A day trip to Foligno / Una gita a Foligno

Last Sunday I went to Foligno.

Foligno is the third city of Umbria, a region of central Italy.  It's the most important centre of communication of the region and it takes part in the circuit of "the cities of oil", an Italian association which sponsors a superior type of oil.

In the past it was known as "the centre of the world" because of its geographic position: it is located at the centre of the Italian peninsula which is at the centre of the Mediterrean Sea, once considered the centre of the world.
 

Furthermore, last week there was a tasty fair called "Primi d'Italia" where you could taste different kind of pasta and local dishes.

Here are some useful words and phrases you could use if you decided to visit Foligno or other Italian cities.



Asking directions / Chiedere le direzioni

- Scusi, mi può dire come si arriva a Piazza della Repubblica?          
  Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to Piazza della Repubblica?



- mi scusi, sa dov'è la stazione ?       Excuse me, do you know where the
                                                       train station is?

- sto cercando questo indirizzo ...     I'm looking for this address



- può mostrarmelo sulla mappa?        Can you show me on the map?


Other useful expressions / altre espressioni utili

- quanto dista ?                                how far is it?

- quanto dista il centro da qui?            how far is it to the city centre from here?

- è lontano?                                     is it far? 

Umbrian cuisine

Here are some local dishes  you'll find if you go to Foligno or other Umbrian cities:

Crostini ai fegatini di pollo: slices of toasted bread with a sauce made with chicken liver

Panzanella: wet and chopped bread with tomatoes, onions, basil, olive oil, vinegar  and oregano

Gnocchi alla norcina: a kind of hand-made potato pasta with cream and sausage 

Strangozzi or Strozzapreti or Ciriole al sugo d'oca (it dipends in which part of Umbria you are): a kind of hand-made pasta (made without eggs) with a goose  sauce

Strangozzi al tartufo: the same kind of pasta as before but with local truffle (usually it's a local black truffle which comes from Norcia).

Lumache: snails cooked in different ways (you'll find them mostly in Foligno)

Piccione arrosto ripieno: pigeon rosted and stuffed 

Salsicce con lenticchie: sausages cooked with a tomato sauce and lentils 

Salsicce di cinghiale: sausages made of pork meat mixed with boar meat

Usually these courses are served with "erba", a kind of wild grass boiled and dressed with olive oil and salt.

Strangozzi al sugo d'oca e gnocchi alla norcina

gnocchi alla norcina and a glass of local wine

 

If you are in Rome and you want to leave for a day trip, you can go to Termini Station and take the train "Intercity" from Rome to Foligno. It'll take you an hour and a half to go to Foligno, so you can go and come back in the same day if you don't want to sleep there. See more information about tickets and timetable here: http://www.trenitalia.com/