We drove right in to the main piazza and parked illegally until we found our hotel. They whisked our car away to a hidden parking spot - the location of which we only discovered later.
This ancient hill town was everything we had hoped. Large enough to have a variety of restaurants, yet small enough for easy roaming. It has good tourist savvy, and yet it is not overrun. Easy to reach, either via the twisty road from the Orvieto Autostade cutoff or via the Terni/Perugia expressway but watch for carabineiri on this road!. Todi has a central piazza (surprise!) and our hotel was in a secondary piazza that was a small block away. The town had numerous sites: a 12th century Duomo, numerous palazzas of various vintages and several very nice churches of different sizes and periods. It also boasted Etruscan, Roman and medieval walls and gates. The views from various points on the walls were tremendous and the medieval feel of Todi's streets was just what we wanted. And as I expected from my prior research, it was never overrun with tourists.
After arriving and getting settled, we kicked back and relaxed and explored some of the town.
For dinner, we slipped around the corner to the Cavour Ristorante for some pasta. Since we were in truffle land, I ordered a truffle pasta concoction for a starter and my wife ordered the same for entree. Mine was so 'truffly' that I hated it - too much truffle oil or something. My wife canceled her main and subbed another but in the end, we paid for it anyway. Wine was a local Montefalco Sangratino. Service was so-so but the waiter was really friendly and busy. Make sure you sit outside in the back for a great view of the countryside. 20 - 30€ (excluding wines).
Day 6 Montalcino, Tuscany - day trip from Todi . . .
When I planned our trip, one place that I wanted to go was Montalcino in Tuscany. I figured that it would be an easy drive from Todi. What I hadn't thought of, was that by this time in our trip, we would be sick of spending time in the car. This day certainly confirmed that. As a wine fancier, one of my favorites is Brunello di Montalcino. I have an over 20-year love affair with it, so I could not pass up the opportunity to visit Castello Banfi for a gourmet lunch. It was Saturday and I had pre-arranged reservations months in advance. We drove out to the Autostrade then north. We cut off towards Chianciano Terme bypassing Montepulciano, heading towards Montalcino. Then it was a past the castle in Montalcino and south to the Banfi estate on the right after 10 kms or so. The signs marking vineyards along the way was like a who's who of Brunello. I wanted to stop at every one, but we had a mission. It was a 2 ½ drive all told from Todi.
Great food, stunning wine (the 97 Brunello was amazing). Of course, I bought some (31 Euros, as well as a bottle of their new 1997 Poggio Alle Mura 38 Euros). Yum, yum. The meal is in a smallish dining hall with an open kitchen and one hostess. It was a little surreal - three couples and a family group - everybody was really, really quiet - like dinner with royalty. Castello Banfi
On the drive back we skipped the parade of tour buses along S146 and went south via S2. A great highway with no traffic to speak of, but we were pulled over by Uzi toting carabineiri in the middle of nowhere near Mount Amiata. They used the pole with the red circle in the middle to signal me as I came around a bend. Cool, just like in the movies. I was speeding, of course - probably 120km/hr in a 90 - but they waved us on after a peek in the windows - maybe it was 'Be Kind to Tourist Day'.
Dinner was at the Ristorante Jacopone, right near the hotel. Good Umbrian food with slightly offhand service. Good wine selection. We had a different Montefalco Sangratino I believe. 20 - 30€ (excluding wine).
Saturday night was party night in Todi. The whole piazza filled up with cars as the social scene in Todi erupted. Everybody from miles around came to town to see & be seen. Quite a sight. All of the cafes and gellaterias were filled up so we gawked for a while and went to bed.
When I planned our trip, one place that I wanted to go was Montalcino in Tuscany. I figured that it would be an easy drive from Todi. What I hadn't thought of, was that by this time in our trip, we would be sick of spending time in the car. This day certainly confirmed that. As a wine fancier, one of my favorites is Brunello di Montalcino. I have an over 20-year love affair with it, so I could not pass up the opportunity to visit Castello Banfi for a gourmet lunch. It was Saturday and I had pre-arranged reservations months in advance. We drove out to the Autostrade then north. We cut off towards Chianciano Terme bypassing Montepulciano, heading towards Montalcino. Then it was a past the castle in Montalcino and south to the Banfi estate on the right after 10 kms or so. The signs marking vineyards along the way was like a who's who of Brunello. I wanted to stop at every one, but we had a mission. It was a 2 ½ drive all told from Todi.
Great food, stunning wine (the 97 Brunello was amazing). Of course, I bought some (31 Euros, as well as a bottle of their new 1997 Poggio Alle Mura 38 Euros). Yum, yum. The meal is in a smallish dining hall with an open kitchen and one hostess. It was a little surreal - three couples and a family group - everybody was really, really quiet - like dinner with royalty. Castello Banfi
On the drive back we skipped the parade of tour buses along S146 and went south via S2. A great highway with no traffic to speak of, but we were pulled over by Uzi toting carabineiri in the middle of nowhere near Mount Amiata. They used the pole with the red circle in the middle to signal me as I came around a bend. Cool, just like in the movies. I was speeding, of course - probably 120km/hr in a 90 - but they waved us on after a peek in the windows - maybe it was 'Be Kind to Tourist Day'.
