On Saturday morning we set off via the MiniMetro to the station for our 30 minute train ride to a small hill town called Spello. It is a very pretty and well loved place, judging from the well kept flower boxes everywhere. It seems that last week's 'heatwave' has certainly brought on Spring and the blossom everywhere was just gorgeous. Having stopped for a restorative coffee in a little bar with a terrace overlooking the valley, we set off on our walk to Assisi. I told the students that it would be a 'flattish' 12 km walk and I have to say that some of them looked a bit sceptical at this information, especially when they noticed Mount Subasio, Umbria's highest peak, towering above us. I should also point out a disclaimer at the use of my photos on this blog, as Xena claims that in every one I post, she looks like she wants to murder someone. 
Luckily, with some local help, we made it to the Via degli Ulivi and off we went, accompanied by a dog who decided to adopt our group. At this point, I should mention that this dog had a collar and was named 'Calimero' but our group decided to rename him Assisi. The animal theme seemed very appropriate as our walk continued, as we saw...
...donkeys...
...horses and snakes...chickens and a peacock...and some scary guards dogs which made some of the girls squeal...
...and then finally we made it to....
At this point I was beoming a little concerned about our canine guide as he blithely negotiated the traffic. Luckily for him, a passing motorist stopped and checked his tag before flagging down a passing police car. Thus we discovered that despite his tag saying he could find his own way home, this was in fact in Foligno, 17 kms away. We bade farewell to Calimero, aka Assisi, and he was last seen setting off with his police rescuers in the back of their FIAT to hopefully be reunited with his owners.
Continuing on to the historic centre of Assisi, the first stop was lunch to refuel from our walk. This accomplished, the rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around the town with its shops bursting with religious items and of course the churches themselves, including the double layered Basilica di San Francesco.
A final winding bus ride returned us to Perugia where a huge surprise awaited us. It seems that our students have been practising their Italian and had organised a beautiful arrangement of flowers for us as a thank you gift. Grazie mille!! Our only Saturday night in Perugia ended with dinner in one of my favourite restaurants called Al mangiar bene. We certainly did eat well, with some in the group declaring the pasta to be 'just like nonna's' - high praise indeed! Then of course they discovered the dessert pizzas which certainly ended the night on a sugar high. Still, according to my pedometer, we covered over 25000 steps today, so we all deserved a treat.
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