The_CEO_Magazine_ANZ_-_December_2016

FOOD & WINE

is a spread of sunflower fields and olive

groves like a vision of heaven. Heaven too is

found in numerous pastry shops, filled with

marmalade-sharp ‘mother-in-law’s tongues’,

cannoli and almond biscuits.

For those seeking a fine alternative, Spello is

only 14 kilometres down the road, yet a

tourism world away. Only locals sit in the

bars, and the streets are pleasingly quiet, but

Spello still blends impressive art with history

and good food. It has an Ancient Roman

gateway, sixteenth-century church frescoes,

and buildings of pink marble that blush as

the afternoon progresses. At first encounter it

appears an aloof, in-bred sort of place, with

enclosed squares and secretive, narrow

streets and houses so close together on the

hillside they’re locked in an eternal stone

embrace. Then you notice the homely details:

It might be four

o’clock before you

stumble out into the

afternoon, but

what’s the hurry?

This is Umbria.