May 29:

Today was Sunday and we thought it would be rainy. Didn't happen. There was a flower festival being held this weekend in Spello, just down the road, with a procession of some kind around 10:00. I opted out, but Linda and several others got going early and drove over to check it out.


What they found were pieces of artwork created by using designs that were first outlined with chalk, then covered with flower pedals and trimmed with coffee and salt.

Linda walking down the street with flowers in her hair.

Butterflys are always a hit.







You walk down the street with not walking on the artwork. That's reserved for the procession.

A selfie with Linda and Jerry.















The artists worked all night and then the procession walked on them. I don't think anyone found out the reason for this ceremony.

The girls got in the mood with garlands.

Our people were back by 11:00. Later we were invited up to the hilltop apartment that one of our couples was staying at. Its perched at the edge of a cliff and the drive was along a twisting, narrow, barely paved road with sharp switchbacks that required the driver to gun the engine as he turned. Jerry drove and I sat in the passenger seat and sweated.

Once there, the view was outstanding.















A nice visit with some meat, cheese, and wine.

To prepare for tomorrow's painting, Jerry and I drove over to San Gemini to check out the parking and possible painting sites. It was about 45 minutes away, but we encountered some construction with one lane closed on the highway which delayed us about 30 minutes. That was a bummer.

Once we arrived, there were people everywhere and parked along the roads and all of the parking lots. We parked illegally, and walked into the town square. Low and behold, they were having a flower festival too. Two streets were covered with the same kind of flower art as Spello had this morning. And, the procession was about to start. We scouted the town and decided that the painters would be happy with this location. Later, everyone decided to go out for pizza at a restaurant just about 3 kms down the road.

Did I say Pizza?


Here's the chef. So very Italian.


They had quite a production line. Linda and I violated our diet restrictions and ate one with mushrooms and sausage. Yum, good. Nice thin crust and plenty of toppings.


Andrea was our cute Romanian waitress. Like some others we have encountered, her English was good enough to joke with us. 









There were 17 of us with two coming in late who had to sit separately.






















Pizza and wine - a very nice Italian dinner to end the day.