Today we start touring around Tuscany and Umbria trying not to drive more than an hour each way, I looked up the trip meter and we have already done 2300 kms in nine days....... Target for Monday then, Perugia and Assisi.

As an aside I forgot to mention dropped both cameras out of the rucksack yesterday onto the cobbles of Cortona. No damage to either body or my main lens but the 100-400 zoom is a little stiff when zooming from 100 to 250mm, I suspect maybe a very slight bend, but doesn't seem to have affected the focus. Close one though.

Journey started visiting Lago Trasimeno which is only about a ten minute journey from "home" it is quite a large lake but not in the Como or Garda size. It doesn't seem to generate a lot of boat or ferry activity in fact saw only one boating the hour we were there. We had had a bit of a late start but there was still time for dolce from the cafe at the side of the lake, god the Italians know how to make coffee........

Then a sixty kilometre drive to the ancient Etruscan city of Perugia in Umbria, finding parking places in these walled towns is hard to find but after driving around for a bit we managed to snag a parking station and drove in, I now understand why lots of Italians drive small cars, they don't give you a lot a space getting in and out can be a chore. The amount of walking we are doing feels impressive as there is a fair amount to do if you want to see these Italian towns. The thing they all have in common are shops and tourists in quantity but that is life and you live with it. Mind you young asian girls have an addiction to selfie sticks and posing in quite silly ways, they will have hundreds of pictures from their European trip with ancient building and sights being a background to the funny poses. As you can tell there was not much to say about Perugia except for the pictures. Nice place though.

We managed to find the car park again and set off another thirty klms to Assisi in search of Frank. After Penny packed a picnic for lunch we were looking for a place to stop but found none so we had it in the car park. Reminded me of the times when as a youngster you use to see people drinking tea in the middle of dual carriageways.... Was all going well when Penny sliced a twenty mm cut in her thumb, fortunately we had some large band aids which worked after the bleeding stopped.

More walking and this time there were some canvas moments, must admit liked Assisi more than Perugia, streets were narrowband more of a medieval feel about the place. As you might expect quite a few large churches, the three main ones being dedicated to S. Francis, S. Claire and Mary. There were no photographs allowed inside them but the thing that amazed me was S. Francis is the patron saint of animals yet the sign on the doors said no dogs.. why pick on dogs, didn't say no cats or wallabies only dogs. However we did take Pengy in for a blessing. Pengy btw is our hand puppet penguin who has been on every trip. I know..........

All in all a good day, weather fine and warm. Tomorrow the one place we want to see, Siena.

Day 18 - Searching for Frank in Assisi