Leaving La Licia

 

wonderful La Licina

On our final morning at La Licina we hiked a leg of the Via Francesca from Licina to the village of Poreta, a walk that allows spectacular views from Spoleto to Montefalco and Trevi as one climbs steeply into the olive groves out of the beautiful village of Eggi. Olive groves left behind we descended through oak forest to the town of Bazzano Inferiore and then steeply up to its twin village Bazzano Superiore with its tiny small help yourself library, lovely gardens and walnut groves. We picked walnuts and figs along the way to sustain us until a late breakfast in Poreta.

 

Eggi

Eggi from above

Poreta is almost on the plain and after a steep descent she announced herself with the most evocative ringing of church bells, not just “ding dong” but a bell song inviting the faithful to church. On Soon the bell tower was visible and as we walked through a row of plane trees into the town the local priest sped by in his little red car.

 

Waiting for breakfast, Poreta

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Climbing up!

Bazzano Inferiore

Generously, Ludovico had offered to pick us up and stopped for a coffee and pastry while we waited at a little bar chatting to the elderly shopkeeper who kindly brought our breakfast to a table in her sunny garden courtyard. Almost on queue  as we finished Ludovico appeared returning us to the sad task of packing. Farewells exchanged we departed for the other side of the valley to Agriturismo Casale Fusco in the foothills of the Martani mountains where Willy and I stayed for an extended period in 2013. On the top of a hill the grand old house looks over forested hills, rich agricultural land, olive groves and vineyards and clearly visible on an opposite hill line is the restored Castle Morgnano. A quite different range of walks in the more remote environment of the Martani Mountain are possible, the only drawback the paucity of good signage.

Andrea and Vincenzo are wonderful hosts and before we had unpacked the car were ensconced with proseco in a shady position near their recently installed pool overlooking the valley. The vista is exceptional with the castle of Spoleto; Monteluco mountain behind and the valley spread out beneath. Vincenzo explained that the pool is one which allows fish and frogs to also survive as it needs only a tiny dose of chemical to maintain safety so we were hopeful of days warm enough to swim.

 

The pool

While we had brought the leftovers from the previous evening for lunch, Andrea and Vincenzo insisted we share an impromptu lunch of pasta and salad with them. The simple pasta dish with tuna and freshly picked tomatoes, a caprese salad, followed by fresh fruit salad and ice-cream, accompanied by their own grechetto and sagrantino was far from modest fare and afterwards we rolled upstairs to  dress for our late afternoon performance of La Traviata by the Belli Sperimentali Lyrica, a highly acclaimed Opera company based in Spoleto  but well regarded in Europe as a training school for professional singers.

What a treat we experienced! The venue a medium sized 18C  decorative opera house with excellent acoustics and  the cast particularly the gorgeous Violetta with a fantastic presence and voice swept us into the passion of the narrative and music so perfectly performed by the Belli orchestra. Each autumn Spoleto  hosts an Opera festival and the Belli company completes the event with a well known opera which then  tours the region. This was their final performance and the audience response enthusiastic with loud cries of “Brava, Brava” as Violetta took her bows. What a wonderful town this is; a place of beauty, nature, art, music, history food and wine and how fortunate are we to experience its generosity!

 

Teatro Nuovo

Orchestra pit

Waiting for the action

We had booked for dinner at Tempio del Gusto a fantastic restaurant near Piazza Mercato in the centre of the ancient town next to a remaining Etruscan arch way so an almost  perfect day ended with a perfect dinner of mouth watering grilled tuna and salad followed by a semi freddo with peach. I looked forward to my first morning walk in what feels like a slice of paradise.