Villages and Miatas in Italy 2024

Back on the road and moving from Abbazia Collemedio.  Lots of great roads on the way of  course.  We are heading to Siena from Orvieto to a new resort. On the way we stopped at an agriturismo for a four course lunch that was a tough finish.  Desert was a very light tiramisu in chocolate so that helped get us over the finish line.   The new place is Borgo Grandaie. I don't know what the name means.  Nice folks though. <Some recent shots>  Thanks to Les Elkins for his contributions.  We are in the green car today.

 Not much to talk about for a couple of days. Just some really amazing driving roads. On the best stretch  we have no photos because Donna was  hanging on for  dear life for 22 miles of hairpin turns.  This continued for two days with a 4 course lunch in the middle of the journey.  We stopped at Assisi for  a walk around but not much happening there.   We traveled mostly on back roads but we did stop at an oasis on the autostrada In Italy, the rest stops are called  'Autogrill' and they have a full bar.  This  truck driver was  enjoying a nice glass of the local  white. Truck driver at the bar Nobody seems  to  worry  about  drunk drivers.

 This morning's event is a visit to  the <Vatican> .  Pretty good guide but we've been here before so not much is new.  And it's  a  good thing we were here before because all of the stuff we wanted to see again like Bernini's altar and the Pieta are covered up for  rehab in anticipation of  the big Jubilee in 2025.  Everywhere in Rome  there are scaffolds and  tents covering the sights for rehab. Bernini's altar canopy The Pieta Lots of places to contribute money though. Tonight is our get-acquainted dinner with the Miata tour folks.  A good bunch with an oddball or two. Most are new  to Italy. Tomorrow we'll take a van ride to pick up the Miatas at the garage near the coast.

 So we stopped by the Trevi Fountain today.  It's still there and it's still wet but boy  is it crowded.  What they say is true, Donna tossed a coin 20 years ago and here we are < back to Trevi again> And what about the virgin aqueduct?  Named after some virgin who found it a long time ago.  More likely it was an early Roman project that ended in Rome near the site of the future Trevi fountain.  The location of <the dig>  is a place called Vicus Caprarius.  It was discovered when a developer dug for a foundation to build an apartment building.  As soon as it was found the site was converted to  a tourist attraction, probably  because it makes more money than the apartment building would have.  You can  see the remnants of  a luxury house at various stages of time and the water from  the aqueduct  is still flowing there and used in the Trevi fountain. Pix of Vicus Caprarius are in the <Tr...

Getting around Rome is a pain.  Expensive cabs and long walks will  make  you  tired  and  broke.  We found an alternative with < Buzz4tours .>  These guys rent a Buzzy electric  vehicle and also supply an iPad with preset tour stops.  You can drive it anywhere and park for free anyplace  you can find space. I  thought it was great fun but my navigator was nervous.  The only  bad part is the condition of the Rome streets - kinda bumpy.  Not only that but Pope Franky has decided that next year is a 'Jubilee Year' and everyone should come to Rome to celebrate.  So  the city of Rome is rebuilding/remodeling/repairing everything in sight.  Construction everywhere. Of course our first stop was to visit a < neighbor who lived nearby > Then it was off to see the sights. At least the ones still visible.   We had  a nice dinner with a neighbor and then went  to bed.

A nice high speed .italo train  took  us from Milan to Rome.  Checked in to the Hotel Eliseo and headed for the laundry to wash some duds. After a wash and dry, Donna didn't  want  to climb the Spanish steps so we took a taxi.

 Took a taxi with our friends the Taylors.  They are staying at the Milan airport hotel and we are going to the Genius hotel in Milan.  This is by far the best hotel on the trip.  They have eliminated all of the irritating details that the other hotels have (plugs, lights, showers etc.) and are right downtown walking distance to the sights. We strolled around a bit, saw a <one legged opera singer>  and had an <aperitif> on top of a <department store> next to the Milan duomo.  We'll visit the duomo tomorrow but it has the most complicated and irritating ticket purchasing procedure I've ever seen. Milan is all  about business and shopping.  The super mall is called < 'Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II' > and has been around for a long time.  Mark Twain said he could live there.  The beautiful mosaic floor has a figure of a bull.  The legend is that if you spin on  your heel on the bull's testicles you'll get...

