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Incognito In Italy

October 2017
A short but fine adventure by drudell Read more
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  • TravelerIncognito In Italy
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    Day 1

    Incognito

    October 10, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

    Flying to Italy. We got away late from home and arrived at Pearson Airport in time, but with no extra time. As a result we are in airport parking. That's gonna hurt when we get back in 18 days! The good news is we got upgraded to Business Class - a new experience for Donna & I. Too bad we can't fly this way all the time, it would be very easy to get used to it. Thanks Alitalia!Read more

  • TravelerIncognito In Italy
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    Day 2

    Fiumicino

    October 11, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Time to pick up our car and head north away from Rome, yes away...
    We had spent time in Rome quite a while ago and this trip is of a different nature, mostly smaller cities and towns as well as some 'off the beaten track' places we've been researching.
    Oh yes, the car. So when I searched on AutoEurope for a vehicle I found out for a 'mere' $200 more we could get an Audi A3 Cabriolet (with GPS included) over a VW Golf (without GPS) and decided to splurge. Good decision as the weather has been nothing but sun and 24+ degrees every day!
    A bit of a disclaimer here. I am starting this blog on the morning of our FIFTH day - we'll see if I manage to make it to the end!    Read more

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    Day 2

    Ladispoli

    October 11, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We arrived about 45 minutes early from our flight (once again - thanks Alitalia!), and were on our way by around 2 pm, and the first stop was for some food and a bathroom break for my lovely wife near Ladispoli just north and west of the airport. One of the nice things about this route was it kept us away from the crazy traffic of Rome proper, didn't want to scratch up the new wheels! We got lost...
    Not bad, but not exactly where we wanted to be, seems the native GPS in this Audi likes to spend its time 're-calculating'. So we stopped in a grocery store parking lot while I got Google navigation set up through my phone. Thought we'd grab something quick in the store (and find a bathroom. Some delicious looking (and eventually tasting) bread & cheese - hey, we're in Italy for goodness sake! While I was looking Donna went to get the key for the Toilette. After about 10 minutes, I was starting to wonder if she fell in...
    No, she was LOCKED IN!!! Seems there had been 'issues' with the door prior, it looked like a bank vault, although Donna said there was nothing worth stealing - not even a nice bathroom, but there she was behind the iron door. I flagged down an employee and tried to explain (with no Italian) what was happening, and then it all got going. 3 - 4 employees all talking to each other and on their phones all at once! The key didn't work and the door wouldn't budge. The firemen were coming, ah but maybe they weren't?! Eventually another employee from a different store showed up who apparently had past experience in 'break & enter' as he used a drill to bore out the centre of the lock and free my wife.
    Time lost? One hour!
    Getting Donna back? PRICELESS!!
    Upside? She got some free chocolates upon 're-entry'!    Read more

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    Day 2

    'Necropoli della Banditaccia'

    October 11, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After the fated 'Bathroom Break', we got back on the road and good old Google Navigation got us right to where we wanted. The 'Necropoli della Banditaccia', is a Unesco World Heritage site half an hour from Rome Airport. It has thousands of tombs organized in a city-like plan, with streets, small squares and neighbourhoods, dating back to the 9th century BC! So, yes, that means the earliest graves are close to 3000 years old!! We arrived with just under an hour left before they closed - last entry one hour before they close! Luckily they were kind and let us in. Nice part was there was almost nobody there. Just us and the ghosts of ancient Etruscans.Read more

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    Day 2

    Off to the Lake

    October 11, 2017 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Our first night we are staying at Vicolo dei Pescatori (Fisherman's Alley) B&B in Anguillara Sabazia. The small town is about an hour out of Rome and on the shore of Lake Bracciano. Met warmly by our hosts Federico and his girlfriend Anke and shown to our room with a great balcony a literal 'stone's throw' from the water's edge. There are a few shops and restaurants here, but we will will eat at Federico's restaurant right at the house 'Ristorante la Nepitella' - a very enterprising young man! Our first supper in Italy consisted of Bruschetta and pasta (imagine!), delicious by all accounts followed by a walk down the waterfront for a Gelato. Donna was too full, so it was just for me (IMAGINE!!), although she was served a small homemade Limoncello made by Federico's momma.Read more

