Hill towns of Umbria and Marche

We have just returned from a short trip (4 days really is short) around Italian regions of Umbria and Marche. I am glad to say that despite the changing weather it was a great trip and definitely a place worth returning to.
These two regions are a little bit less known compared to the neighboring Tuscany. Fortunately this also means they tend to get a little less crowded.

During this time of year we were able to find budget accommodations for 45 EUR per night (for a double room with breakfast). You can easily find a decent double room in a two star hotel for 60 EUR per night but if you are on a tighter budget, you should do some research before the start of your trip.

Like Tuscany, Umbria is also a place where those green rolling hills seem to just go on forever in all directions. In my opinion charming little medieval towns sitting on tops of those hills are a highlight of the region.

It doesn't really matter if you are a history buff, outdoor enthusiast or you simply love good food and wine... you can definitely find all of those in these parts of Italy.
During this recent trip we tried to taste a little bit of everything. We even took part in a hands-on chocolate making course.

These are Umbrian towns we had on our list and you should definitely try to fit them into your schedule when visiting the region: Assisi, Perugia, Montefalco, Spoleto, Todi, Gubbio and Narni.
Since we suspected we were not going to make it to all of those, we only added Urbino and a small town on the Conero coast from the region of Marche. At the northern end of Marche region there is also a whole another country worth visiting - it is San Marino.

Sadly we did not make it to all of the charming hill towns on the above list. Since we did not want to jump between them in a hurry, we figured we would rather come back at some other time and devote each of them the attention they deserve.
I suggest you do the same and try to relax and really feel the energy flowing through those narrow cobblestone streets.

I will post some useful details from the places we actually got to visit in future posts. Stay tuned to Travel Photo Blogging!

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Sponsored Video: See the world for free!

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This is a sponsored post but as always, all opinions and enthusiasm are my own.

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Connecting Slovenian Salt-pans

Jogging has been gaining on popularity in the recent years. As a consequence there are more and more running events held every year all over the globe. Slovenia is no exception. I have been writing about one such event before - it is called Night's 10 and it is held annually in Bled, Slovenia.

Since Winter is not a very friendly season for sports like jogging in Slovenia everybody is in anticipation of Spring. This year temperatures have been quite high for a while now and quite a few running events were already held. These events can be a great motivation to get moving again and forget all about the cold winter.

We participated in one such event a few weeks ago. Connecting the salt-pans event (Povežimo soline) was held on the Slovenian coast on a beautiful, warm and sunny Sunday in March. It was amongst the first such events in 2012 in Slovenia and also a great beginning of running season for many participants.
As the name suggests the idea of the event is to connect two salt-pans on the Slovenian Adriatic coast by running from Sečovlje salt pans to Strunjan salt pans. The finish line was 9.5 kilometers away from the starting point. The route was mostly set on level terrain and even went through a tunnel.

This time I was not participating. I only offered my driving services to the other part of the team. Even though I had to wait for our running enthusiasts for almost 2 hours I was not bored for a moment. Beautiful surroundings offered great photo opportunities I was more then glad to seize. Even the church tower of the charming city of Piran was visible in the distance. Amongst other interesting sights there was also a group representing salt pan workers. They prepared a bag of freshly harvested local salt for every participant.

The atmosphere was very relaxed and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

If you are looking for an excuse to visit Slovenia, you can easily participate in one of many running events held throughout the country. Here is a list of this year's upcoming running events in Slovenia. The site is in Slovenian, but since it is basically a list of names, places and dates I think you will be able to get all the info you need.

The only thing you should keep in mind is the usual requirement to register in a particular event months before it actually takes place.

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