Valle D' Orcia and Pienza -September 11, 2023

 Valle D' Orcia and Pienza - Tuscany

Many people have heard of Tuscany from movies or books. It's a region (province) of Italy and located above Rome with Florence as it's major centre and just below Liguria and to the west of Umbria. We have passed through parts of Tuscany but decided with this central Italy tour we'd visit sights we wanted to see to include the better known wine centres such as Montepulciano.

Sandra's research found that the Valle D'Orcia named after the river that runs through there from Montalcino to Pienza was the heart of this 'golden' area of Tuscany. To this end as you drive through the region it appears that the place has been landscaped as a countryside.

The Cypress tree lined driveways are the first clue to this special region. 

It wasn't long before we got to the base of Pienza, a walled hilltown at the east end of the valley and found a great parking spot. This is the equivalent of parking at the front door to the bank. haha!

As we climbed up the steps to the walled city this is an example of the view that you can see anywhere in that valley. 

In the piazza we visited the amazing cathedral there, commissioned by Pope Pius II during the renaissance with large windows to encourage the 'enlightenment' of religious thinking and practice. It really stands apart from other churches.

Our walk through Pienza was beautiful and when we returned to the piazza when I was approached by a fellow (Peter) who asked if I could speak Italian and tell him what kind of stone the church was made of. I said I was from Canada and he said he was too, then quickly we learned that his parents lived in Parksville but now he and his wife and 3 kids were living in Switzerland for the past 20 yrs in Geneva. He was a bio-chemist working there and in Basel and his wife (Karen) was a Dulla and worked for a Swiss agency as well. Sandra visited with Karen for quite a while and I with Peter, until we were interrupted in our chats by the voice of a male opera singer who chose to entertain the crowds that were gathering near noon. In that environment the sound and his voice resonated so perfectly you could tell it is how opera should be heard.

I took a picture of him,

Opera Singer in the Piazza

and then decided to shoot a video, which is here. My recording didn't do it justice so I ended up finding a video shot a few weeks before with him singing.

After Pienza we drove past Montepulciano on the way to our hotel for the evening. We decided we'd come back for wine tasting the next day. But Castelgliani del Lago had other plans. See our next post.

stock photo

Pitigliano -September 10th 2023

Pitigliano

OK, when you turn a corner on your motorcycle and your pillion (passenger) exclaims " Whoa " you should stop.

Marta

Of course we were headed here for this very reason after leaving Spoleto earlier in the day. The drive took us back past Terni to Vitterbo and then up towards Lago di Bolsena fairly early on Sunday September 10th.

As we came to a fork in the road it was about time for a break and we turned off into Marta a beautiful lake community where we stopped for a stretch and to see the lake. Of course like any other lake it will have a castle on it. 

And sailboats. 

Since we were doing well in getting toward our end destination that day which was Montemerano I decided to instead of heading to our final destination and driving back to Pitigliano pronounced "Pit" "ee" "Glee" "anno" that we'd take a slightly different route to Pitigliano and see it first. 

The above photo is what we saw as we came around the corner, a walled city that just stands out like it was carved from the rock.

We quickly found a bike parking spot and began to tour this impressive walled city.

And the spectacular gardens below the city itself. 

And the requisite beautiful cathedral to visit.

Our day ended in the countryside near Montemerano with that hilltown about 1 km. from our agritourisimo for the evening. Not a bad travel day into the Tuscany region.

Montemerano

Assisi 2023

 Assisi, Umbria

Last time we were in Assisi was with our kids back in 1991, 32 years ago. 

We have the opportunity to stay here at our Agritourismo Valle Rosa through the Fri/Sat weekend period, so we decide to do another day trip up to see Assisi again.

View to Spoleto from Breakfast room
of our Agritourismo
Click Any picture to enlarge

The weather has been beautiful here with highs between 28-31C sunny with overnights pleasantly cool, likely 14-16C because of the mountain elevations we continue to enjoy the Italian breakfast buffet available here, the view out to Spoleto

Most afternoons we have the pool to ourselves

 and the pool in the afternoon when the heat builds. This view is looking back toward Terni. It is so serene.

