20100609 – Urbino

We took over an osteria for our Happy Hour last night. It wasn’t open yet, so it was extra income for them. Ann and I are planning to eat dinner there tonight.

Speaking of dinner, we ate at Trattoria del Leone last night. It was a small two-room restaurant in a very old building (they all are old in Urbino). We shared a table with Julie and Tom while our Maryland friends occupied another one. I had tagliatelle in a red sauce with ground meat and roast pork in a rosemary sauce. Ann had gnocchi in a pesto sauce and a salad with rocket lettuce with mushrooms and pecorino cheese. Everything was good and reasonably priced. We got there a little past 7:00 and were out by 8:30. This is early by Italian standards.

Our path back to the hotel passed the main square. There was a loud buzz at the piazza with dozens of college age students milling around for their social hours.

This morning we had breakfast at 7:30. It was one of the best buffets so far. There were hard-boiled eggs, prosciutto, cheese, yogurt, cereal, eight kinds of rolls, etc. The feature that I liked the best was the pot of strong coffee where we could serve ourselves. In all of the previous hotels, we had to wait for individual servings. Ann and I ate outside on the terrace with Don and Peter. It was a little cool, but very pleasant.

At 8:30, we met in the lobby for a guided tour of the city. Sylvia, our guide, spoke excellent English and knew the history of Urbino. The city is a renaissance town famous for its Palazzo Ducale and as the birthplace of Raphael. We wandered up and down the steep streets and alleys learning about the major attractions. Our tour ended at the palazzo after two hours.

After the tour, Ann and I went to a sidewalk cafe for a cold drink and a rest. We paid six euros for two soft drinks, but it was worth it to sit and watch the world go by.

We then went into the Palazzo Ducale. Our senior ticket was free so we paid three euros each for an audio guide. It was worth having the guides because there was lots to see – the architecture, the art, the history of the various rooms, etc. It was very interesting and worth seeing.

It took us two hours to visit the palazzo. Afterwards we walked back down the hill to the main piazza and had lunch at the same outdoor cafe where we ate yesterday. This time I had flat noodles with a mushroom sauce. Ann had the house salad.

It’s now 2:30. We are back in our room resting.

Later, we walked out into the heat and visited the Oratorio San Giovanni. This is a small church turned into a museum. There were frescos on the walls that were painted by the brothers who once ran the church. They depicted many scenes from the New Testament.

After that, we had gelato and ran some errands.