• Part 1 - Calitri
• Part 2 - Calitri continued, Matera, Albarobello, Lecce
• Part 3 - Adriatic Coast, Monte Sant' Angelo
• Part 4 - Orvietto
• Index

October 4 - Monday

Another pretty day. We packed and carried our stuff up the big, steep hill. We left all our uneaten raw potatoes, beans, olive oil and cheese there. Hopefully the cleaner will be able to use it.

We had to return the keys to the flat to Pasquale. We found the square where he lived by driving down the same street we'd been strolling on all this time. We were behind a trash truck that picked up all the white plastic bags people had put out. It slowed us down some but also ran interference for us.

We got off the mountain for the last time. We were not terribly impressed with Monte Sant' Angelo. The drive to Umbria was long but all on the Autostrada. We stopped once for lunch at the Autogrill. We had great paninis with mozarella, arugula and proscuitto (pictured - right) - Now that's my idea of fast food! We left at 9AM and arrived about 2PM at our destination - Agritourismo Buonasera near Bagnioreggio in Umbria. My only concern was that it was a lot farther from the airport than I had figured.

The apartment was the big one that we had opted not to take (left). Since no one else was there we supposed they figured they'd upgrade us. It was comfortable with one big room divided by a low wall, the bed being behind it. There was a kitchen with a table and a big bathroom with Jacuzzi. Out front there was a table, chairs and umbrella. The front yard was very green (right).

It blew up a formidable thunderstorm right after we arrived. Two little girls tried to check us in but couldn't get the door to open. It was pretty amusing. Finally the cook came and let us in.

We decided to read and relax before dinner which was at 8PM. It was nice enough. There was a plate of mixed antipasti - ham, bruschetta, a pear slice, etc. Then lasagna, then braised beef with eggplant and dessert was a slice of what seemed like chocolate chip pie. We had a white and a local red. The thing that made it notable was that our primary server was 5 years old. She was really cute. She brought our white wine and was careful to make sure we didn't run out. Then she brought most of our dishes. Every so often an older sister would come. We saw very little of the adults. They played good blues on the stereo. When we retired to our room Luther sat outside and had his cigar. It had stopped raining.

October 5 - Tuesday
It poured rain and thundered all night. We woke to more rain and thunder. For a while we lost power but luckily it came back on just before breakfast. We walked over to the house and had a nice breakfast with pastries and good coffee.

Even though it was gray and stormy we headed for Orvietto. We really enjoyed it. The drive was easy with some switchbacks. Everything was very green after the mostly brown of Puglia. There were, of course, lots of grapes since it is a wine region. There were a lot of olives too.

We parked in a big multi-level parking lot and took an elevator up to the town. There was great shopping there. I bought a lot of souvenirs for friends and family. I am glad I waited to get there. I got some ceramic pieces to hang on the wall - one was the sun, one the sun and moon, and one the sun and clouds. Then I got two plaques that said, "beware of the cats" in Italian. Luther got a book and we bought some wine for that evening. We visited the magnificent cathedral. It was covered with wonderful mosaics of gold which told biblical stories. There were also a lot of carvings around the rose window (saints). Oddly this was just a facade, kind of like in an old western town with fake fronts? This was a giant, fancy front for a dowdy old Romanesque church with gray and white striped walls. It reminded me of Sienna's church only dirtier. Then we visited an Etruscan museum with good pottery and statuary, sarcophagi and roman coins.

Orvietto from below	Orvietto view	Luther tries to make friends	This guy DOES want to be friends - I think.
Orvietto Streets
Orvietto Duomo

Suddenly it was lunchtime! We chose Da Maurizio just randomly. It looked nice with pretty white linens in a vaulted space. Lunch consisted of antipasti plate for Luther (huge!) and Prosciutto with melon for me (4 huge pieces of melon). Then agnolotti for Luther with truffles and I had taglietella with pesto and tomatoes. All of it was good. The place was full. There were lots of Americans. There was a big Catholic group who took up the whole back.

Starter snacks	Orvietto red	proscuito e melone
Luther's antipasi	Agnlotti with truffels	Taglietelli with pesto and fresh tomatoes

We drove back in bright sunlight. The storms had gone. We relaxed before dinner which turned out to be very similar to the previous night. Antipasti, pasta, lamb, a flan like dessert. The next day would be a very early morning because I was very concerned about getting to the airport on time.

October 6 - Wednesday
We got up at oh-dark-thirty. Got on the road by 6:15. Our flight was at 11:10. We did fine until we reached the ring road around Rome. It was rush hour and their traffic was as bad as Washington's. I had wanted to get to the rental car drop off by 8:30. We made it by 9. That wasn't too bad. Then we had to wait for-ever to get our bags checked. United needs to work on this, it was the same at Dulles. We were seated together and it was a 10-hour flight. The flight crew was great and the time went by pretty quickly.

Trip over man.

Thoughts:
Most Valuable thing to bring: La Locanda i Restaurante in Italia - Slow food book with most of our recommended restaurants
Best item worn on trip - Merrel shoes - first time without foot issues - could walk all day
Most friendly - Calitri people
Least friendly - Alberobello hotel
Best food

• Locanda di Bu in Norca
• Le Botteghe in Matera
• il Due Corte in Lecce
• Lunch (Il braccie?) in Manfredonia
• Restaurante Fra' Stephano in Pechi
• Da Maurizio in Orvietto

• Part 1 - Calitri
• Part 2 - Albarobello, Lecce
• Part 3 - Adriatic Coast, Monte Sant' Angelo
• Part 4 - Orvietto
• Index