Back to Todi - Day 15

Ruth and Joel headed out this morning back to Florence to catch a plane home tomorrow. Susan and I spent some of the morning before packing up, taking some more pictures of this lovely place near Orvieto. It really is much like a spa with a fitness center, pool, and walking trails. Between the olive groves, vineyards, and even pomegranate trees, it definitely felt like we were not in Kansas anymore! They also have apartments available. Check it out at http://www.laroccaorvieto.com/index_eng.html.

We made our way back to the Todi House via several other hill towns. I must say, they all are beautiful but I don't think I could tell you which one was which except for Civita!

Rita had one final dinner for us. We told her it would only be four and of course she cooked for at least ten! Lasagna, very thin slices of beef sauteed with truffles, bright green spinach, and some kind of fruit torte for dessert. Can't find a single photo so I bet we forgot to take some! We must be getting lazy!

Here is one final photo of Werner in the Todi House garden.

Orvieto - Day 14

Today we relaxed in the morning, enjoying the views of our agriturisimo, reading, and walking.

This afternoon we decided to follow another Rick Steves' suggestion and visit his favorite hill town, Civita. Ruth and Joel went exploring on their own. Werner, Susan, Rick and I set off on our adventure. We stopped first at a Lubrino for a view of Civita across the valley.

Civita is village that was begun in the Bronze Age, 1200-1000 BC. It flourished through the Etruscan period, during the time of the Romans, the Middle Ages, was nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 1695 and has been eroding away since the 18th century. It was originally connected to the village of Bagnoregio by a ridge that was eroded and then bombed during WWII. In 1965, a bridge was built connecting the two villages again. Civita has a permanent population of 9 people.

We were fortunate to meet one of them on our trek over the footbridge. Tony and his late wife moved to Civita in the late 60s. They were both architects and set about trying to save the village from falling off the mountain. They began an institute in Civita where students come to work and learn. So far they have been successful in shoring up most of the buildings. We learned a lot more on the walk but I don't want to bore you with it. What a gift it was to meet Tony and talk with a couple of students that work with him.

We spent several hours exploring Civita while Werner read and took a nap in the car below. He was a great sport about it and has really done well with what I'm sure is a lot of frustration at not being able to operate the way he used to. I'm going to post a few pictures of Civita. It was hardly commercialized at all, had a little museum, a Roman well we got to go down in, and lots of amazing energy in being so ancient. I think it was one of my favorite experiences on the trip!


After our drive back to the hotel, we joined Ruth and Joel for dinner. We lucked out again and selected a restaurant by chance where we were served by the chef, had wonderful food, and given bottles of local wine to take home with us. The people in Italy have been so gracious and generous. The ones we have come in contact with have made an effort to make us feel comfortable. They have seemed to enjoy letting me practice my Italian on them and have had patience when we don't understand a word they are saying. I don't think I've ever felt so welcome in a place before!

Orvieto - Day 13

Orvieto is an ancient Etruscan village at the top of a hill. We were able to drive up to it and with the help of Werner’s handicap tag, were able to park in the middle of the village. It is quite a tourist mecca. It’s known for its Duomo.

It’s vistas were incredible and we found a little park to sit and make a friend.

Rick and I visit some Etruscan ruins found in the 1980s during the renovation of a restaurant. We climbed many, many steps down to examine pottery kilns and wells. We couldn’t even imagine that we were touching something walls that were chipped away thousands of years ago.

Werner and Susan headed back to the hotel for a rest while we were exploring the caves so we took the faniculare down the hill and drove back with Ruth and Joel. They had scoped out a restaurant in the new town of Orvieto (down the hill). The Osteria del Grille was a wonderful find. The only one there who spoke English was the brother of the owner. Daniel had spent time in southern California working for Wolfgang Puck and was our very gracious host.

It was literally a “grille” and all they had was meat and fish. You picked out what you wanted to eat from the cooler and then they cooked it on an open fire. We had the most wonderful baked potatoes and grilled vegetables to accompany our meal. I had pork medallions wrapped in bacon. They were the best I have ever eaten! They gave us small bottles of the restaurant labeled olive oil as a gift. For a change we were the only Americans in the restaurant. It is one of those experiences that was a highlight of our trip!

Orvieto - Day 12

After finishing laundry and a last hike up to Todi (where I found some Roman ruins), we headed to Orvieto. The drive was gorgeous. Of course, I got to enjoy it while Susan handled the hairpin turns and Rick and “the lady” (our GPS) navigated.

Our agriturisimo makes wine and olive oil from its own vineyards and olive groves. It is a spa and probably very popular in the summer. It seems as if we have it mostly to ourselves. Although we did meet a couple from Denver who were retirees and had been traveling around Italy for the last 8 weeks with 3 more to go on their trip. They were as frustrated as we were with the spotty internet!

