Porchetta Maremmana.

Porchetta is a young pig, left with the head intact, that is de-boned and stuffed with spices such as rosemary and garlic, and sometimes even lard, then roasted in a wood-burning oven for hours. It can then be sliced and eaten or used to fill sandwiches.

My neighbors growing up often roasted a pig in the ground, so seeing a pig’s body like this is not so surprising to me. For others, it might be. I’m assuming I have a slightly more varied and international readership than YumSugar (who seemed heavily weighted towards vegetarians and Americans), but I actually have no idea. I’m curious about your feelings…

So, fill in the blank: When I look at these pictures, I ……….

Original YumSugar post here.

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Our friends put us up in a local monastery, San Ponziano that was beautiful and set just beyond the city walls, here on the left. In about 3 minutes on foot we were already at one of the main squares of the town. In the middle is the Rocca Albornoziana and to the right is the Duomo di Spoleto. Not a bad view!

Unlike some monasteries, there either wasn’t, or we didn’t respect, a curfew. We came home late one evening to find the lobby open and the keys of various rooms on the counter of the reception desk. Trust!!

Only one caution about staying here…as soon as we entered the lobby of the monastery to check in, the woman behind the counter looked at my husband, shook her finger in his face, and said, “No, no, Signore! Così non si fa!” (No, no, Mister, you can’t (behave) like this) Since we had never been to the monastery, and not even to Spoleto, we were quite confused. We then found out that she had mistaken him for a guest the night before that had argued loudly and disturbed other guests.

After spending the night in our room there, we’re not quite so sure it was this other man’s fault, either. The walls in our room were paper thin and having an animated conversation passed easily through. But the rooms were nice enough, clean, and cheap!

So Spoleto was sleeping last time we looked. Now it’s starting to wake up. This is a fountain near la Rocca Albornoziana, that is similar to la Bocca della Verità in Rome, don’t you think? This topo volante, or “flying rat” as they are sometimes called in Italy, actually looks valiant for once.

Now the Duomo area is populated, and luckily there are steps and benches for people to sit and take in the sun.

Spoleto is famous for the Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) and Andy Garcia (yes, that Andy Garcia from the Untouchables and Godfather III and Ocean’s X”) will be performing a concert in late June in Spoleto! You still have time to get tickets!

Otherwise, next weekend (1-2-3 June) there is another, newer festival called Vini nel Mondo (site in Italian) – Wines of the World! There’s even a Notte Bianca del Vino on Saturday night – Notte Bianca (White Night) is kind of an Italian way to say, music, events and a party all night!! Click here for the Vini nel Mondo’s event program (Italian)!

Another example of the many streets and nooks and crannies of Spoleto. Who knows how old this particular side street is. I can’t talk enough about this town that I can’t wait to go back to for some relaxation and explore it even more. I think it’s on the fast track to become one of my favorite cities in Italy.

Complesso San Ponziano (the monastery) http://www.sanponziano.it/ (site in Italian)
(+39) 0743 22.52.88
info@sanponziano.it

Festival dei Due Mondi – June 29 – July 15
http://www.spoletofestival.it/

Vini nel Mondo – June 1 – 3
http://www.vininelmondo.org/

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But it was necessary.

We decided to do our normal night train down south so that we could “earn” another day during our little vacation, one of the several long weekends in April. Unfortunately, the way the night train schedule worked out to this particular destination, we were arriving at 6am. We had planned on getting some breakfast and maybe walking around the city for a few hours, and meeting up with our host at a more suitable hour, like 10am.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t letting us get away with that. When we arrived, early and maybe not so bright in the Italian city of Spoleto, region of Umbria, we found a city that was still sleeping. But it was a peaceful and beautiful experience because the beauty of the city is mainly in the open so we didn’t need to wait for opening hours to enjoy most of it.

I should have known what to expect. I mentioned to my friends and colleagues that I was going to Spoleto for the weekend and almost everyone said, “oh, che bello!” so that should have been an immediate indication.

Spoleto is a great city that I can’t wait to be able to visit again – there is something of historical significance around every corner and its setting is so picturesque and there was green and trees everywhere we looked. Being in great company with friends didn’t hurt, either. The city itself is built on a hill with different paths going up and down its narrow streets, and we took several different ways and discovered something new each time.

The pictures from early morning were wonderful and completely absent of tourists or even locals. Our early morning cappuccino and cornetto were hot from the oven.

The Duomo di Spoleto (Cathedral of Santa Maria dell’Assunta) is not as obvious as you’d think – it’s situated off a small street with a decline leading to the piazza del Duomo. It feels a bit like it’s sunken (and protected) because of the hills on one side, and the buildings on all other sides.

One of the most striking sights of Spoleto is the Ponte delle Torri, a 13th century aqueduct, which they claim to have some Roman origins as well. But it blows me away to think that this bridge is 700+ years old – it’s enormous. A circular walk which is a runner’s dream surrounds the Rocca Albornoziana, a castle-like building that sits at the highest point of the city, near the bridge.

A medieval church, Santa Eufemia, a few steps away from the Duomo has very interesting windows, seemingly built more for protection than to let the light in.

Via di Fontesecca is a street in the centro storico that will later be overrun with tourists. The shops are quaint but most likely to be avoided unless you really need that salsa di tartufi or ceramic bowl.

Soon, the city will awake!

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And the winner of the Ms. Adventures in Italy has Moved contest is comment #24, Brilynn!! Congratulations! Please email me about the prize. Think about if you want the Notecards or the Amazon Gift Certificate! Thanks to everyone for commenting!

Caption this photo from this weekend:

This man is running through the streets of Spoleto (I was running behind with the camera) carrying several loaves of bread and talking on his cell phone because….

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