Bob on BAC Umbria - Rome to Assisi 2009

We said goodbye to Assisi this morning. Being a good route planner, Tom had us going downhill into the valley below Assisi. If you remember, he had us entering Assisi from above. So we avoided climbing in and out of the city.

Our first significant stop was at Deruta, allegedly the ceramics center of Italy. There were lots of shops selling pottery. I looked for the artisans who would be creating the ceramics so I could watch them in action. I had no luck, though. Howard and Martha caught up to me there. (We were playing leapfrog). We decided to keep going rather than waste any more time in Deruta. Besides, ceramics are heavy and clumsy – not made for carrying on a bicycle.

I went past Howard and Martha at a significantly steep climb a few kilometers later. I stopped in San Biagio della Valle partly to eat a panino and partly to decide which way to turn at a T intersection. When I finished eating, I asked the lady in the bar to point out which way to go on the map. She showed me the same way where I noticed Howard and Martha going. So I followed them downhill. Somehow we were off route. We consulted, looked at the map and decided to keep going on the road we thought we were on. It was a good decision when we soon discovered that we were on part of the shortcut for the day. Martha left us here and took the short route to the hotel. Howard and I navigated back to the long route.

Shore Birds at Lake Trasimeno

We went north through Magnano and soon found ourselves at Lake Trasimeno, the largest lake in on the Italian peninsula south of the Po. We were at the south end of the lake. (During Hoby and Alana’s wedding, we toured the north end of the lake). Howard decided to stop at a turnout next to the lake to eat some lunch. I waited with him and saw some un identified water birds. One of them had a tan back with white under its wings and white on its belly. It was smaller than an osprey. So, Suellen and John, what was it?

We took off after Howard was done eating following the shoreline for a few kilometers. Then we turned south and wound our way up and down to our hotel in Piegaro. Actually, I lost Howard on the first climb. He made it to the hotel though, being a very experienced cyclist.

Two really good things happened on the route today. First, the weather was perfect. It was sunny all day and my bicycle thermometer read in the low 80’s near the end of the ride. Needless to say, I was able to shed my leg and arm warmers. The second thing that was good was that my GPS started to work again. It must have dried out. For a bonus, it kept me on route when I had a question about a turn.

Bob Warfield at Our Hotel

Our hotel Ca' de' Principi in Piegaro is really old and really nice. It was once the manor for The Prince of Rome. My single room is really a double. It has lots of hot water and fluffy towels, perfect for wringing out wet clothes. There are a bunch of common rooms, each one decorated with antiques. This was my favorite hotel of the trip. I would go back there again on my own.

Our agenda this evening was a cooking demonstration, happy hour and dinner. In the cooking demonstration, our chef showed us how to make tagliatoni and gnocchi. Then he demonstrated stuffing and tying rabbit. Finally, he started the preparation of tiramisu. As he was demonstrating, Julie was interpreting.

During happy hour, we got a preview of tomorrow’s hotel and dinner. Then we went through a route wrap. Finally, in a group descussion, we shared stories of our favorite bicycle trips.

Dinner was at 8:00. The dining area was exclusively ours. Our first course was tagaliatoni with a tomato and lamb sauce and gnocchi with an herb sauce. Our second course was roasted chicken, roasted rabbit, roasted potatoes and a small salad. For dessert, we had tiramisu. It was all very good except that the chicken was over cooked.