Summer's winding down

Its our last week in the countryside. We've been staying close to our villa for the last week. But you don't have to travel far to see really amazing things here.


Lulu continues to commune with the local fauna.



In a mirrored space designed by Leonard da Vinci-



Lake Trasimeno is not far away. It's a natural lake with eons of history-



A short ferry ride takes us to the Isola Maggiore. It has a quaint small town to walk around.





We often walk after dinner to our local medieval village called Sterpeto. The entire walled village has been bought by a British couple who are making it into vacation apartment rentals.







WE have been to Assisi many times. We finally made it up to the Rocca Maggiore, a military fortress originally dating to the 10th century. It sits high aboove the town. Below is the view downward to the town.



















We took another crack at finding the caves on Monte Cucco, about an hour drive. The mountains here offer many dramatic views.





We did manage to find a small cave.



We hit Gubbio on the way back.











A headless fransiscan nun?



Across the streep on our evening walk.

Roma...

We spent two hot days in Rome this week.



Lulu and cousin Evan hanging out in the Colosseum.



Felix and Graham...and two cool moms.



Love those Roman ruins.



The Forum...



The line at the bancomat took forever.


Poolside at the Aldrovandi Palace Hotel.



We stayed at our friend Lisa's summer apartment with a great terrace over Piazza Vittorio Emmanuelle



The Spanish Steps...





They even named a street after Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC!



The Trevi Fountain..







Just walking the streets one sees amazing things in Rome.



The Capitoline Museums are huge and have some incredible artifacts.



Romulus, Remus, Felix, Lulu. Felix and Lulu prefer suckling on a lollipop.





Saint Peter's square in the Vatican.



Lulu on the train back to Umbria, sleeping off her Roman holiday.

Puglia!

Much has happened since our last blog...here is a condensed story of our last two weeks.

We drove down to Puglia. If Italy is shaped like a boot, Puglia is the heel. It was a long ride...



We arrived in Bari after 6 or 7 hours speeding down the Italian autostrada (at speeds I won't mention). They were rewarded with a nice hotel with a fantastic pool.



These guys snorkel and catch octopus by hand, right off the harbor downtown Bari. They have to beat them to soften them so they aren't too chewy.





The patron saint of Bari is St Nicolas. As in Santa Claus...
There is a beautiful church where (parts) of his body is in a crypt. The church dates to the 11th century.



Here he is...Where's the red suit and jelly belly?





WE met up with friends and hit this great restaurant right on the water.



Here's Roxy, Lulu and Felix.



Our destination was San Dana. A tiny town right at the bottom of the heel. We stayed in a simple but quite old house.



Taking a dip in the Ionian sea with Deedee, Horton, and Roxy.



They still have bands that parade through the villages. A great tradition that is being kept alive by surprisingly young band members.



Puglia is a long peninsula with the Ionian Sea on one side and the Adriatic on the other. On the Adriatic grottos are everywhere. Some you can swim into, other walk into.



Look closely for Nina and Felix taking the plunge.



There were many great places to take a dip in the Adriatic.



Notice the guy jumping into the water over a grotto. Felix was brave and made some very high jumps into the deep water.



And we saw one crazy guy jump into the water from the bridge.



Here is a video of the insane plunge:




In San Dana there is a ancient cave that had these frescoes of Saint Apolonia. History is absolutely everywhere in Italy.





A morbid chapel in Otranto...yes they are skulls!



We found this amazing beach called Turkish Bay.



Santa Maria de Leuca is the very bottom of Puglia, where the Ionian and Adriatic Seas meet.



Felix scales a grotto near Santa Maria.



FELIX TURNS 10! That's double digits, baby! A lovely Italian woman in San Dana made this cake for him.



On the way back to Umbria, we overnighted in Alberobello. It's famous for its trulli, these strange structures that look as if they were made for elves.





They make a surreal skyline.



They are capped by different magical symbols.





And the doors are tiny!





The following day we stopped at the amazing Castellano caves. It's the biggest network of caves in Italy.








Try to see the people in the lower left corner for scale. This cave chamber is huge.





Once again on the autostrada. The highway was getting to Lulu, as this self-portrait shows.



And thankfully we were on the right side of the highway. This went on for miles!



Next stop ROME!