Umbria - Day 6: Assisi to Bevagna (by bike)

In the morning, we rode from Assisi to Bevagna. I set out initially with Joe and Scott, but all groups were taking the same route, so we kept intersecting, especially during the pleasant routes through farmland and along a canal past Spello. The three of us, joined partway through by BDan, grabbed lunch in Bevagna before heading out again for an afternoon ride.

parting shot of Assisi (i really like Assisi)	yesterday, we climbed Mount Subasio...	...today, not so much
the arch in Spello	Joe and Scott in Spello	statues and construction, in Spello
clocktower in Spello	Scott's gadget is misbehaving	riding through the valley
we spot an agriturismo, but don't stop in for lunch (we never did make it to an agriturismo on this trip)	road and fields	view from a bridge (probably in Cannara)

panorama, riding through the valley

another valley panorama

the group takes off for a nice ride through a remote field past Cannara	i fell behind to get some group shots in front of this wall of dirt	Lucas and Beth riding in front of the wall of dirt
houseplants	i caught up with the group at the bridge overlooking this stream, near Cantalupo	photogenic Sagrantino winery (we didn't investigate further)
David posing with his bike	the group in front of the winery	still hanging out near that winery
Scott is ready to get going	we rode down to Bevagna alongside this canal	houses across the canal
the road, and maybe some vineyards	part of the group in motion	approaching Bevagna
Lunch in Bevagna was at a pleasant restaurant (le Delizie del Borgo). We were intrigued by this animal fat on bread antipasto	olive tree in a courtyard in Bevagna	Beth, Lucas, Bill, Tom, and David arrived at the same restaurant later, and ate outside. We took pictures of them before heading out for our afternoon ride.

After lunch, Joe, Scott, and i did the loop route to Montefalco, a pretty but strenuous climb. A mile from Montefalco, we were tempted by a sign for a free wine tasting, in what turned out to be a home. The hostess spoke very little English, but gave us cookies, cheese, prosciutto, and generous tasting glasses of several Sagrantino variants. After a comedy of errors involving figuring out how to ship a case back to the U.S. (in the end, the answer was 'not at all'), we settled for a bottle apiece, fit into Joe's panniers. We then walked off our wine by wandering around Montefalco, before racing the sunset back to Bevagna and dinner. Beth had made us a reservation at Redibis, a neat restaurant in Bevagna's old amphitheatre, which scared us by saying 'What reservation?' when we arrived, but instead found us a great room for an amazing meal of many courses (carpacchio, potato cake with cream sauce, tortolli with more of that tomato/white bean sauce, chocolate) and a very charismatic waiter.

on the way to Montefalco

berries (we didn't eat these either)

panorama on the road to Montefalco

Scott on the road to Montefalco	Scott and Joe look at the view	Scott and Joe look at the camera, in the presence of the view
Barrels, and a Sagrantino sign, at the winery	inside of Chiesa di Sant'Agostino in Montefalco	description of a saint whose remains are in the church
foot of Chiarella di Giacobetto	art in the church	missing wall plaster in the church
art in the church	plaza in Montefalco	building in Montefalco
view down an alley to the edge of Montefalco	firewood in Montefalco	driver who is braver than i am, in Montefalco
view from the edge of Montefalco	view across the valley from Montefalco: i believe the city on the right edge is Foligno, so we're looking straight at Spello, at the foot of Mount Subasio	same view further to the left: Spello is at the right now, and, what's that on the left? Could it be Assisi?
yes, it's Assisi! hooray!	I think this is southeast towards Trevi, rather than north back to Bevagna, but i'm not sure	across the valley as we ride down, under the...
...uh oh, the moon. That's not good. We're supposed to have the bikes back by sunset. The rest of our ride back to Bevagna was pleasant but rushed, with no more photo breaks.	Back in Bevagna, BDan, Beth, Lucas, and Joe recuperate. Wifi is very important	Wifi is very important
i remember this soup was amazing, but not what was in it	dinner at Redibis, where they seated us in a little room across a glass from the kitchen	view out the door of our little dining room to the main dining room: the restaurant was renovated from part of an amphitheatre
quail: it's what's for dinner	Redibis menu	lounge area outside the restrooms at Redibis: amphitheatrey
wine bottles: Sagrantino Passito is the sweet dessert variety, and is terrific	Back at our hotel (Hotel Brunamonti) — apparently they found Roman ruins while renovating the hotel, and preserved them under glass floors in a few places so visitors could look at them	more glass floor at the hotel