Mar 27 Spoleto to Rome

We left Spoleto in the morning heading to Rome. On the way we stopped  the village of  Orvieto. It was built by the Etruscans atop a cliff which served as a natural barrier like a wall would do in medieval times. The façade of the church was really special. I don’t think the pictures really do it justice. And the stained glass window in the photo was restored at the shop where we visited yesterday!  That was very cool —to see the end result of the work they do at that stained glass studio.

The weather today was rainy in the morning and then very cold with a lot of wind. It was the worst weather day of the trip but fortunately it did not really get in the way of our visit.

We arrived at our hotel at the Rome airport late afternoon. Most of the group is leaving tomorrow morning, but Merle and I will stay one more day and go to Rome tomorrow. We both have been there before, but she had not seen the Vatican before so that’s what we are going to do.

This has been the most friendly group and we have really appreciated that. Our guide was adequate but not fantastic. We have definitely had better guides before.

So this might be my last post or perhaps I will write something tomorrow. Ta ta for now. 

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Mar 26 Perugia

 First an observations I have made. There is more smoking being done here than I have seen in many years. A lot of young people and a lot of females are the smokers.  In addition, the E cigarettes are quite popular. Sad. 

Today we went to Perugia starting with a visit to a studio where stained glass is made or restored . The man who gave us a tour was very knowledgeable and very, very interesting. He talked about the processes for making stained glass and how it has evolved over the years. There were lots of examples we saw— most of them religious, as you would expect because they are intended for a church, but some examples were not. The building had been a residence and now was home to the studio.We all thoroughly enjoyed this visit. I will enclose quite a few photos. The one of the 1st Italian queen was one of the first secular glass windows made.  It was astonishingly realistic. The artists who began this business here were first painters who then learned the art of stained glass. Very impressive art.  The photos of an interior of a house show possessions that the original owner had.

We were on our own for lunch and Merle and I had a pasta like ravioli with a salad and it was a lovely restaurant And good food. After, Merle found a very cute purse that was made from recycled leather, and each purse was an original. 

The afternoon was a walking tour of Perugia. But my legs were rebelling, so I stopped at a gelato shop and had gelato to wait for the group. 

A number of people in our group have gotten sick and we have agreed to wear a mask when we are in the bus. Good plan. Each day for several days, we have had one or more fewer travelers in our excursion. It felt like “and then there were none.” ( our next show!)

Tonight is our farewell dinner. Normally it is held on the last night but since some people have to get up in the middle of the night to get a flight, they moved it back one day. So we will have our dinner here at our hotel and then tomorrow head for Rome.

We had discussed possibly going to Pompeii, which neither of us had ever seen for our extra day at the end. But logistically it’s not a good idea. The trip would be 12 to 14 hours and after all the travel we’ve done, we don’t need to rush. So instead, on Friday Merle and I will go to the Sistine Chapel. I have seen it before, but she had not. She got us tickets. We both have seen quite a bit of Rome, so we don’t need to do the normal tourist things there.

I am off to join the group for dinner now.

Mar 25 Assisi

 Our excursion today was to Assisi —where Saint Francis’ Basilica is.  Our local guide was one of the better ones.She walked us through the Basilica and pointed out key features. It had quite a different look from other Churches and cathedrals. ( I don’t know why when I dictate sometimes it randomly capitalizes words. Know that it is not me! )

It was amazing how quiet it was for our visit. The guide said that in a few weeks it will be overrun with tourists, but today was very nice. We were fortunate. We had lunch as a group and then had some free time to walk around the village. The weather was spectacular today! Beautiful blue skies and warm sunny day. We have not had really bad weather, but today was by far the best.The lunch was about five courses! I am going to attach the dessert pix from last night and today. Mamma Mia!  

We had the evening to ourselves, so Merle and I are going for a light bite and an early bed for once! I guess I am definitely getting old, because I look forward to my normal routine and food at home.

Mar 24 Spoleto

 As this was the first full day here, we spent the day in Spoleto. In the morning we had a private visit at city hall and learned about the city. Sounds boring but it wasn’t. A council member in charge of education here told us about the schools, for example. 

Next was my favorite part: the theatre in Spoleto!  We went to the old theatre ( smaller) & the new theatre.  Stages were raked.  There were really fun pictures of productions over the years. In the new theater a terrace was named for Jerome Robbins. Woody Allen had directed an opera in Italy so they had his picture on the wall. And John Malkovich participated in one of the Spoleto festivals. It would have been special to see a performance here, but it would have been in Italian so I’m not sure we could have enjoyed it. I have many more pictures than the ones I have posted here.

The group had a walking tour in the afternoon, but given that we walked the entire morning. I decided to skip that. I understand I did not miss too much.

Our dinner tonight was over-the-top spectacular. The food on this trip has been excellent. But of course way too much food. And too late at night for my taste.But it’s Italy after all.  

