The most peaceful place on the planet?

Reached by train in less than an hour, Casperia couldn't be further away from the hustle and bustle of Rome.

Once on the train, it is not long before the gorgeous Umbrian country-side starts to unfold giving way to fields of sunflowers and olive groves.

Having booked to go on a yoga retreat, I was expecting peaceful but this was on a whole new level!

Perched high on a hill, Casperia is a small medieval walled village in the Lazio region of Italy with winding cobblestoned streets with century old small houses - and no traffic!

My room was in the Village House at the top of the village directly opposite the church of San Giovanni believed to have been built in the middle ages. The size of the church is not very large but it has a beautiful Romanesque architecture. The large bell tower of the church stands out in the historic centre of the town and certainly did away with the need for an alarm clock for the morning yoga sessions! So just how peaceful is Casperia? Can you imagine not being able to hear the rumbling of traffic? To just listen to the delightful sounds of nature? A bee buzzing past....a farmer and his tractor....the occasional bird singing..... I once spent a whole afternoon sat on a veranda and just watched a farmer in the far distance meticulously mow up and down his field.....

Whilst quiet and peaceful most of the year, we were there when not one, but TWO big events happened - on the same night!! We were there for the England vs Italy Euro football match which coincided with the annual Festa Del Medioevo where the locals dress in medieval costumes and there are medieval story telling sessions and many other festivities.

Sitting outside a bar (one of only two bars in Casperia), watching the football on a hurriedly erected large screen, surrounded by nothing but Italians dressed in chainmail and carrying bows and arrows has to be one of the most surreal evenings of my life...so far!

Other than the excitement of that night, Casperia really is utterly, blissfully peaceful and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone looking for peace - be that peace and quiet - or inner peace!