Big doings were afoot in a number of Umbrian hill towns and one was Spello, right up the road.  It was the weekend of the flower festival. Actually, “flower festival” is a poor translation of infiorata.  Perhaps “beflowered Spello” is better.  Streets of the old town were being decorated with intricate designs all made of dried flower petals and other plant parts (but no wood) to provide festive and colorful carpet for the Corpus Christi procession bearing aloft through the streets the body and blood of Jesus.  Huge industrial metal-framed tents had been erected in the streets, each covering a complex design whose segments were numbered paint-by-number style.  Stacks of boxes of dried flowers surrounded teams of workers who had been carefully filling in the designs since 6 am Saturday.  We arrived about 7 am Sunday, in time to park nearby and peer through tent flaps to watch the artistry being completed.  By eight it was so crowded our group of four could hardly stay together, though Maurice was a helpful focal point with his red Italia hat.  As the designs were completed the teams disassembled the tents in a flash, displaying their art fully to admirers. The flower pictures were breathtaking to behold.  Here was Noah’s ark askew on the sea with God’s strong hand under the waves.  There was Paul stretching out to encompass the churches of his missionary travels.  And David with shepherd’s crook and slingshot, and the Roman centurion bowing before the dead savior–most of the art we saw had Biblical themes.  Of course I wanted to stay and see every single picture (over 100) and then watch the procession, plus see the town’s highlights while I was there, but I had another appointment at 9 am.  Keep reading