SEPTEMBER 30 - CARRARA, PORTOVENERE, AND LEVANTO

The road to the Carrara marble quarry is pretty challenging.

Harry's next motorcycle!

Steve rides the marble bull.

Tricia our tour guide and Mario our busdriver

After driving us around for nearly two weeks, we must say goodbye to Mario.

We arrive in Portovenere to do some sight-seeing on our own...

...and to do lunch. Here we are at a seaside restaurant, dining with Richard, Judy, Steve, Donna, and Tricia.

After lunch we climb up the hill to check out the picturesque church.

The extra time provides a rare opportunity to do some shopping. I bought little necklaces for our granddaughters on this street.

We leave Portovenere by boat, passing by four of the five towns of the Cinque Terre.

We disembark our boat in the northernmost Cinque Terre town, Monterosso al Mare.

where we have free time to explore before we catch the train for a short ride a little further up the coast, to Levanto, where we will be staying at Albergo Primavera for the next two nights.

SEPTEMBER 29 - LUCCA HIGHLIGHTS

In the morning, a local guide took us for a walk through the city, pointing out places of interest. We saw churches, plazas, fritas stands (a lemony Italian doughnut), flower vendors, and lots of bicycles.

After the tour most of us bicycled the tree-lined walls of the city.

After pizza for lunch, Harry and I walked around the city some more. We discovered the caffe where Puccini, who is a native of Lucca, spent a good deal of time. We also spot some friends in the laundromat. (Since the tour began, this was the first opportunity we had to do laundry.)

In the evening we go to an opera performance at the San Giovanni Church. This was such a special treat for Harry and me. We are still singing "O mio babbino caro" as we remember that special evening.

SEPTEMBER 28 - VOLTERRA AND LUCCA

On Tuesday September 28 (our thoughts drift home from time to time, as we remember this day is Peter's birthday!) Tricia, our guide, chooses to take us to her favorite hilltown.

That is Volterra, the setting of the popular "Twilight" book series. Volterra is less touristy than most of the other hilltowns. More than 2000 years ago, it was an important Etruscan city. The Etruscan culture was eventually absorbed into the Roman Empire.

As we enter the city, we notice that many of the buildings are made of tufi, soft light-colored rocks that are formed from volcanic ash.

A church built with tufi.

We watch an artisan creating a vase from alabaster in his chalk dust-covered workshop.

The ruins of this Roman theater, built in 10 B.C. is on the outskirts of town. It was discovered in the 1950's and its excavation continues today.

Harry and tour guide Tricia gaze up at Porto all'Arco, more commonly known as the Etruscan Arch. It is Volterra's most famous sight. During WWII the Nazis planned to blow up the arch to slow down the advance of the Allies, but the people of Volterra painstakingly filled in the arch, completely plugging the city gate, and thereby eliminating the Nazi's need to blow up the gate. Their efforts saved their town's historic landmark.

Leaving Volterra in the bus, we proceed toward Lucca and stop at Villa Oliva.

The bus is not able to enter the walled city of Lucca, so we walk like a thundering herd, with our wheeled suitcases on the stone streets, through this arch to enter the place where we will be staying for the next two nights. Our hotel, La Luna, is nothing fancy, but it is conveniently located near the center of town.

SEPTEMBER 27 - SAN LEONINO AND SIENA

We woke up to rain! After breakfast we took a walk through the countryside and the vineyards. The grapes were heavy on the vine, as harvest was already underway.

In the afternoon, we make an optional side trip to the town of Siena. It is said that Crayola took the name for its crayon from the colors of the stone and tile used in Siena. As we enter the town, we are invited into stained-glass artisan's shop to watch them making their beautiful creations.

Tricia, our wonderful guide for the Village Italy Tour.

The catherdral in Siena looks very similar to the Duomo in Orvieto.

It's a rainy afternoon and the huge plaza of Siena, which generally is filled with people, is nearly desolate, except for the umbrella-carrying tourists. Harry and I explored the town, went to a museum, and then joined our new tour friends for dinner before heading back to our hotel in SanLeonino.

SEPTEMBER 26

Our first stop after leaving Orvieto was the Etruscan Museum in Chianciano de Terme. It was interesting to learn about the Etruscans, a progressive group of people who lived in areas of Italy in the 6th - 3rd centuries BC.

A funerary Urn of the Etruscans

Harry and Glenn share some conversation at the museum.

Steffano led us in cooking lessons. (I was assigned to the noodle making station.) The food we prepared was whisked away to be cooked, and then we were served lunch at "La Pietriccia."

It was evening when we checked-in our next hotel, my favorite place on the whole trip, Hotel Belvedere San Leonino in Chianti. The buildings of an old farm, which had been tastefully converted to an inn, rest on the top of a hill overlooking acres and acres of vineyards. Because of the huge lunch we had, a light dinner with salad, chicken, and fruit had been prepared for us.

SEPTEMBER 25 - ORVIETO AND CIVITA DI BAGNOREGIO

Our morning assignment was to go to the town plaza and purchase some foods at the outdoor market for a picnic lunch for the tour group . Tricia had given us Italian lessons specifically designed to make our purchases go smoothly. Our contribution to the picnic: melone, provolone, and cioccolati. Because it looked like rain, we had our picnic indoors. One of the items that Tricia, our tour guide, encouraged us to taste was porchetta slices on bread. Porchetta, herb-stuffed roasted pork, is a common street food in central Italy.

We walked around the walls of the city after lunch.

A small church on the walk.

The view down the side of the walls.

CIVITA DI BAGNOREGIO

In the afternoon, we drove to Civita di Bagnoregio, population 13.

Cars cannot cross the bridge into the tiny hilltown, so we had to walk across the canyon bridge to get there. During WWII, the allies bombed out the land mass that linked this part of the city to the main center of town because there were rumors that the Germans were hiding supplies there.

Maria is one of the tiny town's inhabitants, No one is really sure of her age, but it is definitely over 100. She is blind, and each day she sits outside her home asking for money if you want to stand in her gardens where you can access a beautiful view of the valley. Harry and I are standing behind an ancient plow in her garden.

A typical street in Civita

We returned to Orvieto and had dinner at "Trattoria del Moro Aronne" where Harry ordered "nidi". It was an odd pasta dish made with different cheeses and honey. It received rave reviews from everyone who tried it for dinner.

SEPTEMBER 24 - DERUTA AND ORVIETO

We were very sad to leave Montone, but our tour itinerary had us leaving the village in the morning and stopping in Deruta, a town known for its pottery-making. We were able to go into the workshop of the artisans who make this pottery completely individually by hand.

As we headed further along the road, we arrived at the Tenuta le Velette vineyards for wine-tasting and lunch. The buildings of the vineyard rest upon Etruscan caves. The Etruscans stored wine in these cold vaults several centuries before Christ!

Eventually our bus deposits us at the base of the walls of the city of Orvieto. We must climb many switch-back staircases through these arches to enter the town.

Huffing and puffing, (Not really. There were a series of escalators that helped with our climb into town) we arrive inside the walled city and take an orientation walk down the main drag, a.k.a. the "Corso Cavour" and catch sight of the town's main attraction - the Duomo.

Pretty impressive and colorful.

Our room in Orvieto's Grand Hotel Italia.

Shortly after check-in, we are treated to welcome drinks and snacks courtesy of the hotel staff.

The view of the rooftops from our hotel room's balcony.

Harry and I had dinner together at Pizzeria Charlie's.

I had a monster-sized calzone and Harry had, what would become his favorite order this vacation, Pizza Diavola.