242 E Manito Place: Pre-Moon Part Due

After Rome and Siena, Pete and I drove (DROVE!) through Tuscany and Umbria. Let's just say lines on the roads mean zip to Italian drivers. But Pete did a great job of maneuvering our sweet Citroen ride through the Italian countryside and on the autostrada. Ask him about Poggibonsi some day.

If I could sum up this part of the trip in one word it would be 'food'. Lots of it. We have eaten like champs. I think in the 5 days we've been here, I've had a dish with some sort of truffle addition for every meal but one. Again - aren't brides usually trying to trim up before a wedding? Apparently not this one.

Apologies for the haphazard photos - for some reason I'm not able to reorganize the photos in this posting. I'll put the town name under each photo to keep it straight. We drove from Siena to San Gimignano - a gorgeous town known for it's competing towers (Back in the day, the way to show social status was to build the tallest tower in town. Men were clearly involved in that little competition...) and resulting beautiful skyline. Then down to Cortona (a favorite of mine) for a few nights, then to Orvieto for a few nights.

Pete visiting with a suit of armor at the torture museum in San Gimignano.

Towers in San Gimignano

Orvieto has an incredible Italian Gothic Cathedral - it's striped! Here is a detail shot I like to call Marching Eagle. Besides being striped like a zebra, the detailing on the cathedral is gorgeous.

Proof of Pete in Orvieto.

Proof of sausage in Orvieto. Popular local snack is wild boar sausage (chingale), so delish. After the truffles, that was probably the second item I ate most.

Zebra Cathedral in Orvieto!

Inside detail of Orvieto cathedral

Orvieto cathedral. Relatively impressive, no?

Little tiny Amy in front of massive Gothic Cathedral

View of stripey cathedral from our hotel room.

We visited Civita for the day. It is the epitome of a hill-top town. Photo of town in the distance following shortly. Until recently, it had approximately 5 inhabitants, people who grew up there and were now well into their retirement years. Recently however, big shots from the cities have rediscovered it and are buying up the old homes to get away from the hustle and bustle. Unfortunately too many of them have done so, and now the hustle and bustle can be found in Civita. Sigh. Anyhow, cool shot of old school (Madonna and Child altar) and new (Vespa. Vroom).

Entrance to Civita. It was a workout to get across the bridge and up the hill. No cars allowed.

Detail of Civita. I'm awfully proud I got this shot with all the tourists roaming about.

Getting ready for the climb to Civita.

View from our room in Cortona. I seriously *heart* Cortona. It's a place I could hole up and live for a long time. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming, the food is lovely, and well, it makes you want to snap up a villa like Diane Lane in Under the Tuscan Sun.