Mar 23– Siena to Spoleto

 

It’s Sunday. We loaded our bags onto our bus & headed to Umbria.  En route we stopped at the village of Gabbio.  This is my favorite place of all we’ve seen. Like all of the other medieval villages, this one had picturesque streets, cobblestones, and a wonderful old world flavor. Our local guide took us to a little museum displaying the tools that various craftsman have used over the years. ( masons, carpenters etc). That’s where I saw this ( see picture )very early movie projector. Our guide, then took us to a little shop where a lady was weaving scarves.

Other pix—-this little dog reminded me of my puppy. ❤️Same tail. And the other picture of a Christmas tree was on a poster showing this monstrous tree they create every year that sits at the end of the town. He said it is the largest in the world according to the Guinness book and it was even seen from the International space station! I saw there are some YouTube videos of it which I will look forward to seeing.

Finally, Merle and I went into a little shop where a lady had made table cloths, towels, placemats, etc., and I bought myself an apron and four placemats  that she made. Very special to buy things from the person who created them. And Gabbio is full of shops like that.

Our bus then took us to the town of Spoleto where we will stay until Thursday. We are staying at a cute little hotel, which is very quiet. Love it!

I was feeling my best today and I’m sure that contributed to why I had such a good day.😍 

Mar 22 Sat— last day in Siena

 There have been a number of issues with this hotel ( NH Siena).  For one thing the rooms are ridiculously hot and we have no way to cool them. In addition, most people’s safes don’t work including mine.  And I believe 100 Euros were taken from my suitcase. I’m feeling thoroughly jinxed on this trip. Grrrr…  

Today we visited 2 villages —Gargonza Castle and Cortona. At Gargonza our guide was the owner of the property. It has been handed down to him through generations. He is actually a count.  They run  it as a hotel now with just a small number of rooms. Their renovations have been beautiful and it was a lovely visit. We had lunch there in a restaurant on the property, which was superb! Very classy.

Cortona was the location for Under the Tuscan Sun— the village & the villa in the book/ movie.  Our guide said that crowds of tourists come looking for the locations and for the villa.

Unfortunately we were NOT under the Tuscan sun today but rather clouds& drizzle. It was freezing! 

Because we were so cold, it really detracted from our visit, unfortunately. But it is hard to complain because otherwise we have not been rained on and this time of year we are avoiding the huge number of tourists of other months.

We returned to our hotel for dinner and our last night in Siena. We will be leaving Tuscany tomorrow and heading for Umbria.

Mar 21 Siena & villages

 Volterra & San Gimignano were the two villages we visited today. In Volterra, our guide was an American who has lived here for nearly 30 years. This was one guide we had no trouble understanding! She did an excellent job and gave us just the right amount of information. Each village has a great deal of similarity and yet they each have some history that make them unique. The story that was interesting in Volterra was about protecting the walled city in medieval times from a siege. Their solution was to pull up the street cobblestones and fill the entryway with stones. In this case it worked! The village is known for alabaster so we watched an artisan making alabaster figurines. Very interesting.He created a very small vase and I bought one just like it in the gift shop. A nice souvenir.

In San Gimignano our guide was a most colorful actor. This village is known for its towers. The wealthy residents would build a tower to demonstrate their wealth and power. Gee that that sounds like someone in the US today. Originally there were over 70 towers and now about 14 remain.

in addition, we visited a winery. The wine of this region is white, which is unusual because most in Tuscany are red. 

This post is incomplete because Merle has some pictures I will add.

March 19 Siena

 Today was a walking tour with a local guide. A charming city although hills made it a bit of a challenge to walk. The guide mentioned at some point that he taught at Dartmouth University so that was impressive. He gave us a little too much information about each place we visited but that is not unusual for many guides & professors.  😉Merle’s comment to me was — it’s good to tell  us things you know, but not everything you know. 😆

We had free time in the afternoon and evening, which was especially good for the people who just flew in yesterday. But we didn’t mind the break either.

Merle took the pictures today.  I’ve added some from the Saint Catherine Cathedral, which was really lovely and the street scenes.

Mar 18 Florence to Siena

 Today was our day to move to Siena to join the group. We were happy to get out of Florence for one reason and that was the crowding! We just both aren’t accustomed to hordes of people on the streets. And we’re still amazed that this is high season already. It didn’t take but a couple of minutes outside of Florence to feel that we were in the Tuscany country. The taxi drive to Siena was just over an hour so that was easy.

We met up with our Italian guide and our group. It’s very nice that the group is only 18 this time! I’ve never been with a group that small. They were very friendly people and I think it will be a congenial group.

Nice hotel( NH Siena) and comfortable rooms. Looking good!  

Mar. 17 Florence Evening

Pix—Me at the police station. Me at the museum. Roman amphitheater. Artifacts in the museum—Several centuries BC. And finally —inside our hotel. 