We had a lovely dinner in its restaurant. There was absolutely nothing on the menu that I could eat so they made me some spaghetti with red sauce and a salad. It was great.

Todi - Day 11

We were able to get on the internet thanks to Rick’s morning hike up to recharge the card. Thanks to Rick Steves we decided that the town of Orvieto would be a good place to try. We took a field trip to an agritourissimo that he recommended. It was lovely so we booked rooms for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night. We returned via Lake Balsano. It was formed by the eruption of a volcano. We had a lovely lunch and then returned to Todi.

Susan had arranged, through the owner of the Todi House, a dinner cooked by a local resident. Rita spoke no English. She made us a delicious soup, salad, chicken cacciatore, and tiramisu. She probably made enough for 16 people rather than six! A lovely way to end a lovely day.

Todi - Day 10

We woke up this morning with this view from our bathroom balcony. The valley was awash in fog with just the highest structures peeking through. Here is a photo of the inside of Todi House.

After doing some exploring on foot, we figured out a way to drive Werner up to the center of Todi.




We realized that while Todi is lovely, it and the house were just not working out for us.

We decided to look for some place else to go that would be more convenient and comfortable. Since we had no internet, we had to “rough it” by looking at travel books. We narrowed our search and decided to wait to the morning when we could get the internet “card” reloaded.

We did drive up to Todi for a dinner that was delightful.

Venice to Todi - Day 9

Still catching up because of poor internet connections.

Today was a sad day. I didn't want to leave Venice. Went out for one quick picture-taking session in our neighborhood and then to the internet cafe to catch-up on e-mail. We then took the vaporetto to out of Venice to pick-up our rental car. We then began the journey to Todi.

The trip took about 4 hours. We easily found Cafe de Mario where we met Rick's sister Ruth and her husband Joel, along with Claudia, a Todi resident who took us up to Todi House. I don't use the word "up" lightly as it was quite a climb in the car and then once parked to the house. For some reason I had fantasized that the house would be in the country but it was actually built into the wall of the hill town of Todi. It was an uphill shlep to get our stuff into the house and then once in the house, we found it to be on four steep levels.

Once settled some of us set out to the supermarket to load up on supplies like wine and breakfast stuff. Then all of us set off into town to get some dinner, or so we thought. We walked up hill on tiny streets for about five minutes before we realized that there was no way Werner was going to make it. It started raining on the way back to the house. Rick, Ruth, and Susan set out again and returned with some pizza and then we climbed to our rooms for some much needed rest.

Venice - Day 8

Still playing catch-up. This post is about Friday, 10/15.

Today was the day I fell in love with Venice. I had a crush the first two days but this day clinched it. How lovely it is to live with no cars, motorcycles, traffic noise, etc. The thousands of boats make noise but the canals are so beautiful, you don't notice it. Besides the vaporettos, there are boats of all sizes from small personal craft to larger delivery boats to the gondolas (we never did take a ride on one...it just seemed too-too). It makes one smile to see the UPS and DHL boats making their rounds.

Rick and I decided to walk to Piazzo St. Marco. We knew the general direction but we just set out from the hotel and figured we'd find it eventually. In the mean time every alley we turned down and every bridge we crossed was charming. It's hard not to take a good photo. I'd like to include all of them but I'll just give you a taste here. If you ever want to see all of them, I'd love to show you!

The Piazza wasn't as crowded had we been there in summer but there were still plenty of people. For those of you who have read The City of Falling Angels, you will recognize this shop which I found in the Piazza. The water in the canals was rising and we could see where it was beginning to pool in the square. Metal "risers" were ubiquitous, to be set out when the walking areas become impassable. But we were lucky, just a few puddles.

We didn't go into the Basilica because the line was too long but we walked around it and the other landmarks. Two cafes on opposite sides of the square had bands playing music. I wish I were a more flowery writer to be able to describe the sense of antiquity yet excitement as "the" place to be.

After wandering some more and finding the Bridge of Sighs (pic on left which was getting some repairs), we found the Rialto bridge and then headed back to the hotel for a siesta.

We then went with Werner and Susan to find the Jewish Ghetto. The old gate is in the photo on the left looking from the inside out. Like in Amsterdam, I never felt so Jewish as being in the place that the European Jews lived and were persecuted. It was quite moving to find the piazza of "highrises" (those were built to accommodate all the people and are some of the highest buildings in Venice) filled with children and their parents playing and laughing, talking mostly Hebrew, and ignoring the fact that this had been a place of great suffering.

We found a bakery open and since it was a Friday afternoon, we bought a challah. It turned out to be the last challah they had. Right behind us was an American family from Houston who were disappointed not to get one. So we stepped outside the shop, Werner and a woman from their group said the prayer over the bread and there we were breaking bread at the start of the sabbath, in the Jewish ghetto in Venice, with fellow Americans making contact with their roots. It was very moving.

What a day!

