My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Tuesday was an easy day. We drove from Stroncone to a lovely agriturismo in the Tuscan countryside near Castiglione d’Orcia.
Villa La Palazzetta
We stopped to stretched at a commonwealth WWII cemetery we happened to pass. It was beautifully maintained and had a plaque with an excellent summary of the 1943-1945 war in Italy.
The Bolsena War Cemetery The War in Italy 1943-1945
Then we had a picnic lunch a bit farther down the road.
Picnic lunch
For dinner we drove fifteen minutes into Castiglione d’Orcia and had an excellent dinner at a little restaurant called Il Cerchio delle Streghe. We started with carpaccio, then had homemade pasta with a spicy sauce, then lamb and ended with a molten chocolate cake. It was another wonderfully great meal.
After dinner the German couple at the next table asked where we were from. We had a nice conversation about the area, the farm they bought here, and their recent olive harvest and press.
If you are interested, over the last couple of weeks I’ve loaded several more trip videos onto my YouTube channel. I’m still about three weeks behind in editing videos but if you would like to see them here is a link to my YouTube Channel.
The owner at Hotel Porta del Tempo in Stroncone where we are staying recommended that we visit Marmore Waterfall today. It was about a thirty minute drive.
Marmore Falls is the tallest man made waterfall in the world. It was first created by the Romans in 271BC when they diverted the Velino river to drain a swampy area.
When we bought our tickets to see the falls and hike down to the bottom (10€ apiece) the man told us they would be turning off the water for hydroelectric use in about 30 minutes at one PM. Our ticket would be good all day though and they turn the water back on at three PM.
I’ve never seen a waterfall that can be turned on and off! We started the hike, and hurried to get to the bottom before one.
We made it to the bottom about one. The spray was making everything wet and the noise was thunderous. Then gradually over the next half hour the flow slowed, the noise decreased and we dried out.
Marmore falls after the water was diverted to the hydroelectric plant.
We had espresso and then started the hard climb back to the top.
Espresso overlooking Marmore Waterfall The waterfall from the same place as the first picture above.
We had been thinking that today would be a rest day, but the two kilometer hike with 150 meters of climbing was well worth it!
For dinner we had by far the best meal we have had since coming to mainland Italy. We ate right next to our hotel at Taverna La Mola. We shared pasta with sausage and truffles.
Home made Pasta with truffles and sausage
Then we shared pork fillet with truffles and roasted chicory with balsamic vinegar. It was my first time having chicory and I liked it.
Pork fillet with truffles Roasted chicory with balsamic vinegar
For desert I had pears with walnuts and mascarpone and Duke had panna cotta with caramel sauce.
Pears with walnuts and mascarpone . Panna cotta with caramel sauce.
Our plan Sunday was to pick up the rental car at noon. We checked out of our hotel and stowed our bags there. Then we walked to the park near the rental car place and people watched for a bit.
Sunday morning in the park
Renting the car was an adventure. We had a reservation guaranteed to cover the total rental cost. The lady in the single person Sixt rental car office told us that the cost was going to be over $500 more than the guaranteed price. We have rented a lot of cars in Europe and we have never had a problem like this.
After arguing for a bit we left and looked into renting someplace else. But, long story short, she eventually cancelled our non refundable reservation and booked us another car for basically the same price. I don’t know if she was trying to scam us or she was inexperienced and using their system wrong or what, but three hours later we finally had out car and were leaving Rome.
Roadside stop to stretch our legs.
When we arrived in Stroncone, the medieval hill town where we are staying there were cars parked along the road everywhere as we drove through the people walking up to the town. When we got to the main square it was closed and we found out that the Chestnut Fastival was going on!
So we parked out of town, along the road, at the bottom of the hill. We left our suitcases and walked up to our hotel. It did help that once we got to town there was an elevator that took us up to the road near our hotel. It’s so much fun to happen upon local festivals.
The Chestnut Festival in Stroncone
We walked around enjoying all the activity. They were roasting chestnut in a barrel with a crank over a big fire.
Roasting chestnuts
We had some wine and chestnuts. A cone of hot roasted chestnuts and a glass of wine cost us €3.
Wine and hot roasted chestnuts Prices
About 7pm the square was open and we were able to walk to the car, move it to the town parking lot and get our suitcases.
Saturday we had tickets to see the Vatican Museum at 6:30 in the evening. That was the earliest we could get tickets. We left our hotel around noon and did a lot of walking and saw a lot of Rome.
We saw the Italian Parliament and the obelisk they took from Egypt after conquering Cleopatra and Mark Anthony.
Italian parliament
We saw the Pantheon,
Pantheon
had coffee on Piazza Navona overlooking the four rivers fountain,
Coffee on Piazza Navona Piazza Navona
And then walked across the Tiber and got our first view of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The Tiber with St. Peter’s in the distance.
At St. Peter’s Square we waited in a 30 minute line to get into the basilica. It is enormous and it’s beauty is like no other church I have ever visited.
St Peter’s SquareSt. Peter’s BasilicaThe alter and bronze canopy at St. Peter’s
From St. Peter’s we walked about 20 minutes to the Vatican Museum. It is enormous too. I bet we only saw a quarter of what there is to see. We ended with the Sistine Chapel. I particularly liked the map hall.
Map of Sardinia in the map galleryMap GalleryLaocoönOne of the ceilings.
The quantity and quality of the art works was overwhelming. By the time we left the museum it was dark. We had a nice view of St. Peter’s from some of the windows.
Our feet were hurting and we were worn out. We planned to get a cab back to the hotel but couldn’t find one. So we got gelato and walked the 40 minutes back to the hotel.
Friday morning we went online and bought tickets to visit the Forum and the Colosseum Friday and the Vatican museums Saturday.
The Colosseum is so big. It impresses me how advanced Roman civilization was that they could build and use a 50,000 person stadium. It shocks me that those 50,00 people were enjoying public torture and killing. It is ingenious that they raised and lowered people, sets, and animals through trap doors in the floor.
The Colosseum Inside the Colosseum Duke and I inside the Colosseum
After the Colosseum we went through the Forum. There were a lot of people in both places and they checked our tickets and covid green passes in both places.
The Forum
We got back to our room. But just as we were putting our feet up housekeeping arrived to clean the room. So we went out to find a snack. We ended up having beer, salad, and pinse at a great sidewalk cafe, Il Miraggio Trevi, with a very friendly waiter and excellent food.
Lunch/dinnerPinse and salad
From there we went to see the Trevi fountain.
Trevi fountain by day
We were so full from our pizza that we didn’t want to go out for dinner. Later we did go out and buy water and wine and crackers to go with the cheese we already had for a late picnic dinner. We also stopped to see the Trevi fountain at night. Duke thinks it look a bit like our new backyard landscape!
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