We returned to Florence late last night…went to work today…I returned home this afternoon totally exhausted…heaps of e-mails to go through, as usual…oh dear, just got a call from Stefano who told me he and his brother had to rush their father to the ER (apparently, 
he is okay, but I am awaiting more news)…
So right now, to take my mind off things, I am looking through the photos I took this weekend in the region of Le Marche…the city of Urbino, specifically…including this lovely panoramic view (photo 1) taken from the Albornoz Fortress, which is the highest point in the city (485 meters above sea level).
Getting up to the fortress was no joke…Some of the incredibly steep (narrow, too!) side streets had not been cleared of snow, as you can tell from the second photo,
so the going was quite slippery.
Luckily, there were handrails that we could hold onto during our climb (in fact, if you look closely on the lower left-hand side of photo 2, you will be able to see one).
The view from above (photo 1) was well worth the arduous climb, though…wow…
The manager of the hotel where we spent Saturday night informed us that Urbino had essentially shut down after the snow storm…Even the university had closed, even though this is a period of graduations…a good period for tourism…Usually. But not last weekend…
Our hotel had been forced to close for a few days, too, buried under the snow, and had reopened the day before we arrived…Even so, we (and one other couple) were the only guests there, which, I repeat, is very unusual for this time of year.
Between sighs, the m
anager explained that last week he had received only cancellations from clients who had been scared off by the dire weather forecasts. Of course, Stefano and I knew that Urbino had been hit by snow, but that had not deterred us from our original plans. And, in fact, our Skomer Island gear kept us nice and dry and warm (oof, icy icy ICY winds in Urbino…!)…
Anyway, as a sort of reward for our steadfastness, I guess, we were assigned the hotel’s best room…
…a room with a view (photo 4; taken very early on Sunday morning)…
“Anche a me qui sembra di essere un altro. Dunque le cose sono due: o ero pazzo prima di giungere qui, oppure lo sono adesso.” (Goethe, Viaggio in Italia)
🙂
The spam word was “chill” – so appropriado! I loved the last shot with sun reflecting off the snow on the roofs. Delighted you had a good weekend and were treated so specially!
Beautiful photos of a beautiful place. How wonderful to be able to manage all the way to the top and so worth it for the amazing view. A Lovely post!
great photos and so lovely…. Wish I had visited there!
Beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing your vacation with us.