Tuscany and Umbria - Day 2

We woke up Sunday to the fresh smell of the country air. The Villa di Monte Solare has lemon, orange and olive trees on its property and grows herbs of all types for their own kitchen. Just opening the windows of our room, we could take in these delightful scents along with the incredible views of vineyards and rolling hills. We went from 83 degrees upon our departure from Rome yesterday morning to a peak of 68 degrees when we arrived in the Montepulciano. This morning, it must have been 55. A short drive and a significant climate change.

Not only is this region of Italy absolutely beautiful, it's full of history as well. I didn't mention it in yesterday's blog but Montepulciano was an Etruscan settlement prior to the 3rd century B.C. But it was in 1154 A.D. that Siena and Florence fought for the possession of Montepulciano - eventually Florence won.

Montepulciano is in Tuscany, but now at the hotel, we are near a small medieval village called Panicale, and we are in Umbria. Specifically, we are in a part of Umbria known as the Trasimeno district. Lago di Trasimeno is the fourth largest lake in Italy - the largest three being Maggiore, Garda and Como up in the Lake district north of Milan.

After breakfast on the terrace, we ventured for a stroll in Panicale. Not well known - it is a very small town - it is packed with charm. Then we drove to Casteglione del Lago, one of the towns bordering Lake Trasimeno. We sat on a pier and meditated by the lake - no tourists or crowds - and then had lunch up in the historical center of the town which had beautiful vistas of the lake and it's surrounding area.

We chose a restaurant, were seated, and almost immediately a gentleman seated to our left (with his family) asked Josh if he was a cyclist. He had noticed that Josh was wearing a yellow "Livestrong" bracelet. It turns out our new friend is from "down under" and is the director of the Tour Down Under. As you can imagine cycling talk ensued - coincidentally, an Aussie just won the World Championships. Soon, we were invited to Adelaide for next January to join the tour...and this was all before we even got our appetizer. Those Aussies sure are friendly folk.

Being by the lake, we ordered fish. I don't recall having had a tastier Orate (Dorado). It was the whole fish, served with potatoes and crunchy (fried) olives, and it was excellent. Despite our food and beer induced stupor, we made it back to the hotel so we could bask in the sun by the pool (read: Josh takes a nap) before returning to Rome.

The pool was a short walk across the garden through the lemon trees. It was set up on a ridge over-looking the rolling hills and vineyards below. Such a mesmerizing and wonderful setting to soak it all in. The air was so still, and the other guests so silent, it was easy to feel completely relaxed.

Soon, it was time to pack up and get back to the big city. The drive was scheduled to be two hours, and we promised Morris we'd be back by 7pm. Unfortunately, we made a terrible, rookie Rome mistake - never to be repeated. We got off the Autostrada. Thirty km from home, we waited for 15 minutes just to pay the toll, then when the congestion looked to continue as this ten lane highway was narrowing into two panicked. But, we had GPS! We had confidence! We could find an another way. WRONG! There is no better way. And once you get off, you can't get back on.

You're getting the picture, but our 2 hour drive turned in to a 3 hour drive. I felt like I was back in NYC and coming home from the Hamptons. In fact, when it comes to traffic in and around Rome, there are many comparisons to be made to New York.

Needless to say the all of the kids were excited to see us when we finally arrived at home. But they had a fun weekend too - going to the park and to the Zoo and watching movies and eating Morris's cooking. It was truly a wonderful weekend all the way around.