Dear Readers,
I am loving all your comments. Please keep them coming.
Today we switched our base of operations from Perugia to Spoleto. You may know of Spoleto from its famous music festival (which is in the summer). We will visit Spoleto itself tomorrow, but first we had other places to go to today.
We first drove about an hour south to Todi; a town I had never heard of prior to planning this trip. It is yet another medieval hilltop town. Like many of the others, it was initially Etruscan and then Roman.
Here’s the main square: Piazza del Popolo.

We started with a short tour of the underground Roman cistern.


Then into the Duomo which has a huge choir and a lovely rose window.



Then into the Palazzo del Popolo which had some lovely ceramics as well as a painting of St. Martin.



Here are some more typical streets.



We tried to go to the Church of Santa Maria Della Consolazione, but it was closed for lunch or perhaps just for some construction. Gorgeous outside though.

The most unusual aspect of Todi was the Beverly Popper Sculpture Park. It is the first park of contemporary sculpture in Umbria and the first by an American artist. Frankly, it didn’t compare with the sculpture garden we went to recently in Grand Rapids!

Our second stop of the day was about an hour further south—Marmore Waterfalls. They were man made by the Romans in 271 BC. Unbelievable. We all know how much I love waterfalls. They did not disappoint.





And then it was time to get to Spoleto; only 40 miles away. Our initial impression has not been as positive as everything else so far on this trip. The hotel is not as nice as the one in Perugia. Dinner, while good, was not as fabulous as expected. The web said it has a Michelin star, but we did not agree. We will see how we feel about everything tomorrow. Stay tuned.
❤️
Irene