 We said goodbye to most of the gang this a.m. and then went for a walk around the peninsula.  The rich people have allowed a narrow sidewalk along the water's edge and it's a nice stroll. Dinner was at a restaurant called LaMotta.  No relation to Jake.  They have some excellent local craft beer.  It is served in 750 ml bottles in an ice bucket just like white wine.  It's a new trend in Italy.  Ate a giant burger while sitting next to a giant dog named Aida.  She was well behaved and only walked around once or twice. Aida does not have a leash and she likes it that way. <Lake and Aida> Italians like their dogs and take them everywhere including stores and restaurants. Tomorrow we'll take a taxi ride to Milan for a bit of sightseeing.

Well, we are on the last leg of the tour and heading for Lago d' Orta in the lakes region at the foothills of the Dolomites.  Lago d' Orta is near Lake Como but much less crowded.  No Americans and no cruiser tours.  Lake Como gets > 1 million visitors/year and is very crowded. <map> Nice hotel on top of a STEEP hill and a cute town with lots of restaurants  and bars. We had a boat ride to visit the basilica of St. Julius and he was home to greet us.  The place is a convent with about 50 Benedictine nuns that don't speak but also don't pay $400 a night for a room. <Island of St. Julius> This evening was the final dinner of the tour and it was really good.  Everyone said nice things and the wine was delish. <Dinner> Everyone packed up and the tour is over after breakfast tomorrow.  We will stay an extra day to spend some time here.

 Wow. We are actually caught up with the blog posts.  This is a busy trip so any down time is used for rest and recuperation.  We've also been getting some weak wi-fi signals and that slows down production.  I'm not checking any of this so if anyone is reading and notices problems/mistakes let me know. Today is a 'vacation from our vacation' with a day off at Cinque Terre to do whatever we want.  We decided to take a walk to Bonassola on the Passeggiata a Mare; a lovely walk along the sea.  The best part is that some of the route is in a tunnel.  This was a former train line that has been converted to a bike/walk route.  It is flat and smooth so easy for us old folks. the route is about 3.5 km one way so it's a good stretch of the legs.  Many bikes and people with dogs for company and the tunnels keep  us cool. We had a couple of Morretti's and a ham and cheese for lunch and then hiked back for a nap and a shower.   <Passegg...

 Our hotel tonight is in Levanto on the North end of Cinque Terre.  But first there is a stop at a Carrara Marble quarry on the way to the Italian Riviera. When you first see the Carrara mountains you think they have snow but what you see is actually white marble.  These guys have been quarrying marble for a long time.  They still brag about a guy coming here to get a nice chunk to make a statue called 'David'.  There are samples all over and we had a nice tour with a lady named Anna who had a head cold and kept blowing her nose into the microphone of the guide radio. We met a nice Leonberger dog named Geraldine. It's very dusty and noisy here. Back on the bus for a lunch stop in Porto Venere and our first view of the Riviera. Lunch was good but the view was better. We arrived at our hotel in Levanto in time to freshen up and then headed down to a Ligourian Feast of pasta fresh seafood, roast beef, rabbit and lots of wine.  Off to bed for some sound sleep. ...

Our goal this morning is to check out a nearby olive oil factory.  The local growers have a co-op and they bring the olive crop here to make oil. They also make  a nice lunch.  It was all very  interesting but we didn't buy any. Since Pisa is not far from Lucca we decided to see if there was anything worth seeing in Pisa.  A twenty minute train ride and a short walk later and we were amazed to find a huge plaza with a cathedral,  a museum and a bell tower all made from white marble.  I don't know if they  know  it but I think the bell tower was not quite straight.  We didn't want to say anything but I mentioned it to some guy at a ticket desk.  He said something in Italian that I did not understand.  There is a lot of grass in the piazza so they  use robot lawnmowers that work all day unlike the natives. <Pisa and Olive oil> <

 This morning our guide Andrea and our driver Dominici added a surprise stop on the way to Volterra.  We paid a visit to the Florence American Cemetery and had a tour with a guide there.  This cemetery and all of the others around the world are operated by the American Battle Monuments Commission.  We have been to several and they are always beautiful and well run.  At the end, our guide Chiara, gave us each a little flag to place at the grave of one soldier.  We usually pick someone from Illinois and this time we  got lucky and found a local guy named Edward Kropiniski from Joliet who died on July 24, 1944.   < Cemetery Photos> Then it was off to Lucca with a stop in Volterra to see a very old gateway arch that was saved by the partisans as the Nazis were escaping.  Overnight they tore up the paving stones and built a wall to protect the arch and then convinced two soldiers with dynamite not to blow it up. Lucca is a great town to...

