Curioso...

I had a grand plan of starting my Monday's as a recap of the gorgeous, intriguing and possibly the slightly strange sights and sounds I came across on the past weekend... Well this weekend I ended up sick in bed! 

So rather than going over the motions of what it is like to have the flu in the middle of an Australian summer, I thought I would share some images of the most curious little town I encountered whilst living in Italy...

This pre-Roman city, Gubbio, is so steeped in history that it was actually built upon the debris of the gigantic meteor that was responsible for wiping Dinosaurs off the map! 

Off the beaten track for most tourists, I was lucky to walk down the lane-ways with an English speaking local who introduced me to its obvious beauty, its fantastic hot chocolates and to its decidedly odd quirkiness...

Gubbio, famous for its most beautiful palace that seemed to float amongst the clouds, Palazzo dei Consoli... 

...and for its palio, Corsa dei Ceri, an annual contest where, dressed in medieval costumes, select town folk run with their Patron Saint statue that weighs in at approx. 280kg.

I, however, was much more intrigued by the largest Christmas tree light display in Europe which engulfed the mountainside;

...by the mummified corpse of a priest (face uncloaked!)which has been lying in the Chiesa, or Church, since 1105AD...

 

... and the fact that the town can certify you crazy, certificate and all, if you run around the fountain, fonte de lo Bargello, 3 times!

The streets seemed more cobble stoned than most, and the walls had some miniature doors at least a foot above street level. Apparently the dead are passed through these tiny doors, known as Porta di Morti or Door of the Dead, and are then bricked up until another resident passes away...

But perhaps my greatest regret as I left this captivating city was that I, a) didn't purchase more of those surprisingly inexpensive white truffles and return home a rich woman, and b) I missed out on the uncorking of the wine barrel! 

This medieval wine barrel is so large that it takes 387 52litre barrels to fill it up! You can see just how tiny the normal sized barrel looks in contrast! Every year the winemakers of the region fill the barrel up and on the 13th of March, the seal is broken! When I asked my friend how long it would take the town's people to consume he said "Allora, just a couple of hours!" 

Mmmm...how messy!