Dinner was at the Ristorante Jacopone, right near the hotel. Good Umbrian food with slightly offhand service. Good wine selection. We had a different Montefalco Sangratino I believe. 20 - 30€ (excluding wine).
Saturday night was party night in Todi. The whole piazza filled up with cars as the social scene in Todi erupted. Everybody from miles around came to town to see & be seen. Quite a sight. All of the cafes and gellaterias were filled up so we gawked for a while and went to bed.
Day 7 Todi . . . continued . . .
Relaxing was the order of the day after our driving overload of 2 days. We wandered the town, visiting churches: the Duomo - Santa Maria Assunta, San Fortunato with Jacopone's tomb, Santa Maria della Consolazione by Bramante (one of San Pietro's builders) and Santa Maria in Camuccia with it's stolen and later recovered Black Madonna. Also visited misc Roman and Medieval sites around town and generally meandered. We relaxed on our terrace on high for a while. Every morning I watched the hawks and swallows do their sky dancing from there.
We ate lunch at the busy Ristorante Umbria - the 'best' restaurant in town. Wonderful view from their outside patio right on the Roman walls looking east. Go for lunch or early dinner so you can enjoy the view. Good Umbrian food, wild boar (VG) and lots of truffle dishes. Not cheap. 30 - 40€ (excluding wine - we had a ½ bottle of Lungarotti's Rubesco that called to me).
At some point in the late afternoon, a religious procession marched by on the street below our patio. We had noticed that people were hanging banners out of their windows during the day in the street below our patio. And speaking of the patio, some kindly staff member had set up these great folding wooden loungers with stuffed cushions for us. Only this room had access to this patio, but it wasn't private. It was still really nice, though.
Dinner: La Palme - our hotel restaurant was very pleasant with a good selection of Umbrian and general Italian wine. Our meats were good and the rare-ish Sagrantino di Montefalco Riserva wine was excellent. Extremely nice locale - nestled in an upper courtyard with palm trees, hence the name. 30 - 40€ (excluding wine). Tip: Go here and skip Ristorante Umbria.
Sitting on the steps of the Duomo Sunday night - a band played in the piazza as a small car show (Maseratis, Fiats and a Porsche etc) wrapped up and the parishioners made their way to a special mass - what a great scene.
Relaxing was the order of the day after our driving overload of 2 days. We wandered the town, visiting churches: the Duomo - Santa Maria Assunta, San Fortunato with Jacopone's tomb, Santa Maria della Consolazione by Bramante (one of San Pietro's builders) and Santa Maria in Camuccia with it's stolen and later recovered Black Madonna. Also visited misc Roman and Medieval sites around town and generally meandered. We relaxed on our terrace on high for a while. Every morning I watched the hawks and swallows do their sky dancing from there.
We ate lunch at the busy Ristorante Umbria - the 'best' restaurant in town. Wonderful view from their outside patio right on the Roman walls looking east. Go for lunch or early dinner so you can enjoy the view. Good Umbrian food, wild boar (VG) and lots of truffle dishes. Not cheap. 30 - 40€ (excluding wine - we had a ½ bottle of Lungarotti's Rubesco that called to me).
At some point in the late afternoon, a religious procession marched by on the street below our patio. We had noticed that people were hanging banners out of their windows during the day in the street below our patio. And speaking of the patio, some kindly staff member had set up these great folding wooden loungers with stuffed cushions for us. Only this room had access to this patio, but it wasn't private. It was still really nice, though.
Dinner: La Palme - our hotel restaurant was very pleasant with a good selection of Umbrian and general Italian wine. Our meats were good and the rare-ish Sagrantino di Montefalco Riserva wine was excellent. Extremely nice locale - nestled in an upper courtyard with palm trees, hence the name. 30 - 40€ (excluding wine). Tip: Go here and skip Ristorante Umbria.
Sitting on the steps of the Duomo Sunday night - a band played in the piazza as a small car show (Maseratis, Fiats and a Porsche etc) wrapped up and the parishioners made their way to a special mass - what a great scene.
Day 8 Todi . . . continued . . .
This was an Umbrian day-trip day. I promised my wife that we wouldn't drive far.
We drove north to Deruta - ceramics central in Umbria. You can shop for ceramics from 20 - 30 factories, artist's studios and vendors along the main street of the new town. Warning: You will spend money here & then have to cart the stuff around for the rest of your trip! All prices and qualities from cheap souvenirs to very fine dinnerware. Many outlets offer shipping to North America.
Next up was Carsulae. Only 20 minutes south of Todi, just off the Terni/Perugia Hwy is this partly excavated roman town with the Via Flaminia as the main street. That's right. The Via Flaminia. Gaius Marius, Pompey, Caesar . . . they all marched on it with their legions. The ruts are still visible. The site was quite impressive and very quiet with only 4 or 5 other people wandering this big area. A brand-new visitor's center is at the entrance. An amphitheater, a theater, several temple foundations and a cute little medieval church, complete with frescoes. The massive Arch of San Damino straddles the Via Flaminia as the road disappears into the earth down a hill. Well worth a visit if you're anywhere nearby.
Dinner: Cavour Ristorante again for pizza.