Like a tiny gem set on the top of the hillside, the Relais rises before us, almost totally encompassing the little town that appears at the end of a pleasant road that winds its way across the lush green Umbrian countryside. The silence that surrounds it is astonishing: from every corner, amidst the leafy green trees, you can hear birds singing, heedless of the fact that in some other corner of the world, life has long since changed its pace.