03.10 - Day 262 - Silvignano, ITA

Thursday 3rd October - Silvignano, Italy (Day 262)

Whilst we were in Salzburg and planning where to (roughly) go, we knew we were looking at 3 possible weeks in Croatia and also Italy. Weather wise we’d have wanted to be in both in September for hopeful late summer sun. 

In the end, Croatia won out as we expected more seaside time. As a result, Italy got bumped to October which means we should expect more wet weather - not that this has any bearing on the kids' expectation of gelato everyday. 

As the rain comes down this morning, Sienna and Seb are content with their Lego whilst Kate and I map out the next few weeks on a scrap of cardboard with the map of Europe unfolded beside us. 

On a break from the rain we briefly walk around Silvignano - brief because it’s so small, all we meet are a few cats. 

Anoraks on, we then drove up to Rosiglia which, like Ithaca in upstate New York found use of the river, albeit in a more cottage industry fashion, cutting and sluicing the stream leaving now a quiet village with hopeful restaurateurs scanning the dozen or so tourists. 

Looping round to the outskirts of Foligno we lunch at Mente Locale for our first Italian Pizzas where the crust is so thin it melts in your mouth. At this point it is really pouring as we dash back to the car and into Conad for groceries. 

The end of the loop we detour to Trevi - another of the small towns perched atop a hill. Whilst the rain had abated to a light drizzle I’m the only one willing to get out the car, walking quickly amongst the historic buildings looming over the uneven narrow pathways. 

The rain intensifies and so we retreat back to the house where the kids alternate between Lego and Italian cartoons - we convince ourselves they are learning a second language.