Venice - Day 7

I'm still playing catch-up for the lack of internet so even though this says it is 10/19, I'm really talking about Thursday, 10/14.

Since the weather was still great we decided to explore the island communities around Venice. Again, the vaporetto was totally convenient. Our first stop was Murano, famous for its glass furnaces. The flowers in the photo are glass. We explored a little but it was pretty commercialized. Susan had been there before so she suggested we spend the bulk of our time at the other two islands in Venice's lagoon.

Our next stop was Torcello for lunch. It seemed to be the least inhabited/most rural/less tourists. A fun experience was meeting some Italian guys who were having a great time and taking their photo for them. We surmised that maybe they were on a reunion of the good old days. They reciprocated and took ours!

Rick and I continued on to Burano which is known for its lace, while Werner and Susan went back to Venice. The most amazing part of this village is the way the color their buildings. It was the brightest, most fun, spot I've ever been. I can't imagine anyone be depressed here!

As you can see by the photo on the right it was getting to be dusk. The boat ride back to Venice was incredible. We were very, very happy!

We had dinner in Venice to end our day. Rick had a "boot" of beer for our toast!

Varenna to Venice - Day 6

We took the train from Varenna to Venice and enjoyed the company of another American couple from Seattle. It's fun comparing travel notes and learning about others' experiences abroad.

Venice was a surreal experience from the moment we walked out of the train station and boarded the vaporetto on the Grand Canal. It was one of those moments where I almost had to pinch myself to be sure I wasn't just dreaming. Vaporettos are the city buses of Venice and run most efficiently. It was easy to learn how to use them and we found our hotel just a few minutes from the vaporetto stop.

We're staying in the San Barnaba Hotel in the Dorsoduro area of the city. The hotel is in a 15th century palazzo than has been in the same family since it was built. It was restored and turned into a hotel between 2000 and 2009. I had the opportunity to meet the current owner who showed me some of the original furniture they found during the restoration along with telling me a little about the family.

You can see the narrow lane it is on in this photo. I'm also going to show you a photo of the water taxi dock on the canal in the back of the hotel.

While we were waiting for Werner and Susan to arrive, I had a conversation with Roberto who seemed to be the manager. He spoke English but I tried to speak some of the Italian I had learned. I was doing pretty well until I invited him to dinner (in Italian) and asked him "Da me e da le?" Your place or mine. He just started laughing and said he would have to check with his partner! So on my first attempt at picking up a guy in Italy, the guy turned out to be gay!

After Werner and Susan arrived we spent some time exploring our neighborhood before having dinner. Here are just a few pix of what we saw. More tomorrow!

Varenna - Day 5

Today was another day of exploring. Rick read that the shortest river in Italy was in the next village over. The river is called Fiumelatte (River of Milk) and the town is named after it. The walk to the town was along the shore of Lake Como, so again every few feet there was a place for a photo. There were some amazing villas. The feel was very Big Sur/Bay Area with the same kinds of trees.

When we got to the village of Fiumelatte, we saw where the little river dives into the lake and it was rushing down so hard it did look like milk. Then Rick told me his goal was to climb to the river's source about 800 ft. above us and as the brochure told us, a gradient of 36 degrees. Not being so good at picturing distance and not even thinking about gradient, I reluctantly agreed to see the source with him. Oy vey! I think it was really a 90 degree angle some of the time plus I was shlepping my bag with water, my shawl, and about two tons of crap.

Needless to say, when I got up there, I wasn't the happiest of hikers. It was pretty though. I'm including a picture of Rick when he triumphantly reached the top and me striking a KROG pose. For those of you who don't know it, I'm really not the outdoorsy type. In fact many years ago my friends Mary and Jeanie gave me the nickname, Karen Rowinsky Outdoor Girl (hence the KROG initials) as a joke. So whenever I find myself in an uncharacteristically nature-like situation I have to memorialize it!

I hate to admit it but I did enjoy having done the hike. The way down was at a very gentle angle and I'm still confused as to why we couldn't go up and down the same way!

When we got back to our village (2 hours later) we rewarded ourselves with a lovely lunch facing the lake. My sister-in-law, Monica, who is a very talented food writer (try out her blog at http://spitanddrive.blogspot.com/2010/10/if-you-hang-out-at-table-long-enough.html) has asked that I include some pictures of the food we are eating. So here's another pizza for you! We meet up with our traveling partners tomorrow so I may start to vary my diet a little and I'll take pictures of their food which will be a lot more interesting than mine.

We ended our day with an evening ferry ride across the lake to Bellagio for dinner. It's a more commercial village than Varenna but by the time we got there most of the shops were closed. We had dinner at a lakeside restaurant. I actually had spaghetti carbonara but forgot to photograph it. Here is a picture of the ferry docking in Varenna. Now it's time to get ready for the next leg of our trip tomorrow. We're taking a train to Venice. Buona sera!