The drive is beautiful and in 30 mins. we take the turn-off for Assisi and head up. 

Assisi is truly a hilltown, with a castle ruins at the top, the city walled from the early 10th century and it became particularly noteworthy with the canonization of St Francis. He had converted to Christianity/Roman Catholic church  along with St Claire and he became the patron saint for lost causes. The relics that are on display in the Basilica in her name are amazing and authenticated.

Sandra and I enjoyed sitting in the plaza outside of the cathedral to people watch. One activity that caught our eye was an Italian teacher with a group on 30 teen students having a lesson in the plaza.

One of the most ornate
churches on the path to the top.

We later found them further up on the walk to the top of the castle.

The Rocca - of Assisi

We decided to walk all the way to the top ourselves, partially because we had been able to drive within 100 Mt. of the basilica itself, and park, so we had already saved some steps.

A town with many churches

As we walked back down we decided to have lunch at a cafe. The surroundings were absolutely tranquil and the meal very good. 

A view from our table

And the narrow streets decorated with hanging baskets.

It's going to be tough leaving this area for our next visit to the Tuscan countryside.

Spoleto

 Spoleto 

Spoleto's Rocca was a Castle
 and then prison for the Red Brigade

Spoleto is nestled in a very beautiful region of Italy in the province of Umbria. We hear much more about the province of Tuscany which is only a few kms. away but Umbria has all it's own charms as well. In 1991 with our children we visited Assisi and the Cathedral dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi but never came these few kms. south to visit Spoleto.

Spoleto is only about 30 kms away from Marmore Falls (Terni) and the Agritourismo  we have booked into is well positioned between both Spoleto and Terni. Last evening as we walked back from an excellent supper out at Ristorante Zengoni I got this beautiful shot of our Agri hotel.

Valle Rosa Agritourismo

After our tour of Marmore Falls we wanted to walk the Old town of Spoleto. The Rocca, or old Castle is the high point in Spoleto and it's a beacon to draw your eye to at night.

The town itself is set high in a valley overlooking Terni to the Southwest and the fertile valleys towards Assis to the northeast.

As with most Italian towns the Cathedral takes a very important position in the old town. Spoleto is no exception with the Santa Maria Assunta cathedral being the centre for many festivals in the village. A unique feature are the eight rose shaped windows strategically placed to offer beautiful light into the cathedral in the afternoon.

Barrier between Rocca wall and
the countryside

 

Marmore Falls

 Marmore Falls

Marmore Falls

We have a day of travel up to Terni and Spoleto, Italy from Caserta which takes us from a very arid climate in Caserta into some high alpine regions close to Avezzano very near the tree line. The wind from the start of the day off the Bay of Napoli is very strong and traffic up to Capua is dreadfully slow. As we get further from Caserta traffic diminishes to a point where riding our bike is more fun even though road maintenance isn't that great.

Explanation

Once we are on the road to Reiti from Avezzano the roads improve dramatically. As we weave over a back road  near Marmore  I get a first glimpse the release of water over the Falls on Tuesday afternoon. There is a lot of info regarding the water release, when it's scheduled and why, some tourism based now, but much of it dates back into BC times. On Wednesday we take the tour of the Falls and visit a museum that is utterly fantastic. We weren't supposed to get entrance with our ticket but the Italian lady took pity on us and we were so impressed by the engineering information provided.
We wish Kaden, our grandson could have been there as well.

Just before the 11 am release the waterfall  looks like the above photo.

As they gradually release the water from the dam it builds to this.

It was great to see Europe's tallest waterfall and learn all about the engineering over centuries to deal with different issues associated to the water.

 As we find out later the area around Spoleto with these falls, Assisi and now the Tibetan bridge at Sellano we have again missed a must see destination. 

Sellano

Hidden in the mountain range to the NE of Spoleto, only 34 twisty kms away, is this Tibetan foot bridge which connects Sellano to Montesanto Castle. A 50 min. walk 175 meters above the gorge, this is the tallest 'bridge' in Europe. People who walk it are provided with a helmet, and harness. It looks like we missed a great attraction. Not sure I could have crossed it, but it would have been nice to see. And Spoleto and our Agritourismo Rosa would have been the perfect location for another day trip. 