 Today it's off  to Siena to see another church and learn  about the contrade and  the Palio. The Palio di Siena is a horse race held twice each year, on 2 July and 16 August, in Siena, Italy. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards, in a tradition dating back to the 17th-century. Our guide is a member of the Tortuga (turtle) contrade and she is very serious about it as are all of the people of Siena.  There are 17 districts in Siena and each has a colored flag and a territory. When it is race time, you have to be careful not to  wander into the territory of your rival or you  may get attacked.  They have rivals, allies and  neutrals and it's all very complicated but it's very much like gang rivalries only  among adult Italians. The horse race is also wacky.  There are no rules and jockeys take bribes to slow the horse, slow a rival or block and h...

 Today's first stop is at an Etruscan Museum run by a guy named Roberto who is a very knowledgeable scholar but thinks he's a stand-up comedian.  Roberto explained how the Etruscans asked those new kids on the block, the Romans to come up to Orvieto and help out fighting some bad guys.  The Romans showed up but they killed everybody and  burned the place down. For lunch we stopped at an Agriturismo for a cooking class by a guy who can cook as well as Julia Child.  Believe it or not, we ate what we cooked.  It was the only  meal so far that I was afraid to eat.  <Etruscans and lunch>

  At Orvieto, we took a city tour with our guide Andrea.  He really  enjoyed it because he lives in Orvieto so he had to ‘Ciao’ everyone that walked by. He even hooked us up with an archaeologist buddy who took us to a dig under the church. They found stuff from the bronze age covered with an Etruscan settlement covered with an early Christian church under the existing church. <Orvieto Church and Archaeology> Andrea plays guitar and we had a small concert in the hotel with a singer friend of his.  They were really  good. <Concert> We found a nice restaurant and were serenaded by some street musicians until the owner chased them away.

  Day 5 - On the road to Orvieto So it’s back on the bus for a ride to Orvieto.  But first, a stop at Civitella del Lago for a visit to an <eggshell museum.> Thousands of hand-painted eggs Art, creativity and nature united in an original and unique combination. This is how you can describe the small Ovo Pinto Museum in Civitella del Lago, a delightful exhibition dedicated to the art of egg decoration, curated by the Ovo Pinto Cultural Association since 1982. Since 2005, the museum has collected thousands of eggs of all animal species, from hens to ostriches, decorated with geometric and floral designs, with religious and secular subjects. There are eggs dedicated to artistic movements such as Futurism, ones that pay homage to famous people such as Dante Alighieri and Alberto Sordi, and more creative eggs designed by school children. Each piece is displayed in showcases that you can admire all year round.  Every year, from Easter to 1st May, the association organizes...

  Day 4 - Montefalco and the Truffle Hunt We took a break today while the gang went to Assisi to  visit St. Francis’ Basilica.  We’ll be there in a couple of weeks. This evening was a great activity.  We went on the bus for a short trip to the town of Trevi. (No relation to the fountain). Near Trevi there is an oak tree orchard where truffles grow among the tree roots.  We met Natara, the owner of La Cucina di San Pietro a Pettine, the restaurant where we will eat a truffle dinner after the hunt. The dogs, Arena and Orna, were waiting for us with their handler Bruno.  Bruno has been in the truffle hunting biz since he was eleven in 1969. After an orientation in the family chapel with the 500 year old frescoes, we embarked with the dogs and Bruno to begin the hunt. <Lots of pics> and a few videos online of course. After we got back to the restaurant we sat down for a nice dinner of a scrambled egg with truffle appetizer, a pasta dish, beef cheek and p...

