Stone upon stone: an Italian sojourn: Once an Etruscan hill fort

It took only an hour to fly from Catania to Perugia, but many many hours in the entire process. We were dropped to the airport about 5pm expecting to board the plane around 7pm at the latest. Then, we were delayed over 2 hours: Ryan Air, which is the only flight that does this leg. No real choice. But, having said that, we had great seats--actually nine of them between the three of us and had it been long haul that would have been super, we might have had a long sleep, prone; but as it was just a short hop we sat and used only three of them.

We were dropped at our farmhouse retreat in rural Perugia and noticed about two inches of snow on the grass in the dark. Not what we were expecting. The temperature, though, was mild: not much different than Catania, so we went to bed tired, but extra warm, with a log fire burning brightly in our living room, welcome, though not really needed. Temperatures were still mild in the morning but we managed a shot of the melting snow before it disappeared completely around lunch time.

We woke to the sound of church bells ringing right outside our bedroom window. That is the sound of Italy to me: church bells. Three special bells crafted by local villagers long ago, ring out at different times each day, just a couple of metres from where we sleep.

For the next nine days we are in this delightful traditional farmhouse with its raked wooden beams, inglenook fireplace, and wooden shuttered windows creaking on big iron hinges, on a plot of land, in a tiny hamlet, at the top of a hill, where some 2,400 years ago a group of Etruscans built their stronghold overlooking a valley that the Tiber runs through. With just a short pretty drive into the town of Perugia, if and when we needed to visit.

From here the Etruscans could see far. They thought they would be here forever.

But, their Etruscan fort has long gone. The Romans moved in on them; though signs of both remain in ancient foundation remnants. The hill then became a powerful city state with a castle set atop the spoils of the Etruscan fort held by a Bishop of Rome. The ruins of that are today owned by a wealthy local family and are slowly being converted into luxury apartments, with the adjoining church still adorned with many priceless objet d'art. And the local residents proudly display their religious leanings in the tympanum arch over the front door. For whom the bells toll.