Umbria

Instead of the usual pilgrimage down to Cornwall for his annual visit, father decided that Italy might be an amusing alternative. Ingrid and I agreed. As our daydream is to eventually retire to Umbria, this was an easy choice. Being the only region with no coastline, it bills itself as the green heart of Italy. At this time of year it certainly lived up to that epithet.

With her usual skill, Ingrid arranged for a week in a delightful apartment, part of a beautifully restored farm house on the edge of Canalicchio, a hamlet high up in hills midway between Perugia and Todi.

We settled into an easy daily routine of languid breakfasts and late starts. We did trips to Assisi, Todi, Montefalco and any number of idyllic medieval hilltop towns. Each day was punctuated with a lunch of delicious local food and wine. 

We could not help but pass by Paciano to have a quick look at the place which is still top of our list of future abodes. Of all the places we have seen online and visited last summer, this still seems to be the most practical option. 

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Creswick Christmas 2017

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Creswick Christmas 2016

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Lingotto

Last week, in our summer holiday peregrinations, we found ourselves in the hills to the east of Turin. I blew all of my carefully accrued bonus points on a day of cars. First off was a pilgrimage to the iconic Fiat factory at Lingotto, now a suburb of Turin. When it was built in the 1920’s, it was the largest purpose built  car factory in the world and was considered to be strikingly avant garde, with Le Corbusier describing it as ‘one of the most impressive sights in industry’. Raw materials went in at the ground floor and progressing upwards, the completed cars eventually emerged at the test track on the fifth floor. Presumably, both Stuart’s and my Fiat 124 Sport Coupes will have been first driven around here. Aah, sweet nostalgia!

The half kilometre long building was the first to use modular reinforced concrete construction with a repetition of columns, beams and floors. The most striking examples of this are the elegant spiral ramps which rise to the rooftop track at each end of the building.

Modern day access to the rooftop track is somewhat incongruously via the 'Pinacoteca Giovanni and Marella Agnelli' gallery. Hence we were treated to the added bonus of a bunch of Canalettos and a temporary exhibition on the prolific Gael Aulenti.

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Turin Motor Museum

The second part of my points blowout was a visit to the Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile. Whilst it featured a mesmerizing, eclectic collection of classic machinery, I was disappointed not to find any Fiat 124’s. However, there were plenty of Fiat 500’s to keep Ingrid happy.

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