Tales of a Traveler
Labro, Italy
Last fall I spent three weeks in Italy. My primary reason for going there was to attend Italian Burning Weekend and reconnect with friends I’d met at Nowhere that summer. While at IBW, I met a lovely woman named Jane. She was supposed to head home to Australia immediately after the weekend, but decided to stay for another week so that we could spend more time together.
One of the highlights of the week was our visit to the comune and village of Labro, in northeastern Lazio near Umbria. We went there to visit friends who run the Art Monastery Project, a “non-profit arts organization dedicated to cultivating personal awakening and cultural transformation through art, community, and contemplation”. The Art Monastery is just across a small valley from the stunningly picturesque village of Labro.
View of Labro from across the valley. (Photograph by Sascha Romeo, http://sascharomeo.blogspot.com/)
Jane and I spent an afternoon wandering through the village, and enjoyed an excellent lunch at ArcoLuna, one of two delicious restaurants in this village of 370 people. The next evening, we returned with friends from the Art Monastery for dinner at Boccondivino, the other restaurant – which is directly across from the first! Outstanding food in both places, great wine, superb service.
Labro is well worth an excursion if you’re in the region – a good escape from the hustle and bustle of Rome, great people to meet, fairytale-pretty streets to wander, and excellent food. Do it.
(And if you make it to the Art Monastery, tell them Stuart says hello!)
Looking over the rooftops of Labro to Lago di Piediluco.
Lovely pedestrian streets.
Lovely pedestrian streets, redux.
Grassy stairs.
Comune di Labro (with the town's symbol, the cinghiale or wild boar).
ArcoLuna, where we enjoyed a most excellent lunch.
A mouthful of wine (a mouthful of heaven).
Awesome! Did you (finally!) get to meet Betsy?
Yep (as you saw in that other forum). She’s rad, just like you said.
Those are some great pictures, thanks for sharing!
These photos are gorgeous, Stuart. So glad you were able to visit us.See you at Nowhere this year?
Yes! Nowhere! I already bought my ticket. :)
Aside: I love the fact that all of these photos (except for the cross-valley shot, which isn’t mine) were taken with my phone. :)
Came here from CS, and man I am glad I did! Love the first pic, reminds me of the Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh (India) and Tibet…
Thanks, glad you enjoyed. Labro is a really lovely little town – I hope to return there sometime soon for another visit.