Civita and Montefiascone

Walter and Luise Fischer arrived last Friday for a four-night visit. They found their own way on the train up from Rome where they had spent a few days exploring the city. That afternoon we wandered Viterbo, introducing them to the place we call home, and had a grand feast in their honor with our friends the H-P’s and Ale. The Aperol cocktails, cheese and olives followed by “turkey saltimbocca” was a hit.

The first full day of their visit found us making our way north to visit Civita di Bagnoreggio. If you see only one hill town, this one is unsurpassed for its stunning presentation. This time we drove all the way to the base of the bridge which yielded a slightly different perspective on the town.

We climbed our way up and around to enter through the main gate. It felt like there were plenty of people around, but in truth this is a dying town that is essentially dead. There are only a handful of permanent residents. Most of what you see there is effectively a Disney adventure, complete with hotels, restaurants and attractions set up just for you.

One thing which remained unchanged was the cat presence. In fact, in spite of the harsh winter (remember, we got more than a foot of snow) the number of cats has grown. This one was a friendly tiger that was likely one of last year’s litter.

The real stars of the show were the six young kittens that were cute enough to want to take home, but far too wily to be caught. We lunched in an underground Etruscan grotto. Walter, in true adventurous fashion, tried some of everything! As always, the scenery was spectacular.

After lunch we retrieved the car and headed off to Montefiascone to take in Lago di Bolsena. The overlook at the end of town was spectacular. Can you see the family resemblance between Amy and Walter? I can’t, but then again they are only distantly related. Their grandfathers were brothers making them second cousins. 

This time the duomo was open and we had a chance to go in before heading home for aperitivi at a nifty watering hole we recently found, complete with ½ liter bottles of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout. Quite the treat.