This is my last day in Soriano for this trip. Things didn’t happen as quickly as I had hoped, so I extended my stay 3 days.  In about an hour I will close up the house one more time and say goodbye until my next trip (which is looking like Christmas).

In these two weeks, much has been accomplished, however.  The homes are fully outfitted, with the exception of a few small things that can be done while I am away.  The satellite service is up and running, but the dishes won’t be installed until next week.  The DSL is ‘on the way’, and at least one of the computers is installed (the other blew up, so I need to send a replacement).

I’ve hung pictures, bought knick knacks, installed air conditioning, bought new furniture, coffee machines, dishes, silverware, etc. etc. etc.   I have to say that the places look awesome!

The funny thing is that before we outfitted the apartments, everyone was in love with ‘Il Ponticello’, and there has been little interest in ‘Vecchio Forno’.  Looking at them now, while they are both breathtaking, Ponticello doesn’t hold a candle to Vecchio Forno.

Anyway, I’ll write more about the two weeks here when I get settled back in California.

I’ve been here for 5 days now and have had no time to write as I have been so busy working on our apartments.  However, yesterday I took my cousin to see Rome.  After all, she has never been to Italy and it is less than an hour away from our house.  It’s late october… we are pressing hard on low season here, but Rome was flooded with tourists.  As we walked down the streets, all we heard was English and German.  Every time we got near an ‘attraction', it felt like we were at Disneyland on a Saturday in June.  The line to get into St. Peter's Basilica at the vatican consisted of tens of thousands of people.  Everywhere we went was crowded beyond belief.  You just couldn't enjoy a thing, and this is LATE OCTOBER!  Ugh!

The tourist trap stands were out in force, and since it was raining a little on and off, there were armies of people trying to force umbrellas on us.  Do people actually buy plastic St. Peter’s

snow globes?  I mean, where do they put this stuff when the get home, anyway? 

 It was all just over the top.  Maybe I was just tired, but it really showed what i always say about the touristy areas of Italy:  They were once beautiful places, but have been destroyed by the ravages of mass tourism.  The real Italy... the experience that really leaves you wanting to come back over and over... can only be found in the villages outside the cities.

As we left Rome last night, a sense of relief swept my body.  The closer I got to home, the better I felt.  I got home, went to bed, and woke up at sunrise.  I made my coffee and went outside.  After snappping pictures of the tourist traps of Rome all day yesterday, I couln’t help but snap a picture of the Alto Lazio and Umbria countryside at dawn from my house… such a contrast.  No plastic towers of Pisa here.  Just nature, peace and quiet.  Ahhhhhh.