A beautiful drive through the mountains took us to the charming arts-colony town of Spoleto. Famous for the Spoleto international arts festival, Spoleto also offered to us a hotel OUTSIDE the wall of the historic center, WITH a parking space (yay). We checked in to the Hotel Clarici, then spent two days exploring. The Museum of Costume and Textile was worth a visit, but also under construction so we couldn’t see it all. Check out the shoes from the 1700s. We toured one of many churches, and saw ancient confessionals, sacred art, and a Fra Fillipo Lippi. After a midday tour of the Rocca, the immense fort that overlooks all of Spoleto, we stopped for lunch at the hilltop bar/cafe. Mike had the panini. Liz ordered tagliere because she thought it was pasta — but no! Tagliere just means “cut up pieces,” so we split our “cut up pieces” of cheese, bruschetta, salsiccia, et al. Although we were hoping to visit the Spoleto museum, which occupies the fort, we couldn’t. It was closed. We are still unable to puzzle out the Italian system for hours of business. Are there any?
Off to L’Aquila, the capital city of Abruzzo, founded by the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II if you care about these things. We arrived in time for market day, where we could choose between fruit and pajamas, vegetables and copper pots, kitchen towels and calipers, or the latest fashions from Milan (sort of). A tour of the Castello, the historic fort that guards this town, brought us to the Museo Nazionale d’Abruzzo, which holds the greatest treasures from the region, including many Etruscan pieces, coins from Etruscan, Roman and Medieval periods, sacred art, and a big ol’ mastodon-type thingie (except twice as big). Viewing the sacred art through the years was an interesting study in seeing how long it took artists to begin depicting the infant Jesus as a baby. In most early works, he appears as a miniature man. As the years wear on, he becomes more baby-like. We particularly like, however, the painting showing a dubious-looking Joseph off to the side, giving Jesus the hairy eyeball. Joseph doesn’t look too sure.
A beautiful drive through the mountains took us to the charming arts-colony town of Spoleto. Famous for the Spoleto international arts festival, Spoleto also offered to us a hotel OUTSIDE the wall of the historic center, WITH a parking space (yay). We checked in to the Hotel Clarici, then spent two days exploring. The Museum of Costume and Textile was worth a visit, but also under construction so we couldn’t see it all. Check out the shoes from the 1700s. We toured one of many churches, and saw ancient confessionals, sacred art, and a Fra Fillipo Lippi. After a midday tour of the Rocca, the immense fort that overlooks all of Spoleto, we stopped for lunch at the hilltop bar/cafe. Mike had the panini. Liz ordered tagliere because she thought it was pasta — but no! Tagliere just means “cut up pieces,” so we split our “cut up pieces” of cheese, bruschetta, salsiccia, et al. Although we were hoping to visit the Spoleto museum, which occupies the fort, we couldn’t. It was closed. We are still unable to puzzle out the Italian system for hours of business. Are there any?
