Medieval Hill Towns

Orvieto and Civitas di Bagnoregio

If you remember, Gary and I went to Lake Como for my birthday so Gary had to pick his place to spend his birthday.  He was thinking Barcelona for 3 days, or maybe Switzerland, or maybe the Island of Crete.  I think he was overwhelmed with choices and decided to do something local and Italian, so we drove to Orvieto (about 100 Kilometers from Rome) for a couple of days.
Upon arrival our first stop was the Duomo di Orvieto.  The byzantine architecture included tons of gold leaf on the face of the duomo as well as inside.

The interior columns were about 6 feet in diameter and very impressive.

Next we signed up for the cave tour which was a must-see!  The caves were originally carved by the Etruscans to access water from below the mountain instead of going to the river.  This was especially important when defending the city.  There are approximately 1200 caves but only 2 open for tours.  The rest of the caves are privately owned.  Many of the caves had pigeon-holes, for raising pigeons for food.  It was an economical way of a food source because the pigeons feed themselves.  The lower right hand picture shows an Etruscan shaft, which was built to access water.  You can see the foot holes the Etruscans used to climb up and down the shaft.

The caves stay at a constant 60 degrees year around, which is a perfect temperature to process olive oil.  You can see the giant wheel for grinding the olives, and the press for pressing the oil out of the olives.  The millstones were turned by donkeys who were also stabled in the caves.

The next day we went to Civitas di Bagnoregio, another hill town.  This town is only accessible by a foot bridge, no cars are allowed.

I love taking pictures of flowers!!  And Civitas had its fill of flowers, and spring has just started.  Just imagine what full-on summer would look like!

I really like this one of a camelia and a spider web.

After walking around Civitas, it was time for lunch.

If you are interested in seeing more pictures please visit my flickr page and click on the album for Orvieto, Civitas, & Radda (it may take a while to upload with our slow bandwidth!).

Po River Bike Ride

The Po is Italy's biggest river.  You know it when you see it because it is so much wider than any other.  It flows through a very flat valley in the northern part of Italy.  For bike riding, the operative word here is FLAT.  None of the constant Tuscan hill climbing, in other words.

We did two previous European bike rides organized by Eileen Sanford through the San Diego Council of Ski Clubs.  Since this year's ride was nearby, we arranged to hook up with the group for the first two days of their bike & boat trip down the Po.  On Saturday of Easter weekend we schlepped our bikes to Mantova and met up with the group for the first night's dinner.

The merry folk of the good ship Ave Maria

The morning of the first day's ride was cold with a threat of rain, but the San Diego skiier/bikers were undeterrred, although *some* *people* did not get the memo about red jackets.

Trip leader Eileen and Mike survey the group readying for the first ride.

Caffe break

Day One was a ride in a loop through Mantova, out into the countryside, then back to the boat.  The major stop was at the Sanctuario della Beata delle Grazie in the comune of Curatone, 9 km outside of Mantova.  This church is famous for the stuffed crocodile that has been hanging from the ceiling since the 15th century.  It was Easter Sunday morning and mass was in progress when we got there.  We were able to go in the packed church for a while, but of course could not take pictures of Croc.

Exterior details of Sanctuario della Beata delle Grazie

By midday the weather improved, making for a pleasant ride back to the boat through agricultural fields along a series of canals that parallel the Mincio River, which flows into the Po.

After the ride, it was time for a happy hour, shower and clothes change, and dinner; a time to renew old friendships from previous rides, and make new ones. 

Donny, Chris Gill, Pip

Ron, Pip, Barbara

Bernie, Jim, (sorry we didn't catch your name!), Judy, Chris Polta

The schedule for Day Two was for the boat to motor down to the little town of Governolo where the Mincio meets the Po, arriving around 9am to start the bike ride.  Since we had our car and were not staying onboard, our plan was to get up early and drive down the short 15 km to Governolo.  No problem, right?  Well, not quite that easy.  We always allow for getting lost when going somewhere in Italy for the first time, and Monday morning was no exception.  We finally got to the river in Governolo about a quarter past 9 and...no boat!  Are we in the wrong place?  Did they get there early and take off without us?  And our bikes are on the boat!  We drove a short ways up and down, and talked to a few locals to whom we couldn't get across the idea we were looking for a big boat with lots of bikes.  It really was not that long, however, when the Ave Maria came around the bend and moored.  Our momentary panic was forgotten as we geared up for Ride Number Two.

And Day Two was a beautiful day.  We rode half-way with the group to the coffee break spot, said our good-byes to old friends and new, and then had a sublime ride back to our car.

The mighty Po

Spring fever?

Primavera

After what for us Californians was a long cold (but not lonely;-) winter, spring has spectacularly sprung in Italy.  

All of the photos in this post were taken between March 29 and April 9.

One of the first blossoms to appear is Forsythia, unmistakable by its abundant bright yellow flowers.

Bulbs are popping too.  Daffodils...

Tulips...

Including this unusual (for us) multicolored tulip:

We really got into the spring swing on the first Friday in April.  Our friend Paola Salvioni invited us to her family's country house to help prune her olive trees.  She has 250 of them; we probably did a dozen.

The Happy Pruners

Everywhere you go in Italy you see tall slim poplar trees planted in rows, in various stages of growth.  They are grown for paper pulp and are clear-cut harvested after 16 years.  Bare sticks all winter, they now are starting to leaf out.

We are used to yellow and pink poppies so the deep red ones that grow along all the roads here were a surprise.

And now dear followers of our blog, it is time for another contest.  You must think I have lost my mind after the underwhelming response to the last contest, but here it is:  We see not one, but two different kinds of flowering trees that we refer to as yellow puffballs, and have no idea what they are.  So the contest is:  Identify the yellow puffballs from the following mug shots.  The winner will get an honorary degree in horticulture from the Tanya Keener Botanical Gardens, Crawford, Colorado.  And, no Tanya, you cannot enter the contest because we need someone who has a clue to be the judge.

Yellow Puffballs number 1:

and yellow puffballs number 2:

To close by bringing it back home, the road to our place is lined with small plants with profuse flowers (at right), while some of the trees have turned out to be fruit trees that have burst into bloom.

Spring is wonderful just about everywhere, and for us it is especially wonderful in il nostro anno italiano.

Austrian Ski Weekend

It was four years ago, when our year in Italy was just a vague concept, that we had dinner with Dave Kaufman and Keena Butcher.  They were preparing to move to Aviano in northeastern Italy for Keena's work, and we agreed then that when we moved to Italy, we would get together and go skiing.  We finally made good on our vow on the last weekend in March.  On Friday we took the train to a town near them and spent the night at their lovely apartment, immediately making friends with their cat Daisy.  Since the calendar had moved into spring, Dave suggested that we forego some of the local mountains and make the two-hour trek to Nassfeld, just over the border in Austria.

Phone cameras are great when you don't want to lug the big camera around, but it is hard to get the subject lighting right when the background is dazzling white.

Gary, Carmen, Dave:  Action Ski Club, Divisione Italia

Lunch slopeside

On Sunday we made a point to take a long run down into the valley at Hermagor to Jokl's Hutte, which has a decor that is unique:

On the way back on Sunday afternoon, we stopped by Lake Barcis, a popular resort area known for the unique green color of the water.  Located in a valley carved out by a glacier, the color is due to the special glacial sediment.

Time flies when you are having fun.  We must be having fun, because it seems impossible that it was four years ago that we first talked with Dave and Keena about doing this.  We cannot thank them enough for hosting us in their home, driving us to and from Nassfeld, and guiding us on the slopes.  Mille grazie, Dave and Keena!