 Fortunately, our trip took a turn for the better today! I got my wallet back from the man who found it. He said he was walking his dog last evening and the dog went around the corner into sort of an alley. It was there that he found it. If the dog had not turned down that street, he would not have found it.Dog karma!  Good thing I have always treated them well. Joe Would not take any  thank you money which I offered. He said that that’s not how his parents raised him. Quite a gentleman. The street where it was found was very close to the restaurant where we ate last night.

We had read that museums were closed on Monday, but for some reason, Merle thought that l’académie was open. We walked there, quite a walk, only to find out it was closed. So we then jumped in a taxi to go up to Fiesole which has panoramic views of all of Florence. We were delighted to discover that the archaeological ruins there (from the Romans and before )were open on Monday as well as an archaeological museum with things interesting found in the area. Absolutely fascinating! I will include a few pictures.

We had lunch at the café Teatro which Jackie had recommended but I actually didn’t remember that when we picked it. I just went because theater was in the name!  We also had gelato at a place that Jackie also recommended. Gracie Jackie!

The taxi getting there was not cheap so we decided to try the bus to go back. It was another part of the adventure. And when we got back to Florence, I stopped at the police station to give them an update: my passport had been returned to me. I could not believe how long it took for them to write up that second report. But it was good that I did it. 

We had a lovely dinner, not far from the hotel at trattoria lamadia and had wonderful eggplant Parmesan! Yummy!

So all is well that ends well. So relieved to have my passport back.

Mon Mar 17 Florence morning

 Merle and I arrived yesterday afternoon within 30 minutes of each other and met up at the airport. 

Took a Taxi to hotel which I  booked as hotel Russo .. but when we arrived, we found that our hotel name has reverted back to its original name and is now called Garibaldi after the original owner of the building, often called the founder of modern Italy. It is a most interesting and bizarre facility to walk around because it had been a villa and now is a hotel. Maybe I will snap some pictures later. It is on Piazza Santa Maria Novella— Great location but I knew that when I booked it because the last time I was in Florence  I stayed just down the street.

We dumped our things at the hotel and headed out for a bite of dinner. After dinner, we walked over to the Duomo, and were surprised that there were crowds of people. I did not expect it to be super busy now , but we found out it is spring break, and our hotel said it is the start of high season already! Unfortunately, jetlagged Jane was not paying attention and I had my backpack purse on my back which I should not have done. My wallet was taken. And the really scary thing:  my passport was in it. I never carry my passport with me. However, since we had just arrived, I had not taken it out yet. Crap! Almost €300 in cash, credit card, ATM card, global entry card, passport. I immediately called and canceled my credit card & ATM.   We went back to the hotel where they told me I needed to go to the police to report it. Very nice woman in hotel reception walked us over to the police station, which was an interesting experience.( reminded me of going to the Police In Montpelier with Joni!).  They took a detailed report and gave me a copy.

When I returned to the hotel, I called Joan to tell her and about a half hour later she called back to say someone found my passport! ( she was listed as my emergency contact in my passport ). She gave me the finder’s phone number and I called the man who is also a tourist. He was walking his dog ( a good sign) when he spotted my wallet. I guess the thief took the money, credit card, ATM card, and threw the rest on the ground. Lucky me! 

So now it is the next morning and I am waiting to hear from the man to coordinate where I can pick up my wallet.

Fortunately, I always carry a second credit card which was in my suitcase as well as more euros in cash. I also learned that Wells Fargo can grant me immediate access to my new ATM even though I don’t have the physical card yet. So I will have an easy way to get cash. Of course Merle can also get it for me and I can pay her back.

She was quick to remind me that I was not hurt and it is only money. I am embarrassed but I am a victim, even though I had not made a good choice at that moment.

So let the trip begin! We have Monday and Tuesday free time in Florence and tomorrow afternoon we will go to Siena to meet up with our tour group.

I may write again later tonight about my day, but I wanted to get this much recorded anyway.  

As always, please forgive any typos as I dictate these  and am often in a hurry .

Bongiorno Italy!

Headed to Italy March 15-29, 2025

Ciao, Tuscany!  My March 15-29, 2025 Road Scholar Tour:

"The Hidden Medieval Villages of Tuscany & Umbria"

Day by Day: brief itinerary:

March

16-17 free days in Florence before tour starts

18 in Siena --Actual tour begins

19 in Siena

20  visit Pienza; winery Montalcino

21 visit Volterra; San Gominano

22 visit Monte San Savino, Di Gargonza Castle, Cortona

23 visit Gubbio then go to Spoleto

24 visit Spoleto

25 visit Assisi 

26 visit Perugia

27 depart Spoleto; visit Orvieto en route to Rome

28 free day post tour (Pompeii?)

29 depart Rome