This was a trip to the lesser known but historically rich and naturally beautiful heartland of Italy : Umbria. Everyone has heard of Tuscany in Italy, but not everyone has heard of Umbria, which is pretty much the region in the very heart of Italy and lying to the east of Tuscany. The big cities of Italy Rome, Florence, Venice,... are elsewhere. But many have heard of places like Assisi (the home of St. Francis) and of Perugia, the capital of Umbria. Umbria has no coast and hence also no beaches. But it has hills, it has valleys and it has history going back a very long time.
I was in the Umbria region of Italy from the 19th to the 25th May 2026. The main attraction was meeting my dear Italian friend Silvia Barbina who lived in Foligno [also known to be the 'Centre of the World'], and worked in Camerino over the hills. Since my Finnish friend Helena was also in Italy around the same time, she also came over to Foligno, and the three of us had a wonderful time. As we later realised, Foligno was the perfect place to base ourselves to explore the Umbria region. I will tell you why later.