You can see a youtube video on it here. https://youtu.be/KzQNhZ99Tlg?si=mIHtD3F0iYvXi65e

The Tyrrhenian Sea Gulf of Maratea and Policastro

 The Tyrrhenian Sea Gulf of Maratea and Policastro

Our stay in Amantea grew by a day and we had wanted 1 more to cover the weekend but unfortunately we couldn't make it happen. So we got one final day of beach only weather and then on Saturday Sept.2nd we headed north to Maratea.

Cristo Redentore

Now Maratea's claim to fame as we reported in our Hidden Italy segment in 2014 is the 5th largest statue of Christ the Redeemer and since we wanted to take our time heading back up the coast we wanted to see it again. The drive up was super busy with tons of line ups of vehicles on the roads so the going was a bit slower. But our quest felt great to arrive and exchange photo taking with an Italian couple. We are always blown away with the video drone footage and music out to it. You can watch Bartolo's drone video here. Enjoy!

Later that afternoon we arrived in Policastro and found the last room for the night in the small village, right across the road from the Old town walls and Cathedral.

  When visiting the cathedral we were really amazed at the detail in the artwork on the ceiling made of wood from the mid 1600's.

We are really glad we were able to make this happen!

 

The South West Med Coast of Italy

 The South West Med Coast of Italy

Tropea

Our two day stay in Caserta was good but now we are pushing south. Given the high winds and rainy weather that's been off & on I look at the 4-5 day forecast and decide to outrun the weather by heading to the south end of our travels and then work back, rather than have the weather follow us down.

Out of Caserta we head down towards Salerno and the Reggio-Calabria Autostrada that  would take us all the way to the ferry to Sicily. Our destination is Amantea, a Mediterranean coastal town about 150 kms off the southern tip. We've been here before on our 2014 trip and enjoyed the weather, accommodation and people we met. 

What we missed is taking in Tropea, a Banff like tourist town, so we decided we'd stay in Amantea at the same hotel we stayed in before, and do a day ride down to Tropea.

The ride down was as expected interspersed a bit with a few sprinkles of rain, but as we headed south and climbed the weather got really quite cool, reminiscent of the Columbia Ice Fields. At one point we stopped put our jacket liners in and at a rest area/ gas stop had a nice chat with two riders from Malta doing the same thing trying to outrun the weather and head home from their Swiss Alps adventure. 

As we exited the autostrada at Cosenza toward Paola we finally saw the weather start to break in our favor and we arrived in Amantea about 45 mins later sweating from now being overdressed. A funny but weird thing happened. We had stayed at the La Tonnara in 2014, and had booked it again for this trip. On arrival we walked in only to see the front desk empty ad in a few minutes someone came over and asked if they could help. We advised we were checking in and they said we're full, maybe you booked with La Tonnara Grande Hotel, next door. So we walked over and sure enough we had. The mistake was in our favor over the extended time we decided to stay as the place was definitely an improvement to the other hotel, which appeared a bit tired now. We were treated so well and the place was just so classy with a pool that I've never seen so clean. It was really well decorated and Sandra wanted me to take a photo of a divider in the breakfast room with the chairs and table set-up to illustrate what we were experiencing.

Tropea

As we were heading out the next morning for our day trip down to Tropea and family came running over to us and asked if we really were from Canada. They were from Hamilton, saw the Cdn flag stickers on the bike and wanted to inquire. We chatted for a few minutes as they were waiting to be driven to the airport to fly home. Their children were a bit younger than Shannon and Blair were when we had taken them in '91 but we remarked about how it impacted their development and they said they hoped for the same impact.

As I said at the outset Tropea

is a Banff like setting only in a south Med coastal environment. The weather and scenery were equally spectacular and we spent a few hours checking out a Cathedral devoted to Santa Maria from Romania, and the monastery run by the Benedictine monks who brought education to the masses of children. 

We ended our day their in the early afternoon, drove back to Amantea and enjoyed a very relaxing
afternoon at the pool.