Our Alley

We live on an alley.  Not an alley in the sense of a dark urban corridor, but rather in the Italian sense of a place where there is no vehicle traffic.  The name of our alley is:

"Vicolo della Fortezza" translated literally means "alley of the fortress."  Not sure which fortress.  Not that it would have mattered to invading barbarians, as the really intimidating thing about our vicolo is the steps, from bottom to top, all 187 of them.  Winded after a steep climb up to Assisi, what barbarian in his right mind would even consider going another 187 steps to sack and pillage an unseen fortress?

From our place, we look down 47 steps to the Piazza del Comune.  It's really nice to have a fountain at the foot of your stairs.

Going up from our place, the old alley walls are interesting, and it's not unusual to see wildflowers growing out of them.

But the climb continues, and even where there are no steps, the alley continues as a brick path.  An uphill path, of course.

Phew.  Just 45 steps to go.  Does anyone want to stop at this drinking fountain?  Not sure they make this model of fountain anymore.

Once at the top, one can go up to the right, down to the left, or back to where one came from.  Going down the stairs can be just as much fun as going up them, perhaps even more so.

And it's nice to go slow enough to enjoy the flowers along the way. 

Ciao.