Saturday, January 26, 2013

Gubbio - a perfect daytrip

As I am sorting my photos of 2011, I came across this one. I got drawn in. And then I remembered the softness of the air, the smell of spring, the birds, and the smell of the stone.



It's taken in a town/city called Gubbio. In Italy, Umbria.

During Easter of 2011, we were looking for a daytrip destination and this was rather perfect distance from Urbino. The place is beautiful! It's nestled on a hillside and is the perfect old italian town.


We had not done much research as to what to do there and where to go so we just wandered around. The streets are small and narrow, with a lot of ceramic shops. Seeing older ladies and gentlemen in their studios practicing their craft was inspirational. There was some kind of satisfaction about them and peace with the world. Like as if they would never need to get to New York or Milan or ... to show their work in big galleries but were perfectly content doing what they love, and doing what they have probably done their entire life, in this little place in the middle of Italy.

We also found this thing - a lift to take us to the top of the mountain.



And the scary experience was totally worth it. The view was breathtaking.



I later read that this town has a great history and has been an important location. The history goes back to pre roman era and is evidenced also by the ruins of an amphitheater.



After the trip to the top we had a nice cafe near the Ducal Palace



and wondered a little more...



I cannot say I would recommend going there to spend your entire vacation (I apologise if anyone from Gubbio is reading this). But I definately recommend you stop by if you are in the area. The place is beautiful, the ceramics are fantastic and you feel like you have been transported in time to a different world.

I loved this trip!




Sunday, January 13, 2013

Where to go in 2013

If you are lost for destinations, here is a nice place to start: the NYTimes 46 places to go in 2013

As my New Year's resolution included 'less travel', or more precisely, no travel on two consecutive weekends, I am carefully picking my destinations. Happy to see that my April's destination is at the top of the NYTimes list! In addition, with 7 already done that appear in the list, I have enough picks for the rest of the year from the 38 recommended places that I have not yet seen. I must say, the heart draws to Mongolia, especially as I have an open invitation to go there to visit my friend who just moved back home....hmmm....tempting.

But, we have our rough plans already done until August....

January: Estonia - my birthday celebrations
February: skiing in Megeve
March: Italy
April: Brazil! Rio, Sao Paolo, ...
May: Italy
June: - free -
July: Estonia and Greece