The rain did come and go, but thankfully stopped long enough for our uphill/downhill walk into town.......before telling of today's adventures...here's a bit more observations about Italy.....
Gas is $6.50/gallon....there are no real speed limits, just keep up. There is a castle around every corner, but they are really cool. It is VERY dry here(I was glad to see the rain).
This is also the land of where do you flush the toilet??? Sometimes you pull a cord, push a button that may be on the wall or on the back of the toilet, or push a stem on the tank up....either way it is always entertaining. And when it's time to wash your hands, most of the time to turn on the water you use a pedal under the sink....always an adventure. We Americans are so spoiled. Smoking is alive and well...the tobacco companies are being supported by Europeans.
Though there is wine with lunch and dinner...it's often cheap....6%-7% alcohol and not always that good. We have opted to save those calories sometimes. This was most evident when Michael, our host and owner of Culture Discovery, opened some $300+ bottle of Bollero last night....it was wonderful. Speaking of saving calories....one of our tour-mates has a pedometer, just yesterday in Viterbo we walked 7500 steps and that was before lunch.....yep, this is the only way we are still fitting in our jeans. All my walking did a fair job of prepping me, but my calves were screaming after day 2.....now, by day 4....they are calming down. We do LOTS of walking and then our walk "home" each nite is a hoot....we crack up every nite and doing it.
Soriano is a population of only 8500 and is wonderfully friendly. We have felt safe and comfortable from the beginning. It is fall here and we see some leaf color and wonderful cooler weather. If the wind is blowing, it's sometimes very cool....but we'd rather that than scorching hot. They have an interesting mix of trees...pines...palms....cypress.....go figure!!
There cooking is outstanding....during our first class someone said the Italians have "balance" figured out...not too much spice, but just enough of many things to be good. This is true.
Speaking of balance....they must also find great balance in their diets...there is pizza and gelato on every corner....how do the resist?? We've had our daily gelato's....it's a RULE!!!! The cheese here is wonderful I'm now known as "cheese girl"....I always want more romano or parmesan to sprinkle...yum!
Our tour group......we have different folks that tour with us and ones that help us in the villa for cooking. Rocky is one guide.....an American that is here making a "mid-life" change. He's very enthusiastic and good. He's taking Italian lessons and doing rather well. Spartico...an Italian that is a tour guide, but I think, not really sure what he wants to be "when he grows up"!!! And he's in his 40's...humm. Spartico is ok, but is sometimes distracted. Ian has been our other guide and has an interesting story. He and his wife Pita and 2 sons Dane (10) and Hamish (13) moved here from Australia 2.5yrs ago. Ian and Pita wanted the boys to learn another language and experience another culture...so here they are. Wow...that takes some guts, but what an awesome adventure for the boys. The boys are so mannerly and have made good tour guides and dinner partners when they are with us....the exposure to different people and cultures is already paying off. Sergio drives our shuttle and speaks little to no English but will help you if he can and is super nice.
Carla and Rita are our cooking crew....awesome and both balls of fire. So friendly and so willing to do anything. Michael and his wife Paola are the owner's. She is back in the USA right now (in FL) with their son so he can get an American education...we are so sorry we missed meeting them. Michael is a ball of fire.....I don't think he ever sleeps.....has that business type brain and has been into many things.....but also a fun guy.
So as you can see...it has been a fun and interesting trip.
Now.....for today's adventures..... We all decided at breakfast to play the lottery as a group....it's 25million Euro, so if we win Susan and I will be staying a while looking for real estate!! We then drove to Deruta to Ceramiche Torretti factory. Beautiful ceramic factory. After watching the master potter, one person in our group tried their hand at the wheeled pottery making. With "the master" their to help it looked fun. It was a great stop. Then we were off to Assisi home to St. Frances Basilica. Our bus was too large for the city so we stopped in a parking lot and took 2 escalators to the street. Wow....how cool is that!!
Then we went through some really cool open gates (HUGE wooden doors) and walked to our lunch spot. It was yummy, was a bit different than the norm. The first plate was risotto, salami, a baked egg something, and a toasted piece of bread....then some pasta and finally salad and roasted potatoes, and dessert....very good. I was not crazy about dessert so I was holding out for my daily gelato. After lunch we got maps and we were turned loose. 6 of us went together to see St. Clare Cathedral...amazing. She was even on display in a glass case!!! ok, was that her body in there with a covering over it....was she under that case....who the heck knows....wow these folks have spent much time and money on these cathedrals and tombs.
Then we went to the Assisi underground. This is where the city used to be and has been built on top of for many years.
The we were on the St. Frances Basilica....this is a HUGE cathedral built in his honor for giving away all of us riches to the poor. It's 3 full churches built on top of each other and his tomb is in the bottom level. It's quite amazing.
We then drove 1.5hr back to Soriano to a local pizza joint. We had pizza by the meter and headed home. We actually got home at 945p....that is awesome.
Time to do a few things and head to bed....tomorrow is another 930a day!!!
Good night from rainy Soriano!!!
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