Umbria - Italy - page 216

spaghetti to a 18 truffle-based delicacy. Secondi range from a smaller mixed grill

for € 9.50 to a big steak for over € 20.
THE OTHER TODI
A local language and culture school, La Lingua La Vita (Via Mazzini, 18; % 075-
8948364; www.lalingualavita.com), offers classes for foreigners ranging from 1 to
24 weeks. Students of all ages and nationalities have the opportunity to rent
school apartments, or to stay with a local family for the duration of the program.
The school coordinates area tours and art, cooking, and Italian-language classes
for all levels. Even if you're not in the program, you can stop by their offices in
front of the theater for information on tours or day courses. Price for a 2-week
course, including apartment, is € 822 (1-week classes without lodging are avail-
able for

€

€

250).

SPOLETO
Spoleto is known for its music festival, as well as for its ancient bridge, its fortress,
and its Duomo, all of which have been renovated and restored over the centuries.
The towering Ponte delle Torri bridge south of the city is built on top of a
Roman aqueduct using recycled stones
from Roman ruins, Etruscan walls,
and wrecked town towers. Walking
through the medieval streets of the old
town, you can see a Roman amphithe-
ater converted into a jazz stage, and a
monastery refurbished into a hotel and
restaurant. The Duomo rose from the
rubble of a Spoleto destroyed in 1155,
using scavenged stones, the founda-
tion of an early Christian temple, and
the marble flooring of a previous
church. The Rocca fortress above town
has been recycled many times; it began
as a Roman watchtower, was converted into a papal castle, then into a garrison
headquarters, and finally into a modern high-security prison. It's now a combina-
tion gallery, museum, performance space, and civic office building.
The greatest example of recycling in Spoleto has been the city itself. This once
proud town became a central Italian non-entity for 500 years, before leaping back
into the world spotlight with the “Festival of Two Worlds” (now the Spoleto
Festival) in 1958. Spoleto is now home to year-round schools for world-class
opera, music, and theater performance, highlighted by the yearly summer event.
But any time of year, the medieval streets and connected series of squares provide
a colorful setting in which to experience the best of Umbrian food, wine, and
entertainment.
DON'T LEAVE SPOLETO WITHOUT . . .
TAKING A STROLL ACROSS THE PONTE DELLE TORRI BRIDGE
The 700-year-old stone bridge is a marvel to observe from afar, and even better
to walk across. Check out the gorge below.

“ We came to Spoleto . . . I never

saw a more impressive picture; in
which the shapes of nature are of the
grandest order, but over which the
creations of man, sublime from their
antiquity and greatness, seem to pre-
dominate.

”

—Percy Bysshe Shelley, Letters
from Italy, 1840