ITALY - PART DEUX

O.K., now where was I? Oh yeah, we'd just gotten to Rieti (pronounced Ree-ay-tee). I was sort of backed into the decision to go there. Susan really wanted to spend some time in a small town, in a villa preferably rather than a hotel, in other words, someplace different - very different.

Our friend Nick Beaudin's cousin just happened to own a place in scenic Rieti province, Italy. You're probably seeing where this is going by now, but just in case you're not - we rented the villa for 5 days in early June, and with one minor exception, it was fantastic! The exception was the fact that the place was at the bottom of the hill, which under normal circumstances would be a good thing for an old guy like me, with bad knees. Sadly, one enters the village of Paterno at the top of the hill! I calculated that had there been stairs, instead of steep paths, there would have been 155 of them.

The view at the left is that from our patio (or is it veranda?). It was one of the most pleasant parts of a fairly long trip, but this wasn't even the best view from this spot. Of to the left, about 10 kilometers away was a national forest with the letters D V X formed at the top of the mountain. The initials are actually a representation of the name DUCE - for Benito Mussolini!

With Paterno as our base of operations, and a small red rental car as our chariot, we took on the highways of Rieti and Tuscany, and more importantly the drivers of those provinces. Despite what Susan thinks, I'm a pretty good driver, and I'm much more cautious when driving in Europe than I am in the U.S. - an actual defensive driver! Who'd have thunk it?

Defensive driving in Italy involves having right side tires over the white line at the shoulder (for British readers, switch sides). The proper defensive move is to get as far on to the shoulder as you can, slow to a crawl and pray!

IT WAS A GREAT TRIP, WHAT'S NEXT?

Last time, I speculated about the upcoming trip to Italy and points north. Not too much turned out the way it was planned, but it was a great trip nonetheless!

Highlights? Way too many to list them all. We left Chicago on June 1st and flew to Rome. You can't do much in Rome with just two days, but we caught a few of the touristy things including the Trevi Fountain (above). Our hotel, the Concordia, was midway between Trevi and the Spanish Steps. Most of our full day in Rome was spent between the Pantheon (right) and the Vatican City. For a first timer in Rome, I was blown away by the Pantheon. It's not much from the outside, but inside it's simply amazing. We walked to the Vatican, taking back streets and meeting a few incredibly nice people, including the waitress from Sardinia in a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant just west of the Pantheon. By the way, she really didn't care for the Italian President - Berlesconi.

The Vatican was a really unique experience. They have the art of moving people down to a science. Those of you who know me understand that I absolutely hate standing in line. Imagine thousands and thousands of people trying to get into St. Peter's Cathedral at the same time, and all of them ahead of me! Suffice it too say, even I had no complaints about how fast we got inside.

The artwork was fascinating, and the cathedral was huge. I had borrowed a book years ago from a friend of mine in Springfield. The book, entitled Basilica detailing the building of St. Peter's, the intrigue, the fights but it really helped me to appreciate the magnificence of this landmark. And this is just the first two days....19 to go.

On Friday morning, June 4th, we caught a commuter train to Fara Sabina in Rieti province. We had rented a house there with the help of our long-time friend Nick Beaudin. Nick's cousin owned this place in Paterno, a town about the size of our block at home! The couple that serve as caretakers/tour guides, Susan and Bruno Micocci were great. Susan met us at the train station, and took us across the street to the car rental place. Since the rental place had no one who spoke English, Susan was a godsend. Driving in Italy, was something everyone should do once, but never have to do twice. It is written that Italian drivers believe that it is not only their god-given right to ride your bumper, they believe that it is actually required by Italian law!

Our first night in Rieti was highlighted by a cooking class in Fara in
Sabina, not to be confused with the train station 10 miles away. Our chef Mauricio was really enjoyable and taught me a lot, and even showed Susan a few new things. Maybe I am biased but the food was pretty good.


Next time: The rest of Rieti, Assisi, Florence, the Magnani Papermill and Lake Como - and we're not out of Italy yet!