Day Six

Before I continue with our trip I just want to say a special Thank you to all who have left such nice comments...I wished you could have really been with us.


Day six started with a 5:00 am wake up call so we could be ready when the van came to take us to
Assisi , Umbria. This is as close as I got to the Tuscany area and enough to take may breath.

I think the pictures will speak for themselves....

This area dates back to 1000 BC

 Take note of the Japanese lady taking the picture I will tell a little story about her and another fellow Japanese traveler later.

We toured both St. Francis Basilica and Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angel. The guide was excellent!

Just like in the movies.....

 The man in the beige jacket to the right is our other Japanese traveler.  There were many people from different countries on our tour but these were the only two Japanese people and they spoke some English. They were not together but because they spoke the same language they chatted together as we did our sightseeing. They took us to a nice restaurant for lunch and these two came walking in and looked forlornly around to see where they might sit...Hubby waved for them to join us at our table. Now remember my hubby looks a lot different in hat, vest, jeans and etc. than most people so that can be a good thing or a bad thing but for the most part it is a good thing. They joined us and we had a wonderful time talking with them. We exchanged emails and as it turned out the lady was a Japanese language teacher at the university in Japan going back to teach a special graduation class from South Carolina and he was a Professor of Engineering. Want a wonderful opportunity to meet them. The lunch by the way was a three course meal and delicious! I would have preferred to just stay here and be able to shop and look around more but the tour included a trip to Orvieto and too soon it was time to leave.

Orvieto is a city situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff....which means it is way up there! What a relief they had a series of  escalators that took us up and we didn't have to climb. For me this town was not as pretty as Assisi but here are a few pictures of the one church that I thought the inside was spectacular.

 Archways

 window

Hubby and I were sitting on a bench across from this building when two teenage girls approached us and said they were making a movie and wanted to know if they could video us? I ask them to explain and they said they were making a special video for their girlfriend for her birthday and would we sing "Happy Birthday Andrea" We obliged and when we finished my hubby held out his hand for his Euros .....we all had a good laugh.

Only after I got home and started this post did I find out about this......

Underground city

The underground city.

The city of Orvieto has long kept the secret of its labyrinth of caves and tunnels that lie beneath the surface. Dug deep into the tuff, a volcanic rock, these secret hidden tunnels are only now open to view through guided tours. Their spectacular nature has also yielded many historical and archeological finds. This was never mentioned on our tour but wished it would have been.

We had dinner back at out hotel that we so much enjoyed...

 Picture in the restaurant

We had the same two waiters every night and they did not look like this but we did when we left. They took very good care of us and the one evening went out into the street to take our picture at our favorite table.