Day 1: Tuscania

The plane trip from Washington to Rome is good and bad....the Virgin
Atlantic flight to London has lots of empty seats and we are able to
move to a row where we have no seatmates and--more importantly--no
one in the seats in front of us to recline into our space. The plane
leaves on time, arrives early, the food is pretty good and the Virgin
Atlantic personnel are very pleasant.

In London, however, there is a drama with our carry-on bag. The
airport authorities there are very strict about the number of carry-
ons and the size of the bag. Ours is too large for the frame that
they use to measure the carry-ons and they tell us that we have to
check the bag. That means that we have to go through a long line at
passport control, walk to another terminal, check our bag at Alitalia
and then make our way to the gate. Luckily we have 2.5 hours, but it
is pretty frustrating.

We arrive in Rome about 1 pm--right on schedule. After a long wait
for the bags to reach the conveyor in the baggage claim area, our
luggage comes very quickly, we get our car--a Fiat Bravo--and get on
the road by 2:30 pm. I had bought a GPS machine to try out in
Italy (Garmin Nuvi 670) and I hadn't had a chance to practice with it
at home so this was our first attempt trying to figure it out...which
slows us up some. Although navigating is part of the fun, many of my
clients have expressed an interest in having a GPS and I thought I
would give it a try. We set it for Tuscania (though I already know
the way) and it--after some fits and starts--gets us there. It does
get flummoxed when we find that the main street is blocked off for
May Day leading to some trouble negotiating alternate routes to the
hotel.

In any case, we find the hotel Al Gallo (after a thorough tour of all
sections of Tuscania), check in, unload the luggage and park the car
in their lot behind the hotel (which actually entails a somewhat
complicated roundabout route just to get to the back of the hotel).

The hotel is right in the middle of town and has a pretty well-known
restaurant attached to it, where we had eaten four years ago. It has
a distinctly old-fashioned, quirky feel...bright green carpet, dark
walls and an unbelievable patterned wallpaper on the ceiling.



But there is a nice view out the window,




the bed seems comfortable and the bathroom is roomy, so--except for
the pokey dial-up internet connection, all is fine.

After getting settled, I head to get reacquainted with the
town....the streets and buildings are very attractive, the town is
almost completely encircled with the ancient wall and you enter the
main street through one of the original gates. There is a large,
inviting park that occupies the northeast part of town with great
expanses of green, benches, a play area and a killer view of the old

churches and castle (now outside the town) and over the gentle
rolling hills of northern Lazio.



We plan to eat dinner fairly early for fear that jet lag will set in
so we walk over to a nearby, attractive small restaurant called
Locanda di Mirandolina. It is located right on the edge of the park
where we sit for while because we have arrived a bit too early for
dinner (7:45 pm). While we are waiting, we enjoy a very nice sunset.



Mirandolina is very small (6-7 tables) and tastefully decorated. The
owner, Suzanne, is very charming. The food is excellent--Diana has a
pasta called "foglie" with a sauce of pistachio pesto and tomatoes
(very tasty) followed by a large (and delicious) of plate assorted
local cheeses served with honey. I have "maltagliati"--irregular
square sheets of pasta made with borage (a wild green) sauced with
walnuts and pecorino cheese (very good but Diana's is better) and a
wonderful fritter-like concoction (tortino) made with vegetables and
served with a selection of salumi. The restaurant-made bread was
very good and we drink a couple of glasses of a very rich local
Maremma red wine.

The only down side is that Suzanne is charming to all her guests--
which is great--but it slows the service down some and on this night,
we are hoping for a quicker meal than usual. The check is also
surprisingly reasonable (Euro 45.00).....definitely a place to remember.

And it is only a short walk to the hotel through the quiet
streets...the stars are shining and there is a full moon. Tomorrow
we plant to visit nearby Tarquinia to see the Etruscan museum and
necropolis.