We have finally got around to taking some photos of our little village , Chiusi.

We have found 3 or 4 favourite spots. Café Venezia for Greg’s pistachio ice-cream (nearly daily) ,  The macellaria (butcher) for great snags and filetto , and la pizzicheria (deli) for great prosciutto (ask Lynds) and parmigiano ! But of course , our “most favourite” is the garden café /bar for great coffee , but more importantly fantastic G n T ‘s and aperol spritz!

On our Italian map, the towns and villages that are marked in yellow are “of interest” and the “must sees”. We decided to visit some towns that were not marked and we are writing to the map printers to ask why!!!!

The town of Gubbio was stunning! As you enter you have a wonderful view of the old Roman Amphitheatre ( well what’s left of it!)n with the village behind and sitting at the top is the magnificent Palazzo dei Consoil. Many houses in the narrow streets date back to the 14th and 15th century.

The aptly named main square , Piazza Grande sits atop the village and is home to the Palazzo built in 1332 to 1339 and is now an archaeological museum.

The views from the square of the rooftops of Gubbio were nothing to be sneezed at either!

Another village not marked in yellow was our next stop and again quite a surprise. The small village of Norcea Umbra , another one on a hilltop was quite pretty. The Cathedral dates back to the 13th century and reconstructed in the 15th century.

We are constantly amazed at the number of these villages and towns that still have their gates or “portas” still standing.

We are so used to having coffee at Brunettis each Sunday when we are at home, we thought we would drive to another village on Sunday morning to see what they had to offer.

We had driven past Citta della Pieve during the week but there were heaps of people and cars so we decided not to stop. However at 9am on a Sunday morning the place was very quiet and we must say the coffee was “very nearly” as good as Brunettis.

Sitting in the main square, sipping our coffee with a view of the Cathedral was very relaxing, you MIGHT say religious!!!!!! It was the centre of brick manufacturing in the middle ages so the walled town is built entirely of brick which made it very attractive. This is our Sunday morning Brunettis while we are staying in Chiusi ( again not marked in yellow!)

We then decided to check out another  village a little further on, and again not yellow, and again extremely pretty.

The small village of Monteleone di Orvieto used to be a remote defensive bastion of Orvieto and sits perched on a rocky outcrop.

It was very narrow only 3 streets wide , but the houses were lovely and the “locals” were very friendly, lots of “bonjournos” as we walked the streets.

At the end of the main street was a magnificent view and a great house (above) that we thought about putting an offer on!!!

Summer time is Festival time in Italy and each town and village decorate their streets with flags and banners! It makes for colourful photos.

We had another day touring and this time (according to Rhonda’s phone) we walked 16 kilometres . You will see why and how further on!

The first was the well preserved and picturesque medieval village of Sorana squeezed along a high rocky ridge.

On one side of the road , above the village is the imposing 14th century Orsini Fortress and on the other side of the road you descend down the medieval streets of the old village.

This place , yet again not yellow, (as were all the following places on our tour) was visually stunning!

Next stop a little further along the road was Sovana , very different , very small, and listed as “One of the Most Beautiful Villages ” in Italy.

The central Medieval square the Piazza del Pretorio, was rather cute. The town Hall with it’s Bell tower sits at the bottom of the square., It was very quiet, not too many of us tourists, and being only one street wide was easy to look around and see very quaint and pretty houses.

Next stop, which became an unexpected lunch stop , was the large town of Pitigliano, (below) of course , another medieval hill top town perched on a rocky outcrop , 360 metres above a plain.

The view from afar was spectacular , and it makes you wonder how these places were ever built so many years ago. One feature of the view was the massive aqueduct built in the 16th century.

The town itself was nothing fantastic however we did enjoy lunch. We were expecting a toasted ham and cheese and radicchio “sanger” but we got the below instead! It was YUM!

The last stop of the day was the amazing  Citiva di Bagnoregio known as the “Jewel on the Hill”.

The small town with a permanent population of 7 people in winter and nearly 100 in summer, sits atop a pinnacle above a vast canyon. The only way in and out is by a foot bridge.

It was quite a warm , not actually a hot day and although we were quite sweaty and tired by the time we walked over and back , it was well worth it.

The small Piazza was extremely pretty enhanced by the flowers and plants.

So you can see why we walked 16 kilometres during the day! We WERE going to have an AFD however with tired feet and sweaty bodies we decided to walk another 100 metres to our favourite garden café /bar and have the usual when we returned home.

We then enjoyed a lovely dinner on our terrace that night with a glass of red!

The days are no longer quite so hot , just in the low to mid 30’s now , and the nights are cooler , so better for sleeping!

Still warm enough for a few drinks, speaking of which, yep it’s that time AGAIN. Gosh that time comes round quickly!

So ciao ciao from Chiusi

Love Gregorio and Rhondio.