Ever since we moved here 10 years they have been building a road through the mountains to Umbria.  It seems to have inched forward but then suddenly was finished.  Since July we have been nipping over to Foligno with the gay abandon.  A trip which did take over an hour of agonising twists and turns is now just 20 minutes of mostly tunnel.  It’s not as pretty but very, very quick.  This is particularly handy as often, if it is raining in Umbria it is sunny in Marche and vice versa.  To celebrate our new connectivity  we went with the journaling course to Spello in October.  What is special about Spello?  It is made of a beautiful and unique pink stone which is particularly luminous in the setting sun (also apparently at dawn, but lets not go there).  It is characterised by charming little lanes and and for culture it boasts some breathtaking frescos by Pinturicchio of the life of the young Jesus.  A perfect conclusion to a day of sketching around town.  Falling into conversation with a shop owner from Spello it appears that the flow works both ways, they like to hop in the car and nip over to eat fish on  the Marche side. Everybody wins.  In this age of division it is like two countries discovering one another.