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    Day 3

    Ghost Town Italian Style - Monterano

    October 12, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    After an Italian breakfast of cappuccino, latte, cheese,meat, cakes and pastries (no, I'm not kidding), we were off for a half hour drive to Antica Monterano. Off the beaten track, we were the only ones there except for one man on horseback. Did I mention the last couple kilometres were very well suited to horseback, not necessarily cars. People sometimes ask me what is better for bad roads, a dedicated all wheel drive vehicle or 4 wheel drive with locking hubs. My answer? Definitely a rental car, but maybe one with a bit more ground clearance.
    After venturing a little too far down the horse trail, we backtracked and parked near a sulphur spring and located the small sign to our destination.
    Off the beaten track? Yes, but not unknown, in fact this very site was used during the filming of Ben Hur with Charlton Heston back in 1959. If you want to go back to when there were any actual residents in town, it'd be 1799 when the French army and malaria hit at the same time and anybody left packed up and left. Felt a little eerie, especially when looking at the likes of Lorenzo Bernini's Lion of the fountain. This little town was a powerful place at one time, attracting some very famous people. Nowadays, on a hot, bright walk in the October sun it is very awe inspiring.    Read more

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    Day 3

    Civita di Bagnoregio

    October 12, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    From ghost towns (like the last post from our morning stop) to near ghost towns like this, the internet is great for finding places you know nothing about!
    Civita di Bagnoregio was a dying town brought back by tourism and the internet. One of the most photographed villages in Italy, you can only reach this hill town on foot over a single footbridge. This also facilitated making it the first town in Italy that charges an admission. With 180,000 visitors last year, it keeps the towns TEN residents free of taxes and worries about eroding away!
    We walked up on a hot (26 degree) October afternoon, and wonder what it would be like mid-summer at 30+ degrees and 5 times the tourists (at least!). After our solo sojourn in the morning this definitely feels more like a tourist site, but is still manageable and lovely. The first view of the town is every bit as spectacular as the photos, and the 20 minute walk over is spectacular, with breathtaking views (and steps in places!) to this living 2700 year old hamlet first inhabited by the Etruscans. Now, on Unesco's list of tentative new sites, it has suffered from 'downsizing' of a different sort. As recently as 2015 landslides took several medieval buildings off the plateau to the ravine below! What's left is amazing! We visited and old olive mill and see how the ancients methods aren't always the best however romantic they may seem! Between Donna & I, we take about a thousand pictures, meet up with some touring monks, and bid goodbye to head for our overnight stop in Sorano...    Read more

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    Day 4

    Oh Look! A Castle!

    October 13, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    We arrived in Sorano a town on a cliff near Pitgliano and spent the night in Fortezza Sorano, the castle/fort overlooking the town. Small and only a few shops, but one was an olive wood store where I should have filled my suitcase with stuff for the store. We even went back in the morning to do just that, but sadly they had weren't open and we had to hit the road. More accurately the Vie Cave (VEE-ay, CAH-vay). We haven't yet escaped the ancient Etruscans. These roads are Carved out of the rock and in places we saw are more than 20 metres deep and only a couple metres wide. And they were CARVED OUT BY HAND! They connect many small hamlets and cities especially in Southern Tuscany (where the 'tufo' rock is quite soft. In fact Sorano where we spent the night is connected to neighbouring town Sovana by such a road and until the 1940's it was the ONLY way to travel between the two towns! We (as in I) decided that may be a little too far to trek, and settled on hiking in & back out. Time to break out my trusty trekking stick (yes, it's a CANE- I get that!) from Peru. This thing is invaluable for an old 'kneeless' gimp like myself, of course the fact that I recently did one of my shoulders in, means there's only one arm choice, but still helps SO much, especially on the downhills!
    This was another 'off the beaten track' visit, we met a total of 3 people on a half hour hike, it was nature and history, that's it. To me there is something magical about touching a rock face where I know the hands of others 2500 years ago did the same. These roads are a powerful place.
    From the hike we moved on to another town - I think at this time I will stop saying hilltop town, it's redundant. They are ALL hilltop towns! Pitigliano is the largest in the area with about 4000 people, plus lots of tourists. A great spot for a coffee and a few pictures before we move on to our next stop and then to the Italian coast for the night.    Read more

  • TravelerIncognito In Italy
    Day 4

    Cascate del Molino

    October 13, 2017 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    If this picture doesn't entice you then you must hate water...
    It certainly enticed us, and sent us off the beaten track to find this waterfall in a corner of Southern Tuscany. No, it isn't a resort, or a theme park or any such thing. It is a treasure of the Saturnia area and although full of people, it is NOT that well know. Mostly locals float and soak in the warm waters. Not quite a 'hot' spring at about 37 Celsius, but way warm. The beauty of that is you can spend an hour (we did) or two soaking without starting to feel a little 'off', like you would in much hotter water.
    Yes, it is FREE, so is the parking, most people just change by their cars, although there is a restaurant nearby where you can pay for a shower and change.
    Walking here is a little tricky and a pair of water shoes would have been nice, but we managed (slowly & carefully) without. Sitting under one of the smaller terraces with the water cascading on to my shoulder was heavenly...    Read more

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