Sunday 18th May A fine day again & after breakfast we set off in Freya's car to see Gubbio a walled town to the north east of Perugia. Unfortunately the place was absolutely full & there was nowhere to park so off we went to Montone, a walled village high in the hills. This was a beautiful place still largely unspoilt although it has been heavily restored. Here we had lunch with an excellent range of ante pasta items before wandering through the village...

Saturday 17th May Up early to catch the train to Perugia, from what must be the most remote platform in Terminii about 1.5 km from the main station. Arrived in Perugia & went to find the car hire company. A sign on the door said ring a number but no answer. Just then the lady arrived but had no maps of the area & just wanted to get away. Down to the car, a Fiat Bambi & then tried to follow her directions to get to our friends, Freya & Robin. On t...

Wednesday 14th May The day started with an email from Webjet to say our flight out of Moscow had been cancelled and we were to fly out a day early with an overnight stay in Oslo. Checked out the site and found there were other options so realised it wasn't suitable, await a reply. Had an email from Freya saying we should hire a car when we get to Perugia. The rest of the day was spent unsuccessfully trying to download Italian maps to our Sat Nav with lots of cal...

Monday 3rd June Caught the high speed train to Venice at 10.30 & spent the next 25 minutes in tunnels with short gaps across valleys. They really travel at high speed all right but it is a shame that nothing can be seen en route. By the time we got to Bologna it was raining again so we were very lucky with the weather yesterday. Arrived in Venice just before 1.00 & walked directly to the convent where we are staying in pleasant sunny weather, what a reli...

Saturday 1st June Another wet day in Perugia with the surrounding valleys obscured by cloud & rain, such a shame for the tourist trade. After a great breakfast Jane packed us up & we went for our final guided walk but had to abandon it for lack of time. Returning to the hotel we met Victor, our new friend from yesterday who had just left us a note at the hotel. He was inviting us to dine with him tonight but unfortunately we will be in Florence. It was g...