• I flew to Italy and drove a Lamborghini

    A Lamborghini … Tractor. Everyone knows that real Lamborghini’s pull plows, right? 😁 The official story is that in the early 1960’s when Ferruccio Lamborghini, who had been manufacturing tractors for some years, found out that the clutch in his Ferrari was the exact same part as he used in his tractors he figured that…

  • SPQR – Senatus Populusque Romanus

    SPQR – Senatus Populusque Romanus

    The Senate and People of Rome. From where we are spending a couple of nights it’s a 3 euro & 20 minute train ride to the center of Rome. On the one hand it would be a shame to be 20 minutes from Rome and not visit the collosseum and forum. On the other hand,…

  • Capalbio, Castle on the Hill

    Capalbio, Castle on the Hill

    We spent an afternoon at the nearby borgo of Capalbio, just north of our agriturismo. A typical hilltop city complete with a XXII century castle, a church with nice frescos, narrow cobblestone streets, and a great view of the countryside – and of course shops, resturants and gelateria. Unfortunately many shops and restaurants were closed,…

  • Vulci – Etruscan and Roman Ruins

    We spent a day hiking around in the ruins of Vulci, originally an Etruscan city (VI century BCE), later (II century CE) the site Roman villa. Bits and pieces of the Etrurian temple and city walls remain, enough that archeologists have a fair idea of the extents of the city. The Roman villa was relatively…

  • Civita di Bagnoregio. Population Eleven

    Near Orvieto is the borgo of Civita di Bagnoregio. The oldest part (Civita) sits perched on a pinnacle in the middle of a canyon. A near-perfect example of a hilltop city. Access to the city was originally via a donkey path along the saddle connecting Civita to Bagnoregio. Today the saddle has eroded away and…