Umbria Getaway to Passignano sul Trasimeno, Perugia, and Todi

Umbria Getaway to Passignano sul Trasimeno, Perugia, and Todi

Last Christmas Daniele’s brother gave him this little MoveBox, which is an Italian company that sells hotel packages. There are different ones, with different themes. Ours was places with “Charm”. The little box that the gift certificate came in included a book of countless places, mostly agriturismo (converted farms). Many of them had pools, so we had been waiting for a chance to use it in the summer.

We first thought we would stay in Tuscany, but since it is August, many places were full or had minimum stay policies. We ended up choosing a beautiful place, Agriturismo Podere Borgobello in Colle Umberto near Perugia, Umbria instead. I was excited to see Perugia. This was also near Lake Trasimeno, which Daniele wanted to see.

Our “weekends” work around Daniele’s work schedule, typically the day after his night-shift and his day-off the following day. When he came home, around 7:30am, we finished packing up and hit the road for Umbria.

The first stop was Lake Trasimeno. We visited the city, Passignano sul Trasimeno, which was a cute old town right on the lake that also went up into the surrounding hills. There were trails that went up into the hills, which we did a little of, but it was a hot August day, so I was not very interested in doing more of that. We did get some nice views of the lake below, though. The city also features a “Rocca” or castel-like fortess structure right at the center, which I always love.


Rocca of Passignano sul Trasimeno


Me in Passignano sul Trasimeno


Passignano sul Trasimeno port

The area around the lake was nicely set up for tourists or day-trippers. They had public bathrooms (not easy to find in Italy), a shaded picnic area (that we took advantage of with sandwiches we made that morning), and a spring water dispenser. Many Italian cities/towns have these water dispensers. Locals can typically get a key to get free still or naturally sparkling spring water; everyone else pays 5 cents a liter, which is almost free.

After lunch we went off to the little town of Colle Umberto to find this Podere Borgobello where we were staying and hopefully use their pool! And that’s just what we did the rest of the afternoon. We had passed signs on the way for a pizzeria, Il Cucuzzaro. Daniele hates going places he has not already eaten, but when we showed up here, they could hardly fit us in they were full with reservations. Now, we’re really in the middle of nowhere, so that’s really impressive. The food was great, and nice size portions, and cheap. I got the Ortalana Pizza, that’s with zucchini and peppers on it. It was really good, they roasted the veggies before putting them one the pizza, rather than just letting them cook on the pizza. And there were a mix of different peppers all were fresh and delicious. Daniele got some type of pasta with goose meat. It came with hand made pasta and was apparently very good.


Agriturismo Podere Borgobello in Colle Umberto (PG)

Saturday morning, after a delicious buffet breakfast, we went to Perugia. We were given some parking advice, to go to the lot at Piazza dei Partigiani, since it was still pretty early. From there we easily took the escalators to the top if the ancient town.

Like most Italian cities, Perugia is famous for a particular export, Perugina Chocolate – the company that make those little Baci among many other delicious things. I was hoping there would be a general Chocolate culture, like Modica, Sicily, but it seemed to really just be Perugina. They had a store right in the middle of the historical center where I bought a bar of Fondente Luisa. This is apparently the original dark chocolate recipe the founder started the company with. It’s pretty good!

The escalators of Perugia bring you right into the old ‘Rocca’ or fortress that once upon a time was all that Perugia was. It’s remarkably well preserved and pretty much open to be wondered around. From here you take a second, shorter escalator out to the “modern” historical center. We came up in Largo della Liberta where there happened to be an antiques market happening. There also is the Palazzo della Provincia, the equivalent of a County Capital Building right there and the main, store-lined, street that leads to the main square. The main square is dominated by two large buildings, one on each side. There is the Palazzo dei Priori and the Cathedral of Perugia.


Daniele in Rocca Paolina of Perugia


Me in antiques market in Perugia

As implied by all the escalators, Perugia’s historical center is high up. After we hit the big sites we wondered around a bit and found some beautiful views of the surrounding cities and countryside. There are also some park areas, some small side streets, and just generally lots of charm. I really liked Perugia!


Via Baglioni in Perugia


Panorama of Perugia from above

We started our day early to beat the heat and felt we had seen what we came to see by early afternoon. So we went to another city not to far and generally in the direction of driving back to Rome, Todi. Daniele wanted to go to Todi last weekend and Spoleto won out, which I think was a good call since Spoleto is a bit bigger with a bit more to see. Something I just learned, Todi is a city in Umbria, Toti is the very famous captain on the Roma soccer team, and Todis is a large supermarket brand. In case there is any confusion.

