Istituto Bambin Gesu Spoleto

... has been renamed Paradise Hill.

We approached the basilica walking down a steep and narrow side street. From its front, the basilica is flanked by a wide expanse of lawn, where currently a large Nativity scene is set up. And, since it’s built on a hill, beyond the basilica you can see miles and miles of Assisi and its surrounding towns and villages. The site of the basilica alone is serene and gorgeous – but the interior is even more unbelievable ...

... villes de la region, orvieto est construite sur une coline et Emilie la gentillement rebatise orvieto "la vile sur une bosse". C'est une petite ville encore fortifier, construite sur une tres ancienne ville creuse a meme la coline. il y a une grosse cathedrale (duomo) comme toutes les villes que nous avons vue, puis il y a plusieur point de vue sur la region.

en fin de journee, nous avons visiter quelques unes ...

... was out for their evening passeo - walk. The gelateria's and cafes were overflowing with people. I spied a deli with a spit raosted pig lying on display in the window and got the best pork sandwich ever!!! Too late to go on we decided to park up. We had accidentially drained our leisure battery so Kim had to cook by torch but the torch battery was running out..so no other choice, we headed for a bar! Life's tough.

... today. That has to be my favorite saint. Very busy here even though end of season. No wireless interent. We have one more day and we start home. I think we are ready to get home. It has been beautiful here and I have learned so much, but all good things must come to an end. See you all next week I hope.

... That night we enjoyed a great meal back at the hostel. The hostel serves home-cooked meals every night for an affordable price, and the food was fantastic. There were only three other people eating at the same time as us, and two spoke only Italian, so we were seated with the only other English speaker. Honestly, I was kind of looking forward to a quiet meal with just the two of us, but looking back on it, we're very glad we got a chance to meet a new friend.

This new ...

... more of a motel than a hotel but we liked it.

Dinner was alfresco at the hotel and we had more success with wine discovering a lovely Italian cabernet sauvignon which we continued to enjoy after dinner. We all gathered for drinks under the moonlight out the front of our hotel after dinner and it turned into quite a late night. We really enjoyed ourselves though, getting to know people better and having some good laughs.

Wednesday, We are alone in an Italian villa. It was magical. We slept in and then had breakfast on the veranda.

I made a picnic lunch out of the things we bought yesterday and feeling very brave we drove to Pettino. It is a small mountain village about a half an hour away from M & J's house. Reaching Pettino, we blinked and were out of town. Turning around and heading back down the hill to find a place ...

Today Mike takes us for provisions for our picnic we are planning for Tuesday. They leave for NY today and we will be on our own. Mike has us drive so we get the feeling of Italian roads and drivers. He takes to the local butcher, Hugo, an artist with meat. He makes beautifully aged prosciutto, 15 months, compared with the 2 months in the US ...

... a friend of Mike and Jill’s, drives us to their house near Campello sul Clitunno. We get the full on Italian driving experience and happily arrive in one piece. After a shower and a snack of Mike’s freshly made antipasto of fresh mozzarella, garden tomatoes and homemade pesto, we felt a thousand times better.

Then to dinner with their friends of ex-pats, artist and poets at the local tattoria for more ...

... could go along. No problem. Anyway, we actually bought tickets with no trouble and the bus left on time! Surprise, surprise! Before leavving, when Ben arrived, she was accompanied by a little dog looking amazingly like Bud! He had followed her all the way to the bus station and whenever she would go someplace, he would look for her until he found her. She felt sorry for him and asked if he could go on the bus. It was OK - I swear ...