Est! Est! Est!

Aka "This is it." We're here, finally. Greg & I arrived yesterday after car, plane, plane, train, train & foot. No sleep in two days rewarded by happy hugs by Amy & Warren followed by THEM carrying our bags up the marble stairs to their fabulous apartment. Most fascinating was the wide variety of terrazzo floors, a veritable patchwork of speckled glory. Our bedroom looks over a jungle with birds carrying on as if they were frat boys on spring break. We split up for lunch & Amy & I go to a cave like restaurant, The Etruscan Tavern, run by two brothers with adventurous gastronomical tastes. Their Lemon Pizza sounds strange but I am in ecstasy.  Who'd 'a thought? After stumbling home we were finally, after much foolishness from Amy, allowed to sleep.

After a rather romantic supper at The Convivium on the unfortunately named Plaza of Death, we strolled home but not before revisiting The Etruscan Tavern for some inventively devised gelato: chocolate with mango tea, chestnut, pistachio, and your basic chocolate. Bed was wonderful since Greg & I could actually touch each other without having to maneuver around beagles.

Next day started with local fruit, cheese, baked goods and yogurt. Off we go to the Saturday market and daylight views of Viterbo while actually alert and awake this time. Amy teasingly calls this place "a dump". Instead every view looks like a tourist advertisement. There is an large and well preserved medieval area which is much akin to a maze. The shops seem rather high end and tasteful. Plazas and fountains abound. Everywhere you turn are wonderful carvings, terracotta, wrought iron, tall towers,... We passed an external pulpit where St. Thomas Aquinas once spoke. The market was lively and Greg bought me a beautiful scarf so I could appear truly Viterbese. It is apparently required that all residents wear a scarf casually wound around their necks. At  home we had another excellent meal of local foods to fortify us for our afternoon.

Off to the nearby town of Montefiascone we go. Above Lake Bolsena Amy, Warren, and Greg take a walk from the hill down toward the caldera and the cemetery which Wa wrote about earlier. Because of my arthritis, I guarded the car (ok, so I took a nap). At the top of Montefiascone, perched atop a very high hill, we walked through the tiny streets and multitudinous stairs to the duomo named for me, Saint Margherita. Do you know about her? She was eaten by a dragon while gripping her cross. Said cross scratched the insides of poor Mr. Dragon. He got cross and puked her up. Is Saint Margherita the patron saint of over indulgers and flu sufferers? According to the statue, the dragon, who looks like a cross between an alligator and my beagle Mr. Lucky, fell in love with her. He looked all mooney at her. Next stop was the ancient springs, very hot, with lots of people lounging about convivially in bikinis, no matter what their shape. Oh and of course there were ancient Roman and Etruscan ruins nearby. Tonight promises good cooking from Amy. I'm sure glad she didn't mean anything by greeting us yesterday with pamphets from local inns.
Tune in tomorrow and I'll tell you all about that "est, est, est" stuff.