Today after breakfast we left Perugia and headed for Gubbio north of there. Each one of these little towns has its own personality. Gubbio seemed older and more uniformly medieval, I think because they don't stucco over the old walls. All the buildings are just the old stone.  

First we visited the remains of a Roman theater just outside the walls of the city. Also there was a little museum that was interesting.  
 
 
 
 
 



 

















 






 
And in the field around the Roman theater were lots of wild flowers, and one stupid little poppy. At least I saw one up close.  
 



















 
Then we walked up (of course) and into the town, starting at a pretty oval park called the plaza of 40 martyrs after 40 civilians who were murdered by the Nazis in retaliation for attacks by the resistance in the surrounding hills.  

The most impressive building in the town, which can be seen for miles around and dominates the skyline is the Palazzo del Consoli, the city hall. Nothing changes under the sun. The original city hall was an adequate building, but was completely overshadowed by the huge impressive duomo - symbol of religious authority, so not to be outdone, the city built an even bigger more impressive symbol of civil government. It was started in 1321 and took a couple hundred years to build, during which vast tracts of the medieval town were leveled to accommodate the building and the huge plaza in front of it. The views from up there are breathtaking.
 
 


















 
There is a funicular up to near the top of the mountain and then you can climb to the rocco (the castle) but we didn't. From the map it looks like we'd have to climb halfway up the mountain just to get to the lift.


More Gubbio.