Tuscany and Umbria

We left Riomaggiore with regret but also with excitement to experience Tuscany and Umbria areas. We rented a car in Pisa and quickly visited The Field of Miracles (leaning tower, cathedral and baptistery).

It was impressive to see the gently rolling green hills with vineyards, carpets of green hay dotted with the bright yellow of canola fields. Along the sides of the highways grew red poppies punctuating the Tuscan beauty. Large villas sat atop the rolling hills crowning this Italian experience.

Enotecas (wine bars) held wonderful examples of Tuscan wine. We found that asking at trattorias or pizzerias to sample their vino da casa (house wine) was inexpensive and really quite good. There are many hill towns of central Italy that retain their medieval charms and their atmosphere is a slower pace than the larger cities. We chose to stay in Volterra which sits high above the farmlands. It’s a city that was started by the Etruscan civilization 2000 years ago.

We stayed at a hotel that is an ancient stone structure but with modern rooms. Lisa and Giuseppina were our hosts. It’s standard procedure in Italy to give your passports to the desk on check-in and they are returned within an hour or two. This time our passports were returned with a small ice cream birthday cake with one candle. It was a perfect way to spend a birthday! It was interesting to talk to Lisa and Giuseppina and even more interesting that they knew about the Democratic race for the U.S. presidency and gave their opinions of the candidates.

The second night we stayed in Orvieto, a wonderful Umbria hill town known for its white wine, ceramics and cathedral. The old town sits majestically a thousand feet above the valley floor. We stayed at Hotel Picchio which is a family run hotel near the train station and drop off spot for the car. The owner was working in her garden just outside our room. When we opened our shutters she came around and offered us the first two ripe strawberries from her garden.