Some Panicale Love

As always, I start to get a little verklempt during the last week of our stay in Panicale. 

  First year here, I broke down and cried several times, always at odd moments. Seriously. Poor Johnny, being the type of guy who wants to "fix" things, desperately tried to figure out a way that we could stay forever. He just wanted me to stop crying....  

  Now he understands that it's just a part of my letting go for another year, pats me on the shoulder gently, and says things like, "I know, I know... " or "we'll be back, I promise....". These gestures are nice, and all, and I do appreciate them. I just need to cry a little. That's all.

  So, as usual, I have been taking way too many "last shots" of sights I will miss, so I can pull them up later in the year while sitting at work, sighing. 

  It works for me. 

  Especially when I put on some sappy music.

Panicale Skyline.

A peek of Bar Gallo through Porto Perugina, a main entry.

  All over Umbria, you can find little medieval towns sitting on tops or sides of hills. When we take drives around the area, we see them everywhere. We see the bell towers of the churches, and the walls that often surround the towns. They are each beautiful. They each have narrow, winding alleys and lots of stairs. They have cute piazzas with a bar.

  But this is Panicale, and we have come to love this little town the most. 

  I have walked these streets and climbed these stairs over and over, almost every day, and often several times a day.

  I like to imprint them in my mind, to walk through on nights when I can't get to sleep back at home. Those nights when I wake up at 2 in the morning, stressed out over work. I will start to walk the little streets of Panicale, and soon enough, I conk back out.

This years apartment, on the right with the flowers I planted.

  Within a few minutes walk, we can buy groceries, get a coffee at Bar Gallo, eat at one of the great restaurants in town, buy lovely gifts.....I love not needing to drive everywhere. 

  

One of the markets we like to shop at. 

A little peek inside Linda's market.

  The street with the markets and butcher shop, Via del Filatoio, is a busy little place, and cars sometimes block the way for a few minutes, while the drivers pop out to buy something quick. 

  It's never quick. I like this.

I love the butcher shop sign, although we have never shopped here, being vegetarians.

Just down the way, closer to the main Piazza,  the fantastic restaurant everyone refers to as
Masolino's.  I also love the telephone sign, an old one.

This market has great produce, gifts and specialty item foodie treats.
Olanda (I hope I have her name spelled right),  is very helpful.

  Some of my favorite scenes, below, we see day in and day out, but I still take a moment to stare, when the evening or morning light is perfect. We love to just walk all over town some times, checking out every set of stairs and every little garden. 

  Panicale is small, and has three concentric "rings" of streets. To get to the very top isn't too hard, and so worth the views. We like to go at night sometimes, just to see the lights across the valley.

Easily the most photographed house in Panicale, especially in the Spring.
Don't ask me how many pictures I have of this one....

Stairs leading to the top of town...

St. Michael's Church, just above the main piazza.

Looking down to the main piazza,
Piazza Umberto 1

A favorite little garden. Nice terraces, too.

A small piazza at the top of town.

Just another street I like a lot.

Piazza Umberto 1 at night.

  We spend a ridiculous amount of time at Bar Gallo, writing, eating, painting, drinking, people watching, video chatting with my parents...... It's our favorite hang-out, for sure.

An all around good place to be.

Another restaurant we like a lot, Gallo nel Pozzo.

 I didn't include the views from the walls of Panicale here, but I will in some later post, after getting home. I have to string these things out. This way, I have every excuse to go through my photos, reliving sweet moments here. 

  It' my way of being here and there, here and there. 

  Have I mentioned how much I love this duel life we have been living the last few years?

  All over town, the wisteria are in full, crazy beautiful, bloom. I will do another post soon, just on the wisteria around the area. 

  Right now, walking around the walls of Panicale, the sweet smell of these abundant blooms is just this close to overwhelming.

  Close, but heavenly.

  

The beauty of an outside wall in spring...wisteria are going nuts right now, and please
notice the white one dripping down a terrace railing, in the middle of this pic.

The little fountain in the park, with wisteria pouring down the walls in back.

  So, lying in bed on an early morning the week of our departure, can I just let myself well up a little? I'm not crying, just getting misty, ok?

  I'm looking forward to being back home...really. I can't wait to see my parents in real life, not on a screen. Also can't wait to see the garden. And friends... Even work will have it's own charms for me. 

  I will be happy to be in a "routine" again. Believe it or not.

  And then, soon enough, I'll be planning the next visit back. 

  

What it's all about.