With Maria, you have to pick a number first. I try to make my way through the crowd and tear the next piece of paper from the roll: number 97. "Ah, then we still have time," says Silvia, pointing to the wall above our heads. The digital display just lights up with 68. We settle down on a bench. Although the dining room of the "Faliero Torta De La Maria" is packed, there is no crowd. Nevertheless, Silvia doesn't take her eyes off the digital display. Because sometimes things move really quickly, and you can't miss out when... 95, 96 ...now! 97, it's our turn. Silvia jumps up in mid-sentence. We weave our way past the waiting people to the glass counter. Behind it is no longer Maria, as she was all those years ago, but her son. Also tall and strong. "Prego!" My eyes dart over the countless bowls and dishes on display: fried dumplings in various shapes and sizes, pickled vegetables, salads, seafood. An open fire blazes in the background. Five employees are working in it with pans on which flat breads are baking. The flatbreads are sliced like bread rolls and filled with coarse sausage or rocket and cream cheese. Maria's son's eyes are still on me - I'm glad that Silvia is taking the order. She speaks fluent Italian. Finally, we balance our heavily laden trays through the door and out into the garden. Round wooden tables are waiting under the pine trees, behind them Bavarian beer garden furniture is lined up on a long strip of grass - with a view of Lake Trasimeno.
Da Maria", as the locals still affectionately call the inn, seems to be the best-known restaurant in Umbria. "When I mention in Germany that I live on Lake Trasimeno, I often hear: Oh, at Maria's!" says Silvia. The fact that this fast food restaurant in the style of a lorry driver is so well known beyond Italy's borders is just as surprising to me as the surrounding landscape. On the map, Lake Trasimeno resembles Lake Chiemsee in Bavaria: circular, three islands bathe in the water and a motorway runs along its northern shore. However, Lake Trasimeno does not border an alpine mountain range, but nestles in a bed of rolling hills. "Don't be fooled!" Silvia grins and I feel like I've been caught out, even though I haven't even spoken my thoughts yet. "The climbs up these hills are really tough."
MTB trails: the spices along the way are so fragrant that you can taste them on your tongue
And Silvia was right. The next morning, she leads us to a gravel track that climbs up to the "Upper Lake Circuit". Curve after curve, we wind our way up the ascent, the cypress trees painting a kind of zebra crossing on the path with their shadows. Silvia finally stops at an altitude of 600 metres. The lake now lies like a large puddle at our feet - we have reached the start of the Upper Lake Trail. A surprisingly cool wind is blowing around the hill and the first clouds are gathering on the horizon. But we won't be able to complete the entire circuit of the lake today anyway. "You should definitely take two days for this," says Silvia.
"The tour is a constant up and down over the hills. There are far too many metres in altitude for one day." But we experience part of it now and it quickly becomes clear what Silvia means. We follow the signposted path, which changes its surface as often as we change gears. For some sandy ramps, the chain sometimes shifts to the largest sprocket. The herbs along the way smell so strong that I can taste them on my tongue. On a forest descent, we meet a few hikers with baskets under their arms. Mushrooms in May? "No, they're looking for wild asparagus!" Silvia shouts over her shoulder, but then has to concentrate on the roots lying crosswise in front of her handlebars. After a few kilometres on this route, which always offers great views, we take a trail descent back to the lakeshore. The path is a little overgrown, but is beautifully and playfully draped into the side of the hill. A descent that Silvia has never done before. Trial and error - that's how her brother did it too, Trial legend Hans "No Way" Rey once explored his adopted home on Lake Trasimeno here. Because you can't really rely on the few maps that exist of this area.
Umbria should never be compared with Tuscany - or only secretly
The Umbrian landscape reminds me a lot of the hills of neighbouring Tuscany. But Silvia doesn't want to accept this comparison: "Umbria has many more forests! It's more unspoilt and wilder - you won't find caravans of tourist buses here." Well, maybe in Assisi or in the provincial capital of Perugia. But the surrounding countryside has so far been largely spared from bus turnaround areas and souvenir stalls. This is probably due to the fact that Umbria is the only Italian province that borders neither the sea nor any other country. Until a few years ago, the people of Umbria didn't even think about making money from tourism. On the contrary - Silvia's eyes widen: "There have even been proposals to drain Lake Trasimeno in order to gain more arable land."
But then a few tourists got lost in this area and realised that the red wine here tastes just as velvety and the pizza is just as crispy - but doesn't even cost half as much as over in the more famous Tuscany. Stress-ridden managers from Rome also recognised the recreational value of this landscape, buying up old manor houses and renovating them into elegant country estates with swimming pools. Since then, the campsites by the lake have always been full in summer.
Life's work: Tracking MTB trails
This is also how Silvia came here. The co-founder of the bike tour organiser Alps Biketours pulled up stakes in Munich 21 years ago and followed her brother Hans to Umbria. Together with her husband Jürgen, she set about mapping out all the routes in the region using GPS. At a time when the region was just beginning to create hiking trails. Although many of the paths dated back to the ancient Etruscans and Romans, they were naturally overgrown and had to be cleared first. "Over there," Silvia suddenly brakes on one of our high-altitude trail tours, "do you see that basin on the other side of the lake? That's where Hannibal - after his traverse across the Alps - lured in a Roman army of 20,000 men and crushed them. That was in 217 BC." Later, our tyres hop over large pebbles that were once hammered into the yellow sand by Etruscans. It's amazing how well these ancient paths are still preserved. Even the gorse bushes only fluff up their exploding branches at a respectful distance above the historic stones.
