Last summer we did a big Italian road trip, and I'm loving that I now have an excuse to post my photos of Umbria on this blog! We stayed in a tiny village a few miles outside Assisi, on a farm, where the owners' children and their friends roamed about in total freedom. I really envied them their lifestyle - the children, although young, seemed competent and confident, pitching a tent in the field one night for a sleepover with all their friends, fetching wood for a campfire, and dismantling the tent easily by themselves the next morning.
Anyway, as we were travelling in August with young kids (4 and 2), we tended to leave straight after breakfast to visit one of the Umbrian medieval hill towns nearby, see as much as could in the morning and have lunch out, then make our way home while the kids slept so we could spend the afternoons by the pool. Not a bad life!
Our biggest trips were to Assisi, as there was so much to see. While we were there I was contacted by the Mayor's office to see if I'd like to be taken on a tour of the lesser known parts of the city (um, yes please) and afterwards I was taken to meet the Mayor - the first woman ever elected in this traditionally conservative and religious town, on a centre-left environmentalist platform. What a treat it was to be shown around by a local - one of the wonderful experiences Instagram has brought me over the past year.
We also visited Gubbio, Spello, Spoleto, Perugia, Bevagna and Montefalco, and of course Assisi. I loved the feel of these medieval towns, and in general I found Umbria a bit less touristy than other regions we visited.
