Day 13 – Citta della Pieve

Daily Wrap-Up

One Word

• Barb: Miralaghi
• Mike: Relax
• Jen: Write

Two Words

• Barb: Down time
• Mike: Slow down
• Jen: Brrr…cold!

Three or Four Words

• Barb: What’s all the fuss?
• Mike: Take it easy
• Jen: Talk about narrow streets…

One Sentence

• Barb: Imagine little Perigino running around this town.
• Mike: Even on a day off, you’ve got to get out and do something.
• Jen: We’re open every day—except today.

Day Off

The weather isn’t terrible, although it’s drizzly and cold, but we’re taking a day off anyway. We haven’t had one yet, and I, for one, welcome some down time. I find myself forgetting what we do in a day because there’s no time to process events or write things down. I need to start at least scribbling notes daily since I’m so far behind here.

Today, however, I’m doing lots of remembering and recording. And asking questions.

The planning couch. Consulting guide books, lists, maps, and the Internet, Barb and Mike plan the days ahead.

Favorite Days So Far

I asked Barb and Mike to list their favorite tour days/places so far. Barb resisted being pinned down, but when it comes to my probing-question games, resistance is futile. She insisted that I write down all of her contenders so she could look at them to pare the list down to just three.

• Barb: Assisi and Spoleto; Villa Adriana, Villa d’Este, Subiaco Monastery; Florence; Vesuvius and Pompeii; Amalfi Coast
• Mike: Sentiero Degli Dei and the drive on the Amalfi Coast; Villa Adriana, Villa d’Este, Subiaco Monastery; Assisi and Spoleto
• Jen: Vesuvius and Pompeii; Villa Adriana, Villa d’Este, Subiaco Monastery; Assisi and Spoleto

Huh. We seem to like the same things. Maybe this explains why we travel so well together.

Citta della Pieve

We headed to Citta della Pieve (say “CHEE-tah DELla pee-EH-veh,” which is city of Pieve, I guess), at what we hoped would be re-opening hours after the midday siesta. This walled hill town is highly recommended by our homeowner and guide books. It is the birthplace of Renaissance painter, Pietro Vannucci, aka Perugino, and claims to have some of the most narrow streets in Italy, including one our guide book says is just 31 inches wide. (Can we really call this a “road”?)

Citta della Pieve

We parked outside the citta walls and schlepped through bitter cold wind to one of the churches with a Perugino painting we hoped to see. The church appeared to be closed, but it also indicated we needed to buy tickets at the Visitor Information Center. Given the inconsistent hours of afternoon re-openings, we figured we were a bit early for this stop. The schedule on the door indicated they were open daily and around the time we were there. So off to the Visitor Center we went.

The hours listed on the Visitor Center indicated it also was open daily and at the time we were there. However, it was not open today. I think the message said something about a meeting. It seemed to involve the whole town because the place was dead.

We groused about the inconsistent hours Italy keeps and headed out to locate the 31-inch-wide road, hoping it would not be closed for this town meeting, too.

The narrowest road in Italy: Vicolo Baciadonne. It’s less than 31 inches wide. “Vicolo” means “alley”; “bacia” means “kiss”; and “donne” is “women.”

It wasn’t. We walked back and forth through it at least three times, possibly more. It wasn’t 31 inches wide at the narrowest part; it was more like 22 inches wide. My backpack scraped the sides, as did Mike’s jacket, despite efforts to squinch up and think ourselves small.