She said exactly what I was thinking: "It's going to rain."
We had arrived in Gubbio, a medieval village not far from our friends' place, Le Vigne. The drive was beautiful and sunny, with scenery on both sides of the road and a gentle climb in altitude.
As we approached the town, we saw the ruin we wanted to see sitting by itself in a large field: a Roman theater.
The three of us are theater lovers: Mart and I attend plays regularly, and our daughter loved stage-managing several shows and acting in high school. So, seeing an ancient Roman theater ruin was in keeping with the theme.
We walked past families picnicking in the park beside the ruin and went up to the fence surrounding it.
Front view of Roman Theater ruin in Gubbio, Italy.
Built during the reign of Emperor Augustus, in the 2nd century BC, the Roman theater at Gubbio was the second-largest in the Roman Empire. Plays and choral events were performed there (rather than the competitive games, executions, and other events staged at Roman amphitheaters.) It sustained substantial damage when Gubbio was sacked by enemy forces and afterward, when the townspeople used some of its stone to rebuild the city.
As we walked around the ruin, a storm cloud blew up. We knew that if we didn’t get moving, we might soon be drenched.
Back view. The glass made us pause but concerts and plays are performed there today.
We started hurrying toward the parking lot and talking through what we would do next. A few steps away from the car, the sky opened up so we jumped inside and drove to a lot closer to the center of town. By then the rain had stopped. We didn't have an umbrella, and for once, I didn't let that worry me. I wanted to explore. We started walking up, toward the grande piazza.
The palace up top is in the grande piazza, which was our destination.
With the help of the map and a sign or two, we took a few turns and found ourselves in the grande piazza. We didn't have time to go inside the palace, and we were very hot, thirsty, and hungry, so we started looking for a place to eat.
Our friends Joan and Roger had recommended Taverna del Lupa, which is owned by an American. It is located just off the piazza--we weren't sure exactly where--but we accidentally found it when we took a turn that led us straight to it. Ha! We didn't see the owner, but I had the best omelet there that I've ever eaten.
The view of Gubbio from the grande piazza
There are lots of things to see in Gubbion, but after lunch, we headed back to Le Vigne. We had to get ready for a party that evening, after all. It was a beautiful drive back, no hint of rain.
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