the beautiful mountains of the Valnerina in Umbria against a bright blue and cloudless sky
Record temperatures for October 21 were recorded today – a day that defies all adjectives! I could say glorious, magnificent, stupendous, marvelous, gorgeous, idyllic…but these adjectives fall terribly short of rendering the idea of the absolute perfection of this Indian summer Sunday in Umbria.
impressionist-like views
While it is a few weeks too early for our traditional November outing to Norcia to enjoy the riotous yellows and reds along the road which follows the softly babbling creeks, it was ideal for a quick trip through the Spoleto – Valnerina tunnel to enjoy lunch at a tiny rather non-descript looking restaurant we discovered several years ago. The seating is outdoors on the road with an occasional passing car, the service is family-like with often mismatched dishes and glasses, the tablecloths are plastic…but the food is fantastic. Nonna is in the kitchen as she has been her entire life. We like to go in this period as soon as the hunting season has opened since Nonna does amazing things with wild boar.
the rivers and creeks were stunning in the afternoon light with the first hints of fall foliage and myriad reflections
Today was the perfect day: we sat in the sun (but soon had to push our table to the shade), ordered Nonna’s tagliatelle with wild boar sauce “in bianco” and her just-made gnocchi with her sugo di pecora. Her husband had hunted the boar and they had just slaughtered their own pecora this week.
an exercise in patience
To end this relaxing Sunday, we stopped to fish for trout. The light on the clear waters was beautiful – the reflections and colors were magnificent. Truly a perfect ending to an Indian Summer Sunday in Umbria.
