Charleston Spoleto

... 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.

... Rome. We had passed a shop during the tour so we wandered back to check it out. Unfortunately they only had the size above and below mine, so I had to miss out. <br> We spent some more time in the shops and enjoyed a limon gelati before meeting the rest of the group to go to our hotel.<br> Our hotel was actually quite nice, the rooms were really big and it was in a lovely setting with a nice view looking up at the town ...

... ceramic store and found a little dish with the iconic olive design and a little egg cup to remind me of the first leg of our romantic journey. Then nap time.<br><br>Dinner at home tonight with last night&#8217;s leftovers and a sauté of fresh eggplant, tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. We ate outside and enjoyed the caress of the evening breeze. Tomorrow off to Orbetello with our friend Alessandro behind the wheel.

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 ...

... it was. Then I got to walk over the bridge and up to the city itself. It was a very steep climb near the end. And the city was amazingly picturesque, with stone houses and stone lanes, with some flowers sprinkled here and there. I stopped at a restaurant to get some Bruschetta, like Rick Steves recommended, and it was very good. <br><br>There wasn&#8217;t much to do in Civita other than walk around and see the city. But it only took 5 minutes to walk across the city. But I had to ...

... br><br>By the time I made it back to my lodging (the La Magnolia B&amp;B), the doors were still closed but I decided to just see if they were open. They were, so I went up a flight of stairs and saw that they had left me a note saying my key was the in the door. This was my first night not in a hostel, because of how small the town is. I actually had a whole double all to myself and it felt wonderful! I could spread all my stuff out and I had my own private bathroom! It felt like ...

... on the terrace. I join her and relish in the cool morning air while performing Jill&#8217;s Anusara routine. Lovely.<br><br>Off to Spoleto we wind through the narrow cobbled stone streets to the top of the town. Jill and Mike show us an ancient amphitheatre, the one the Roman&#8217;s gave to the town of Spoleto for defeating Hannibal by pouring hot oil his troops. It is still being used today. We visit the town&#8217;s Duomo ...

the francescan monks must have been part mountain goat.this palce is unbelievably hilly.also it poured with rain and thundered and we got drenched.we slept in an 1800 year old nunnery in single beds of course<br>we went to the church of saint claira and saw her tomb

... birthright".and took a vow of poverty. St Francis preaching. inspired St Clare and founded the Order of the Poor Ladies, with followed the Franciscan tradition. The basilicas named in their honor and house their tombs are inspiring. <br><br>The town of Assisi reduced to rubble when it was struck by an earthquake in 1997 ...

... views and walled for easier defense, they have it all. Grey stone bricks, cobbled narrow streets leading into a small piazza, which inevitably will lead up another cobble stoned street to the main town piazza. This main piazza will be called either Garribaldi, after he who united Italy into a sovereign state or Popolo, "of the people". Of course, there will be restaurants and coffee bars everywhere, and they'll all be full of Italians doing what ...