Old Church

Today saw me visiting the old city of Umbertide (it is market day on Wednesday). So down the road I went with Rosemary and Patrick; 18km of winding curves and breathtaking vistas down into the city (I am making plans to try and ride a bike up from the city one day). Once in the city I was given the chance to roam on my own for an entire hour (and I certainly made good use of it). I covered a lot of ground. Snapped a lot of photos and saw a major portion of the old city. Photographs will follow. We spent the morning shopping for food and walking around the city before returning home in the early afternoon. By the time we were halfway up the hill it was raining quite hard; I would actually classify officially as a downpour, and we scampered inside with the bags of groceries to escape the rain. In 40 minutes the rain would stop completely and the sun would come out. After a quick glance at the weather I realized there would be no more rain coming our way.

I was given the day off (so to speak) and invited to go outside and do some exploring. At the suggestion of Rosemary I decided I would head up to the old church I had said I'd like to explore and have a look around. After Patrick loaned me both of his lenses (one a telephoto (good for zooming) and the other an extremely wide-angle (good for shooting buildings)) he told me he was up there just a few days ago and that I'd need to give the door a good shove to get inside. So up the road I went under a slight breeze and sunny skies. There are no shoulders on the sides of Italian roads (at least not the country roads) so it's a bit precarious sometimes, but I made it down the way without a hitch. Once there I shoved my way inside and was presented with a rather empty, broken and shattered main entrance. Apparently the church was built in 1956 and was abandoned due to damage sustained during an earthquake. I don't know when this earthquake occured, but by the looks of the things I'd say it has been abandoned for quite some time. Ceiling tiles have fallen away, there are holes in the floors and the spot where the altar should be is completely collapsed and you can see through to the basement. I spent about 20 minutes or so walking around the collapsed shamble of a church. Outside the plants and trees are making attempts to reclaim what was once theirs. No idea if there are plans to demolish and rebuild something else or possibly to renovate (I imagine renovation would be quite costly). In any case I did a bit of exploration around the grounds, snapped some photos using both the wide-angle and telephoto lenses and had an enjoyable time as the rain had gone and the temperature had risen. So there you have it. That's that. That's my day and the old church.

Tomorrow is Thursday and I'll be expected to do plenty of work. It is predicted to be sunny and near 21 degrees (70 in fahrenheit) so it should be good. This weekend I'll either be sightseeing with Caro or exploring elsewhere solo (maybe I'll try and find a nice city in the region with a decent beer scene ;] ). Oh and also! Next week! Wednesday the 11th, I will be heading down to Orvieto to watch the finish of the 5th Stage of the Giro d'Italia (Piombino to Orvieto). If you are unfamiliar with the race, then google it! It is the last major race before Le Tour de France. I am so excited and happy I brought my cycling jerseys! I'll be wearing mine hanging out near the finish line cheering on all the riders (I hope one of the riders from Garmin wins since my jersey is a Garmin Slipstream (now Garmin Transitions)). Ok so yeah, that's it. That's all, I swear. Ttfn.

Zach

"The Jersey"