Three days in Gubbio

Roman ruins, the Festival of the Ceri, funicular trip to top of Mount Ingino to see the cathedral there, viewing small town Italian life. If you want a place to slow down for a day or two and relax and still see some fairly interesting sites, this is a viable option for you.

Quick Tips:

Stay and eat at the Hotel San Marco, not just because our friends own it, it was great and the rates were good.

Best Way To Get Around:

This is a fairly small city. Your feet will get you anywhere you want to go.

Our room was spacious and clean and had a full bathroom including a full size tub. Service was excellent. The hotel has about 65 rooms and large restaurant and banquet facilities. Italians are always celebrating something. Joe and Susan Pierini are the owners and speak good English and would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

The dining room looks both new but yet looks as if parts of it may have been there from the days of the Roman Empire. We had a variety of food in our time there including steaks and fries, spaghetti, chicken, soups, veal, baked potatoes, as well as some of their very special and expensive mushrooms. Everything was excellent. The restaurant was managed by two gentlemen who always seemed to be there. Our friends (the owners) advised their job was to get the job done. They were employees on salary who worked up to 15 hours a day if their were banquets etc. He also explained waiters in Europe are generally paid much better than in North America, but that the 15% service fee often charged did not go directly to the employees, but helped make up their very adequate salaries.

Gubbio is a small city which during the Roman Empire was apparently second in power to Rome. One of the things you can view is a smaller Roman Colisseum. There is no charge, you just go and have a look. The town hall is old and interesting, You can tour the Palace of the Consuls and the Ducal Palace and Cathedral for a couple of dollars and the Bargello Fountains are worth a look. Keep in mind this is Gubbio, not Rome. The sites mentioned above are interesting and worth a look, but don't expect to find the elegance and size of Rome in Gubbio. We also took a funicular ride to view the Cathedral at the top of Mount Ingino. In the winter, (they were preparing for it when we were there) they have Christmas lights going up the whole mountainside which must create an awesome sight. In the cathedral is the body of St. Ubaldo. The cathedral is the endpoint of the Festival of the Ceri. (see separate journal) If you like a good hike, there is a wide, winding road going up the mountainside, we walked down in about an hour, walking up would obviously take a little longer.

The festival takes place in the middle of May. If you are there at other times of the year, the locals sell a video of the previous years festival. The event itself takes place between several teams wearing different colours. These teams carry the "Ceri" on top of heavy beams throughout the townsite and then eventually to the top of the mountain to the Cathedral there. The Ceri are kept in the church the rest of the year. We discussed the event with our friends and it sounds like thousands of people come for the event. If you are into partying, this is the time to come to Gubbio