Drink nice wine while you can, otherwise your kids will

Siena was our first stop on this leg of our Italy trip. A classic medieval Italian hill town which fortunately for us delivered an easy route from the train station to our room for two nights at the top of the hill......an indoor mall that had a combination of 6 escalators and 3 moving sidewalks to get us quickly to the top without breaking a sweat. The historic town centre is where we spent all of our time, heading there on both days along an almost level 15 minute walk. Once inside the walls vehicles were almost non  existent which allowed for relaxed walks. There were two main plazas that attracted the crowds, connected by narrow, cobblestone alleyways. The first was next to the Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral, built in the 1290's and originally designed to be bigger than St. Peter's in Rome. It was very impressive (inlaid marble floors, statues) as was it's Baptistery and Crypt (both full of frescoes by the Italian Masters). On the opposite side of the Cathedral was a former pilgrim's hospital (1090) which was also filled with impressive art. Then it was on to the massive Piazza del Campo, one of Italy's most famous public spaces and home to the summer Palio horse race which takes place around the inside perimeter of the plaza. It would have been fascinating to observe but the pictures reflect race-watchers packed into every inch of the plaza centre so I'm not sure how much they would have seen other than cheering for the horse from their district. Tom Hanks had it right, renting an expensive apartment and looking down on the race with his family.

We then rented a car to spend time touring around the Tuscan countryside. With Montepulciano as  our base, we stayed at a friendly farm house for 4 nights where we were greeted with a bottle of their farm produced wine and had a wonderful Tuscan countryside view right outside our door. We had a fabulous time each day, always heading in a different direction and stopping into the many hilltop towns which all seemed to have walled protection, medieval buildings, frescoed churches, cobblestone streets and scenic views. There is definitely a pattern here that we have noticed in our travels around the world. Older civilizations almost always built their towns on fortified hilltops protecting them from neighbouring enemies.......whereas in North America we generally built our towns at the bottom of valleys close to water resources. We are fortunate to live in a time and place where we don't need to fear our neighbours. Several Tuscan wineries along the way also grabbed our attention and wallets after tasting some very nice Brunello di Montelcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wines. There is a saying 'when in Rome do as the Romans do' and we have discovered that they drink a lot of wine.....so we are doing that! Montelcino, Montelpulciano, San Quirico d'Orcia and Cortona were all walkabout highlights, as were the wineries of Castello Banfi and Avignonesi.

We then left Tuscany and moved on Bagnoregio, just south of Orvieto in the district of Lazio, but again well placed for daily trips to other nearby towns of interest. Orvieto itself was a treat, situated on the top of a volcanic outcropping with almost no place to expand, having steep sides around most of it. The 13^th century Cathedral was amazing but perhaps less so for a town that was first established in b.c. times and once a major city. Day trips to lakeside Bolsena , ancient Vitterbo and the Marmore waterfalls (tallest man-made waterfalls in the world, built by the Romans in 271 b.c.) were also part of our itinerary but the clear highlight was Civita di Bagnoregio, 2500 years old and hanging precipitously on top of a limestone hill. The ancient town's only connection to civilization is  a long footpath bridge suspended high in the air over the River Tiber valley. Unfortunately, the ever-eroding soft rock is slowly dooming this town which has been placed on the World Monuments Watch List. Parts of the town have already disappeared below and the younger people have moved on to a more predictable future, leaving only 6 full-time residents. Check out our pictures below to get a perspective on this amazing island in the sky.

Tomorrow we return our car to Orvieto and catch a train that will take us just south of Naples, bypassing Rome where we spent time 10 years ago.

The Santa Maria Assunta Cathedral in Siena. This is only one of many beautiful pictures we took both inside and outside the church.

Frescoes (wall and ceiling paintings) inside the Library next to the Cathedral.

The Cathedral Museum which contains incredible pieces of art that were formerly in the Cathedral or in nearby churches that were damaged during wars or earthquakes.

The Piazza del Campo which hosts the summer Palio horse race. Horses and jockeys from the 12 Siena districts race around the outside while the spectators are crammed into the centre of the plaza.

Awaiting my first pour at one of the many Tuscan wineries that held my wallet hostage.

A routine view of the Tuscan countryside that we were able to enjoy every day.

Walking along the main street of Montepulciano. Not sure why the directional signs were there.....we only came across pedestrians, and Italian drivers usually don't pay much attention to roadway signs anyway.

We came across a film crew in Montepulciano's main square and watched this scene take place several times, at least once because the main character got hit in the eye with rotten food that the unhappy townsfolk were tossing at him because they hadn't been paid wages for work. We found out later that it was a scene from Netflix's 'Medici: Masters of Florence' series.

The Cathedral in Oriveto, another massive church with stunning architecture and art inside.

The Civita di Bagnoregio with a disappointing morning fog hampering our view.

A much nicer view of the crumbling town on our departure several hours later.

The Marmore Waterfalls near Terni. This 83 metre drop, and 165 metres in total after a few more cascades is the tallest man-made waterfall in the world. It was first built by the Romans in 271 b.c. to clear their land for more farming and is now a source of hydro-electric power. The floodgates are opened twice a day for one hour to re-enact the natural flow.

We couldn't resist going back to the Civita on our second day to capture one more shot of this remarkable spot.