The forest here is referred to as the Foreste Sacro, as over a thousand of years it has been inhabited by various different monastic orders. Today there remain three functioning monasteries. These forests are a national park and are well protected. When you climb high, all you see is layer after layer of forest running to the edges of limestone cliffs. The forest is primarily birch and, for some reason, there is very little undergrowth, which creates an amazingly beautiful forest floor. The fallen leaves illuminated by sun beaming through the canopy create a beautiful carpet of light browns and deep reds. Given the history of the life in these woods, there are an amazing number of ancient walking trails and an abundance of tranquility. And of course the food. On the way here we stumbled on a great little place (gnocchi pictured), where the owner/chef/waiter spent a lot of time with us talking about pasta and flour. It was great fun. Now this gnocchi may look heavy, but I have to tell you it was a very light spinach/potato gnocchi stuffed with ricotta and served in a creamy tomato sauce with prosciutto … truly delicious!!! I’ve included a second food picture of desert/café especially for Kristina .. sooo good, and the espresso is a perfect finish to a perfect meal. Next stop for us is Gubbio.
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