When we got to Todi we had no change for the parking machine, but by some miracle there was some the return change slot, so we used that to pay for two-hours of parking. In that time we climbed up to the top via the main street, stopping for random photos along the way, went around the very top a bit, and came back down. Then we stole some figs from a tree before Daniele pointed out to me they were actually privatly owned (it seemed like a public area). It was my first time eating a fig right off a tree and it was delicious! I saved a few that I made into pizza the next day. Maybe someday I’ll make a food blog. Overall Todi was charming. We were tired, so I don’t know if we missed things, but it felt like we saw it all in two-hours.


Via Giacomo Matteotti in Todi

Then it was back home to Rome. Such a lovely weekend!

Photos from this trip are online here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111221349198606775660/20120824UmbriaGetaway

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail

32 Responses to Umbria Getaway to Passignano sul Trasimeno, Perugia, and Todi

  1. I simply want to tell you that I’m all new to blogs and seriously enjoyed your blog site. Most likely I’m planning to bookmark your site . You really come with perfect articles. Appreciate it for sharing with us your website.

  2. I have been browsing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the net will be much more useful than ever before.

  3. You’ll find it nearly not possible to encounter well-aware users on this content, however you come across as like you fully understand exactly what you’re preaching about! Thanks A Lot

  4. I’m amazed, I must say. Seldom do I come across a blog that’s both educative and engaging, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is something not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy I found this during my search for something relating to this.

  5. It’s actually nearly extremely difficult to find well-qualified women and men on this theme, unfortunately you look like you understand those things you’re posting on! With Thanks

  6. Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this website needs much more consideration. I

  7. Hello very cool website!! Guy .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds also? I’m glad to search out numerous helpful information right here within the put up, we want work out extra strategies in this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .|

  8. I don’t even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don’t know who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you aren’t already ;) Cheers!

  9. You’ll find it almost impossible to see well-aware individuals on this theme, in addition you come across as like you understand what exactly you’re preaching about! Regards

  10. Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a very well written article. I’ll be sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I will definitely return.

  11. Shelby Riise says:

    It is actually mostly close to impossible to find well-aware men or women on this content, yet somehow you come across as like you are familiar with whatever you’re talking about! Thanks

  12. It truly is practically extremely difficult to come across well-updated individuals on this area, however , you look like you fully understand what you’re revealing! Thanks

  13. Leon Cohron says:

    What’s up, I check your new stuff on a regular basis. Your writing style is awesome, keep up the good work!

  14. My brother recommended I might like this blog. He was totally right. This post truly made my day. You can not imagine just how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!

  15. Dedra Uboldi says:

    Might be practically not possible to encounter well-educated readers on this theme, then again you come across as like you are familiar with exactly what you’re raving about! Thanks

  16. Danny Jerko says:

    It certainly is mostly impossible to find well-educated individuals on this subject, yet somehow you come across as like you know whatever you’re talking about! Gratitude

  17. We really intend to tell you which I’m just inexperienced to having a blog and incredibly admired your page. Likely I am likely to bookmark your post post . You simply have extraordinary article reports. Truly Appreciate it for expressing with us your url information.

  18. It is perfect time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I’ve read this post and if I could I desire to suggest you some interesting things or suggestions. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article. I wish to read more things about it!

  19. It’s actually almost extremely difficult to find well-aware people on this content, regrettably you appear like you fully understand which you’re raving about! With Thanks

  20. Jamie Navone says:

    It’s actually almost close to impossible to find well-educated americans on this subject, still, you look like you know what you’re posting on! Thanks A Lot

  21. Noticeably interesting resources you have said, thank you so much for putting up.

  22. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I have truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!

  23. Jeff Linford says:

    It certainly is near impossible to see well-informed women and men on this content, although you appear like you understand whatever you’re indicating! With Thanks

  24. Excellent post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am impressed! Extremely useful info specifically the last part :) I care for such info a lot. I was seeking this particular info for a long time. Thank you and good luck.

  25. Hi there, I read your blog on a regular basis. Your writing style is awesome, keep it up!

  26. You’ll find it almost not possible to come across well-aware viewers on this theme, fortunately you come across as like you understand what you’re writing about! Many Thanks

  27. Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely helpful information particularly the last part :) I care for such info a lot. I was looking for this certain info for a very long time. Thank you and good luck.

  28. Curt Degado says:

    It can be almost impossible to find well-qualified viewers on this issue, however, you look like you know those things you’re indicating! Many Thanks

  29. Zenia Petric says:

    It really is near close to impossible to find well-updated men or women on this content, yet somehow you come across as like you understand the things you’re writing on! Bless You

  30. I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don’t know who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger if you are not already ;) Cheers!

  31. It really is practically extremely difficult to see well-informed americans on this area, unfortunately you appear like you fully understand exactly what you’re indicating! Excellent

  32. homebuilder says:

    I used to be able to find good info from your content.|

Leave a Reply to causes of lung cancer Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *