Day Tripping: Spello, Trevi & Modern Art 2015

  Now that I've made it through the End-O-The-Year festivities (not my faves), I am anxiously looking forward to the next trip across the pond.

  Jeez...were we not just there? 

  Yes, and there is not one thing wrong with that..... as long as we can get away with it.

  As the planning gets hot and heavy, which means, in my case, looking up all the new and exciting places we can have a meal in Rome and Umbria, I do love to look back at some of the adventures we had on the last trip.

  One day, when we knew it would be nice and sunny, we took the gorgeous drive down to Spello...itself more than just a little gorgeous. 

  Spello is mainly known for being the cutest, steepest, and flowery-est little hilltown in the area. In fact, every May or June there is a huge festa which includes streets filled with the most amazing artworks made of flower petals. You can read all about it here.

  We are never there to enjoy the "Infiorate", but I do love looking at the website to see the lovely and complicated creations created each year.

  I think we must have gone late April or early May, as there were actually nice pots of flowers all about town...

Like this.

And this...

Not as much color, but still nice.

  The primary reason for this day trip, though, was that Johnny wanted to paint a small gouache on paper work of the old (very) Roman arch, way at the top of town.

  

He did it, too.

I wished that he included the kitty, but alas...no.

                               

  Afterwards, we walked all the streets (which was kind of dicey because they were tearing up all the roads to put in new pipes, etc.), enjoyed popping into a couple of churches, and just did some classic hand-holding along the way. I am certain that there was a stop for wine at one point.

  And some gnome hunting, but that was discussed in a previous post.

  Spello is a wonderful place to get lost....

View of Assisi from Spello.
It was a wonderfully clear day.

A perfect Lady Banksia rose, in a perfect spot.

Nice on a hot day, I'm thinking...

A great combination: Cersis and Wisteria.
Oh, and the green hills & blue skies of Umbria!
Sigh.

Overlooking his domain.....

  I mentioned that Spello is steep....

I love this.

And this, too.
Up, up, up we go.

The clock tower with it's crown of green.
This is at the bottom of town, near the best parking area.

  Yes, we love a good day trip.

  After enjoying the earlier part of the day in Spello, we decided to stop in Trevi, which is another hilltown just south a few kilometers. 

  I had read about this contemporary art venue, Flash Art, that had a main site in Trevi, and we wanted to see what is was all about.

  Plus, I had read a book that took place in this town, so I wanted it to 'come alive' for me.

  

  As you approach Trevi from the south on the SS3, a main road that runs north/south through the valley between Trevi and Montefalco, the view of the hilltown is spectacular.

  

Yeah, it's another one of those steep up and down towns.

  As these things generally go, it took us awhile to figure out the best place to park...without the need to hike all the way from the bottom of town. Did we accomplish this? No....because no matter what, we always seem to find the best parking after we have already parked and hiked into town.

  Oh, well...now we really know the best parking.

  We found our way through an entry gate, which is always a nice, regal way to come into a town. Any town....

Some day I want to go through one like this on horseback.

  We wound up the narrow passages to the top f town...

   I was quite taken by this mosaic stonework along the way.

Me like. 

  As we turned a corner, we were suddenly in the midst of a construction site, sort of. 

  This was the old Flash Art space, long closed from lack of support, we have since found out, and it was housed here, in the Palazzo Lucarini, which is now the home of Trevi's Galleria Civica, a nice contemporary museum. 

  It was getting a major overhaul, evidently.

  Hey, we enjoyed the murals which were surrounding and hiding the construction zone, and were happy to stop there:

  Then we found an entrance, which was open, so we continued our adventure inside. There was no one around, no one at the front desk, or anywhere inside. We were it.

  Not knowing what to do, we just went for it, assuming we would run into some attendant that we could pay, or at least say "Ciao" to.

  Fortunately, it was a nice bright day, since there were no lights on, either... I enjoyed the exhibition very much, despite the lack of illumination.

  Sadly, I didn't get any artist info, as there was none to be found. I gotta say...the whole experience was totally great. We felt we had made quite the little discovery. 

    The building itself is lovely, and the exhibit was primarily installation works on a grand scale.

This was great.

I think it was one really long canvas...so cool.

These paper pieces are huge...also wonderful.

  

The wooden sculptures were also a treat to see. Maybe it's the scale of them that appealed to me. I am assuming they were site specific, but with no one to ask, it's a mystery to this day. 

  I just found them so simple and meditative...

  I wish I knew who the artwork was by, but that will be a question for another visit, hopefully when the gallery is open.

  By the way, the mystery of the ghost town-like museum? It was lunch time, man....and this was Italy, after all.

  We left feeling satisfied that we had seen some nice art, but also hungry. 

  Heading towards the main piazza in town, we figured we might find something still open for a small bite, and we did.

  This little place was so perfect for us, I couldn't believe it. A one man operation which served a small but mighty menu, and it had just what we were craving.....

Fresh fava beans with young pecorino cheese. Oh, yeah.
Not something we see on actual menus, btw.

Yes, garlic rubbed and drenched in Umbria's best.
A slight sprinkle of salt...Heaven.

This is my dream of a light lunch, dear readers.

  After we finished our lunch, we began the trip back down the hill to our car...but found one last place to explore before we called it a day. 

  A beautiful old palazzo, now filled with apartments, that had the softest blue walls in it's entryway...we couldn't resist just poking around a little bit.

  

Yummy.

  It was a very good day trip.