Today is a day for sipping warm tea and staying in town. It's one of those days when the dark clouds seem to do little more than threaten, unless one ventures out and goes a little too far without an umbrella, at which point the deluge begins. One reading these posts might develop an impression that Umbria is an idyllic place, which it is. However, misfortunes happen here, as well. Why, just yesterday, while ascending a dirt road out of the Marchetto Ravine, peacefully approaching the medieval fortress town of Armenzano, I came upon a farmhouse, an elderly tenant and a barking dog on a chain. I greeted the tenant cheerfully in Italian, mentioning where I was walking from, all the while keeping to the far side of the road. The lesson waiting to be learned was, some chains are longer than others. I thought I was safely beyond "il cane", when its teeth reached my left ankle. The tenant seemed not too concerned, perhaps wondering why some people choose to learn through experience. After continuing up to Armenzano and washing off the slightly bloodied ankle at the local fountain, I decided to go back to take a picture of the dog, just in case it needed to be identified later. As I approached it ran, whether from fear or in remorse, and hid in its dog house, certainly not the first dog or man to regret acting on impulse.
Back in Assisi, I went down to a pharmacy and asked for advice. The pharmacist, who spoke a bit of English, came around the counter, took a close look at my wound and said it was "superficial", which I quickly and optimistically assumed is not Italian for "ugly" or "fatal." She then sold me a bottle of "perossido di idrogeno" for one euro, which compares very favorably to the cost of health care in America.
Here's a few mostly unrelated pictures to go with this woeful, or wooful, tale. The first is of the region of yesterday's hike.
Next is a bridge, further down the Tescio River, close to Assisi, that Charlemagne's troops crossed over as he was on his way to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The bridge has been rebuilt over the years, but contains some of the original stones.
An interesting house/antique shop, not unlike homes found throughout Assisi.
And (hoping it's large enough to read), a menu from a favorite local dining place.
Ciao.
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