I have taken millions of pictures. One I repeatedly take is laundry hanging out to dry. In the U.S. it looks tacky but here it is charming.
Speaking of laundry, when we arrived at today's B&B, they took our laundry. And when we returned from a day of sight seeing, it was all clean and folded! Aagh, now that is vacation!
The place we are staying is the Casa Selita. It is absolutely wonderful and beautiful - everything you'd imagine in a Tuscan summer home (though technically we are in Umbria)! It is located at the base of the "fortress" of Orvieto. This impregnable city was built on a high hill of volcanic rock.
For water, they had to dig a well to go down 100 feet to the water table below. St. Patricks is one such well, and we got to spiral down it today - basically the opposite of climbing a tower.
We also had a great tour of the underground, which was dug in Etruscan times over 3000 years ago. The city has 1200 caves, most of which are privately owned now. Instead of an attic, the homes in Orvieto have their private caves below (used like cellars).
Our lunch was one of our most pleasurable meals yet. In the square of one of Italy's finest Duomo's, we sat down at a table. It was a beautiful day to enjoy outside. The owner brought us his preferred selection of wines, meats and cheeses. One of the meats was a local specialty called porchetta - a savory pork. He finished off our meal with some chocolate biscotti, which Greg tried to pretend was awful so he wouldn't have to share with me! Mmmmmm, a great memory!
We made sure we had time in the afternoon to relax in the comfort of the yard, which we had all to ourselves. Ironically, as I was blogging about Etruscan caves, the owner brought us a souvenir piece of Etruscan pottery that he often finds on his large property!
Dinner at Trattoria de Moro was as good as any other - lasagna with honey, and lasagna with truffles and porchinis!
We are having a great time with the language. We are pretty pathetic, and our Italian understanding is figuring out their broken English, or pointing. Better yet is after a bottle of wine, how "fluent" Greg becomes!
Our way home from dinner was quite entertaining. Greg was the guide. When he missed the 2 big elevator doors down, he claimed he was taking me on a romantic stroll! Then we had to stumble through the olive tree grove in the dark, laughing.
Sounds heavenly. The Italy we all dream about. Even the laundry. I know what you mean, over there everyone hangs out their laundry. Probably better there, at Melinda's it gets rained on & has to be brought inside in a hurry.
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