In the evening, we take the car to Citta de la Pieve for a pizza. We park the car in the old town and turn into a side street on foot. The word "Pizza" shines above a door. The decor matches: simple wooden tables with white tablecloths, PVC flooring, bright lights - not exactly an oasis of cosiness, but the very best pizza in the region. Unfortunately, Silvia is not the only one who knows this. All the tables are already taken. So we wait at the bar. Just like the former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, apparently. A photo on the wall shows how he met here on holiday with his colleague Otto Schily from the Ministry of the Interior, who was also in office at the time. Both are waiting dutifully for a table at the bar. Because in this pizzeria you can neither make a reservation nor take a number.
Information about the MTB area Lake Trasimeno
The precinct
Lake Trasimeno lies at an altitude of 259 metres near the border with Tuscany, surrounded by hills up to 800 metres high. The climbs are therefore not really long, but often include ramps. Many tours lead over sand and gravel tracks without any technical difficulties. The region's single trails are rather gentle, but there are also forest paths interspersed with rocks and roots - even bike icons such as Hans Rey and Brian Lopes have fun here. Italy: Big Smile Supertrail on Lake Trasimeno.
Best touring time: March to June and September to November. In midsummer it is usually too hot for biking.
Campsite: It is still under construction, but in spring the first glamping site with every luxury will open in Sant'Arcangelo, directly on the southern shore of Lake Trasimeno.
Food & drink: Don't miss a picnic in the sunset over Lago di Chiusi, organised by the Madrevite winery www.madrevite.it
Bruscetta with fresh olive oil, served in the olive garden of the Vitali family www.ilvecchiopiantone.it
Accommodation tip: the Villa Rey Country Resort in Panicale. Silvia Rey and her husband Jürgen renovated an old country house into a true wellness oasis in 2006. With bike hire, its own restaurant, great cuisine, a wellness and yoga programme and a large pool in the garden. As experienced tour guides, they will of course also show you the best trails in the region. www.villarey.eu and www.alpstours.eu
General information: www.umbriatourism.it/de // www.italia.it/en
Tour & Culture: Umbria's most beautiful cycle routes
Coming to Umbria just for the trails would be sacrilege. Of course, you should also pay a visit to the historic centre of Perugia. But the hilly landscape around the capital of Umbria is also full of historical art treasures. You don't even have to get in your car to discover them, as there are signposted cycle routes that thread these sights one after the other. An overview of this network of several hundred kilometres of routes can be found at www.umbriatourism.it/de/fahrrad
The Brufa Sculpture Park in the middle of the vineyards of Torgiano: even from a distance, you can see the impressive open-air works rising out of the woods and meadows. Modern sculptures that are intended to be in direct dialogue with the landscape. 30 artists have been allowed to immortalise themselves here so far and a sculpture is added every year. Afterwards, it is worth pedalling the almost ten kilometres to Deruta to visit the Umbrian Centre for traditional ceramics to visit.
The tour: www.umbriatourism.it/web/umbria/-/torgiano-and-deruta-among-wine-and-majolicas-en
The dome of BevagnaAlmost like a spaceship, the futuristic-looking "Carapace" is parked on a hill at the Lunelli winery. A gigantic dome and architectural sight from the outside, it is certainly a marvellous place to work inside. A work by artist Arnaldo Pomodoro, which can be discovered on cycle route no. 5, an easy 26-kilometre tour through the towns of Bevagna, Cannara, Bettona and Torre del Colle in the Sagrantino wine-growing region.
Info: www.umbriatourism.it/de/-/route-05-the-countryside-between-monte-subasio-and-bevagna
Assisi, UNESCO World Heritage Site: The entire town has been declared a cultural heritage site, as it is the home of St Francis, whose message of respect for nature and all living creatures still resonates today. The life and works of the "patron saint of animals" can be experienced on the "St Francis' Way" cycle route. A pilgrimage route that you can also follow by bike in seven stages through forests, fields and olive groves all the way to Rome.
All information: www.viadifrancesco.it/de/pilgerwege-franziskusweg-nach-assisi-italien/fahrradwege
Cascata delle Marmore - Marble fallStanding in front of this thunderous natural spectacle in the woods near the town of Terni, it is hard to believe that the three steps were once artificially created by man. But it was actually the ancient Romans who caused the Velino River to plunge 165 metres into the depths here. To this day, it is the highest man-made waterfall in Europe. Hiking trails lead through the species-rich, jungle-like forest, which is abundantly watered by the spray from the waterfall. Below the falls, the River Nera is used for kayaking and river rafting.
Info: www.umbriatourism.it/de/-/wasserfall-von-marmore
Gitta Beimfohr
Editor
