We have arrived

A travel day. Two trains, two taxis and about 6 hours to transport ourselves and 8 pieces of luggage (two of which are encased bikes) from our apartment in Lucca to our apartment in Spello. We are happy to arrive to Mellow Spello…much quieter than Lucca…but all historical towns are ‘tourist meccas’. They kind of have to be in order to survive. The flavor of tourists is different in each place. Lucca is a destination for pilgrims on the Via Francigena, but now is also on the cruise ship circuit. Busloads of tourists, each group led by a flag bearing guide descend upon Lucca about 9:15 am arriving from the cruise ships docked in Livorno…where they return a few hours later, the weary tourists having done a quick tour of the highlights of Lucca. Spello also attracts pilgrims - traveling on the Via San Francisco or one of the other caminos for one of the other plentiful Umbrian saints. Fortunately, Spello is not on the cruise ship circuit. The Spello tourists are a more active bunch. They arrive on bikes or with trekking poles. They have to be in good shape to make it up the hill to reach the medieval town. It is beautiful here… a stone hilltop city surrounded by hills and vineyards. The noisiest it gets are the swifts (rondine) swooping and whistling as they snack on insects.