  Today is a bus ride to Ravenna and the hill town of Montefalco. Ravenna was the last capital of the Western Roman empire just before the barbarians showed up and ruined the party. We visited the San Vitale Basilica to see the < beautiful mosaics > and took a walk to visit the tomb of < Dante Alighieri > just for the Hell of it.  After lunch we climb up to the Umbria region and the hill town of Montefalco with a visit to a < truck stop > on the way.  There are not many tourists in Montefalco but there are some really good restaurants. We had dinner with our guide Andrea so he helped negotiate the menu selections including three wines  and plenty of courses. Starting with a bit of soft cheese followed by the best poached egg and asparagus ever, we continued with some kind of stuffed thing, a pasta dish and then veal flavored with the local wine.  The < Locanda del Teatro > folks were trying to impress Andrea but he liked the place already...

After our visit to see Giotto’s pix, our local guide Katrina took us for a walk to see some of the sights of the town.  Padua is a very easy  town to walk around and you can get anywhere by taking a stroll. Padua is a university town so naturally they have a pro-Palestinian campus occupation going on.  Since we are in Italy, the occupation is very relaxed. The only  problem we had was not being able to see the anatomy theater in the medical school since it was closed. We visited the il Salone (great hall) which once held the medieval law courts.  The hall is huge and mostly empty. Originally, the hall was adorned with frescoes by Giotto di Bondone but a fire damaged them in 1420.  After the fire the walls were repainted with 333 frescoes depicting the symbols and signs of the zodiac, 12 apostles and favorite saints.  There are scenes from contemporary European life from tanners at work to rich guys  playing tennis. At the end of the hall is a giga...

  Day 2 - Padua Up at 7 for breakfast.  A bit of rain today but all dry by 9am. Today we are off to see the Scrovegni Chapel and the frescoes of Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267 - 1337) Giotto  was discovered painting pictures of his father’s sheep on rock slabs when he was 12 years old. He ended up as one of the wealthiest and most famous painters of his day. At age 35 he did a private commission for the Scrovegni family  in their chapel. His scenes were more realistic and human than anything that had been done in a thousand years. His frescoes introduced nature - rocks, trees, animals - as a backdrop for religious scenes. His storytelling style is straightforward and you can read about Jesus’ in the chapel scenes like a coloring book.  The Scrovegni represents a turning point in European art and culture away from scenes of heaven and toward a more human centered view. <Scrovegni Chapel> The Chapel was damaged during WWII but restored and is now in beautiful ...

 Beautiful weather today in Padua.  Set up in our new digs at the Art Hotel Al Fagiano.  Pics at: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ Xm3Q7V4zAsrdP9T6A Took a walk through St. Anthony's basilica and said  hello to  Tony.  He's buried there and folks line up to put a hand on his tomb.  So far he hasn't complained so I guess he doesn't mind.  We could not see the relic of his tongue because they were fixing the floor and no  one could go  in  the tongue room. Basilica St. Anthony We just got back from the 3 hour Welcome Dinner so not much to add tonight.  Up at 7:30 for breakfast and then off to the sights. Apirol Spritz tower.

 Finally checked in to the Hotel Al Fagiano.  Nice  place. Time for some cafe Satisfied Customer Not Starbucks

11-May-24 Saturday Long flight (9 hrs) but  smooth and good sleeping. Next step was the train to Padua from Rome (3 hrs). Then taxi to the Hotel M14.  Not a good  hotel but our regular place was booked for the night.  No  prob, we'll move there tomorrow. Headed to  Vicoli Restaurant for some dinner with another couple on the tour.  Nice folks from Washington. Time for some  sleep.

09 May 24  Not much to post today.  We're packing and setting up.  There will be forgotten things but there always is.

We will join Blue Strada Tours in 2024 for a driving journey into the heart of Italy. Seven days driving the rolling backroads of Tuscany and Umbria, with time still to explore the quaint towns of Siena, Assisi, San Gimignano, Chianti Region, and more.   <Here>  is an itinerary for the tour.

 The first two weeks of the trip will be with Rick Steves Village Italy in 14 Days tour.   <Here> is an itinerary for the Rick Steves Village Italy tour.

This blog was originally named Miatas in Italy 2023.  Unfortunately due to a slight medical issue for Tim, the trip never happened. Happily, everything came out ok and the trip was rescheduled for May 10 to June 10 2024.  The first part of the trip is a Rick Steves tour of Village Italy for 14 days.  After that tour and a few days in Milan, we headed down to Rome to start the Miata tour. These posts and photos are the record of this trip. <Here>  is an itinerary for the Rick Steves Village Italy tour. <Here>  is a description of the Miata Tour in Tuscany