Today was definitely a quieter kind of day. Terni, where we stayed last night and was the birthplace of St. Valentine, is in a big valley between some very large hills. We know the mountains aren’t too far away because we can see snow in the distance. The area around here is quite beautiful and it feels very pastoral.

We began the day with a short visit to Dunarobba Fossil Forest. This is one of the most unique paleontological fossil forests in the world because the trees, which are about 2 million years old, have not petrified and many are stilll in their original upright position. The forest was discovered in the 1980s as the adjacent mining company was digging in a clay quarry. Since the regular tour is in Italian, the lady at the ticket booth took us on a personal tour explaining everything in English.

 

 

 

 

Then we headed to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis. It is quite a complex (called a commune) visible from miles away high in the hills. The outer wall is still intact and I suspect a lot of money has been put into renovations and upgrades. the roads within the walls are quite narrow with lots of twists and turns…and of course lots of hilly terrain. The main focus is the Basilliica of San Francesco built in the 1200s. The walls are lined with beautiful frescoes which are still in relatively good shape. The museum was also an interesting spot with more reliquaries than anywhere else I’ve been. I’m not sure why the Catholic Church places so much importance on these kinds of things.

The afternoon drive was very relaxing as we took the slow route through the Chianti wine region. Now when people talk about spending time in the Tuscan hills, we’ll be able to visuaize it. The south side of the hills are lined with vineyards while the wineries are all on the north side. Mile after mile of place to stop for tastings. Certainly the scale is nothing like what we saw in California or even perhaps in Niagara although it’s hard to tell from such a short 50km trip. The scenery was quite beautiful and between our navigator Siri and my chauffeur George, I felt somewhat pampered…able to just look out the window and enjoy the view.

Tonight we’re in a little hotel in the suburbs of Florence – called Firenze in Italian. It’s quite quaint and each room is named after a different rose. Dinner was at a pizzeria next door. It took about 30 minutes to order and eat and another 30 minutes to get the bill. They are very slow here in bringing you the bill as we have experienced elsewhere in Europe.