In contrast to Campagna (and to be fair we only saw the coast), Abruzzo and Umbria brought the LUV straight up. A long drive from Salerno (in our car from our 5^th attempt) we stopped off in the idyllic town of Pescoconstazo and although too late for lunch due to some car hire issues we won’t talk about (anymore) we sure as hell had some time for a wine and chill. And what a change, there was free parking, the wine shop owner brought us out free cheese and hams because it was too nice outside not to and we got free pasta with our truffle purchases! In Civita di Bagnoregio, while buying stamps, the lovely lady asked if I’d like to try liqueur without even batting an eyelid…of course I said “SI” and was treated to 3 shots of local hooch, not what I was expecting but it was great. Lea tried the local nuts instead. This place was so different our hotel, built into the cliffs had a cellar attached with an honour system!

We stayed in 4 beautiful towns through this region, including in a 1500 year old house where we were ironically upgraded to the “Camera dei bambini” (kids room) in Santo Stefano di Sessanio, were privileged to be able to spend a night sans tourist on the outcrop that is Civita di Bagnoregio and loved the hill towns of Spello and Gubbio. We visited twice as many towns over again than this, including Assisi where Lea started making religious puns, so I had to tell her I was having nun of it and to stop being a cheeky monky.

Our final night of this intense section of the trip (where everything went to plan!!) was a top the hill in San Marino. An amazing place if you’re in the area, we scored a new passport stamp (so this should probably be A Tale of Three Countries) and enjoyed the most spectacular sunset of the trip from our vantage point at dinner.

Some key take aways from this part of our trip:

• We were a bit taken aback by some of the commentary of the North v South of Italy, but now having been to both, understand that stereotypes are based on truth

• Still running at 100% bidets (and 0% use)
• Driving is like an old cartridge game where speed limits are for authenticity and they hadn’t programmed in the indicator lights yet. You’re just driving along worried about other cars trying to kill you and not trying to drive through a hairpin turn off a cliff and then BANG there’s a bike!! Or a dog! Or a chicken! Or a goat! Or an old lady making pasta! And according to the signs we’re supposed to also be worried about deer and bears!!
• The pleasure derived from paying a 3€ parking fee with small denomination copper coins you may have been carrying for up to 11 years cannot be underestimated!