That is literally the old Via Flaminia as it passes through the Roman town of Carsulae. We drove out there from our tenudo to look around. This via was an ancient trading road between the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic, but was much improved by Roman engineers when they invaded Umbria around 250 BC.
Carsulae is an unusual Roman site because most Roman towns have been subject to later building on the old Roman foundations, but nobody ever built a town on top of Carsulae (in part, because it's not on a defensible hill).
The place started as a Roman military camp, and just grew into a town with an amphitheater, a local Senate, etc. by the time of Augustus. Most of the Roman town, and its surrounding Roman vacation villas, are yet to be excavated.
Remains of the town hall and town square
Roman snack shops built into the outer part of the theater - just like Yankee Stadium -
We stopped for a caffe and to stock up on waters in the little "bar" there. "Bars" in Italy are not pubs: they have caffe, pastries, snacks, gelato, wine, beer, cocktails, pizza, and maybe some other light food.
That caffe won the prize for the tiniest caffe I had on the trip. Can't even see it in the pic. Tasty, though.
During our walk up to the parcheggio, I suggested that Mrs. BD show me something really old, so she reset the GPS for Amelia, where the remains of the Umbrian (pre-Roman) town walls are still visible. The large heavy stones (no cement) are umbrian, here at one of the town gates. Those Umbri were no slouches with stonework:
So we strolled around a bit through Amelia, but not much to see. Old town, nothing happening except a couple of gals painting a storefront mural
and lots of fun doors:
Afternoon thunderstorm blew up, so we decided to find a place for lunch. A neighborhood joint. That's where the menu was from that I posted a couple of days ago. Two-hour lunches.
Pescatore antipasto, with mussels, smoked tuna, crayfish, etc -
My seafood risotto: Tasted much better than it looks in the photo:
As that point, we stopped the menu but shared Mrs. BD's Tuscan steak. Tuscan steak cooked with laurel leaf is a real treat, but they overcooked it a little (we miscommunicated). Still quite tasty. They grill steaks on indoor wood-fired grills.
Place was crowded when we got there, but by the time we gave up on this lunch the crowd had thinned out:
Then we drove back to Todi, near our tenudo, to hang out, stroll around, burn off the lunch, and join the evening passagiatta before heading back to the tenudo.
As you know, most Italians shut down business, museums, etc. after noon or one, and reopen at 3 or 4 until around 7 pm. Restaurants and "bars" have their own idiosyncratic hours.
