Day 4: Rome-San Quirico d'Orcia
Last morning in Rome....very overcast with a threat of rain. Since it is Sunday, the traffic limitations barring driving without authorization into the center are not in force so I can go and pick up the rental car and drive it back to the hotel, making it easier just to load the bags directly into the car.
I very much enjoy my walk across the heart of Rome....past the Pantheon, skirting the Trevi Fountain and cutting up to the Via Veneto. The car rental procedure is relatively painless and I only make one wrong turn on the way back to the hotel. We pack up the car, say goodbye to the desk clerk, Paolo and head out of town. We choose to take the non-toll road route to Tuscany and we immediately encounter some problems looking for the Via Cassia (S.S. 2). After meandering around the Flaminio neighborhood, the Via Cassia appears and we begin the trip out of Rome.
But not so quickly....for some reason, on this rainy Sunday, the traffic is fierce. The road goes through heavily populated areas on the outskirts of Rome and we are crawling along until we are well beyond the ring road (GRA) that encircles the city. Now we are looking for a place to stop for a bite to eat but we are on an limited access highway and most of the service areas are closed on Sundays. We stop at a bar in Sutri and have a snack to fortify us--some cappuccino and delicious cornetti.
Continuing on our way north, the rain intensifies. We see a sign for a ricotta festival in a town along our route (Zepponami)
so we plan to stop. The festival grounds are right on the road but, after we park, we see that the festivities are severely curtailed by the bad weather.
We go up to one of the stands and ask a woman if we can get something to eat. She laments that the rain has spoiled the day and that the ricotta that she is preparing isn't ready, but then reels off about five things that we can get. She leads us over to the food tent and soon we're having some delicious food--a sausage sandwich, a grilled ricotta bruschetta and some sort of fried bread. The rest of the crowd is mostly the workers and they are fortifying themselves with some Chivas Regal and dessert. The sheep don't seem to be complaining about getting wet however.
We continue on our way and are soon driving through the very scenic countryside of northern Lazio and southern Tuscany. Passing through Acquapendente, there is a big market festival being held in spite of the rain and the town is packed. We pull into San Quirico d'Orcia about 4 pm and meet up with the owner of the apartment where we are staying.
The apartment is one big room in the ground floor of one of the medieval buildings in the historic center of San Quirico d"Orcia. It is very light (in spite of the gray sky) and the furniture looks very comfortable. (Here is the link to the web page that has pictures.
link
The pictures are quite representative of what the apartment looks like.) The owner (a young Austrian woman) welcomes us and shows us around the place. The big problem we have is that the heat doesn't seem to be working and it is quite chilly and damp. She brings us a portable electric heater and promises to call the plumber in the morning. We unpack and get settled. I am relieved that my internet key works like a charm.
The rain lets up a for a bit and I make a short exploration of the town....which we know very well. Not too much seems to have changed, which is a relief. We have dinner at our favorite San Quirico d'Orcia restaurant, Il Tinaio. When we get there we are the only customers on this rainy Sunday evening but we get a warm welcome from the waiter and have a terrific meal. We split an antipasto plate of prosciutto and salamis, then Diana has the zuppa di farro and I have the ribollita (a bread and vegetable soup)--both hearty, delicious and warming. Diana's filet is great and I enjoy my trippa valdorciana. We drink the house wine--a bottle of rosso di montepulciano--which we like very much. The meal is topped off by a perfect panna cotta...one of the best that we have ever had.
We quickly walk back to the apartment down the deserted and wet main street. The apartment has been warmed up by the portable heater so it is comfortable for us to go to sleep. We hope for improved weather in the morning.
Jim and Diana
I very much enjoy my walk across the heart of Rome....past the Pantheon, skirting the Trevi Fountain and cutting up to the Via Veneto. The car rental procedure is relatively painless and I only make one wrong turn on the way back to the hotel. We pack up the car, say goodbye to the desk clerk, Paolo and head out of town. We choose to take the non-toll road route to Tuscany and we immediately encounter some problems looking for the Via Cassia (S.S. 2). After meandering around the Flaminio neighborhood, the Via Cassia appears and we begin the trip out of Rome.
But not so quickly....for some reason, on this rainy Sunday, the traffic is fierce. The road goes through heavily populated areas on the outskirts of Rome and we are crawling along until we are well beyond the ring road (GRA) that encircles the city. Now we are looking for a place to stop for a bite to eat but we are on an limited access highway and most of the service areas are closed on Sundays. We stop at a bar in Sutri and have a snack to fortify us--some cappuccino and delicious cornetti.
Continuing on our way north, the rain intensifies. We see a sign for a ricotta festival in a town along our route (Zepponami)
so we plan to stop. The festival grounds are right on the road but, after we park, we see that the festivities are severely curtailed by the bad weather.
We go up to one of the stands and ask a woman if we can get something to eat. She laments that the rain has spoiled the day and that the ricotta that she is preparing isn't ready, but then reels off about five things that we can get. She leads us over to the food tent and soon we're having some delicious food--a sausage sandwich, a grilled ricotta bruschetta and some sort of fried bread. The rest of the crowd is mostly the workers and they are fortifying themselves with some Chivas Regal and dessert. The sheep don't seem to be complaining about getting wet however.
We continue on our way and are soon driving through the very scenic countryside of northern Lazio and southern Tuscany. Passing through Acquapendente, there is a big market festival being held in spite of the rain and the town is packed. We pull into San Quirico d'Orcia about 4 pm and meet up with the owner of the apartment where we are staying.
The apartment is one big room in the ground floor of one of the medieval buildings in the historic center of San Quirico d"Orcia. It is very light (in spite of the gray sky) and the furniture looks very comfortable. (Here is the link to the web page that has pictures.
link
The pictures are quite representative of what the apartment looks like.) The owner (a young Austrian woman) welcomes us and shows us around the place. The big problem we have is that the heat doesn't seem to be working and it is quite chilly and damp. She brings us a portable electric heater and promises to call the plumber in the morning. We unpack and get settled. I am relieved that my internet key works like a charm.
The rain lets up a for a bit and I make a short exploration of the town....which we know very well. Not too much seems to have changed, which is a relief. We have dinner at our favorite San Quirico d'Orcia restaurant, Il Tinaio. When we get there we are the only customers on this rainy Sunday evening but we get a warm welcome from the waiter and have a terrific meal. We split an antipasto plate of prosciutto and salamis, then Diana has the zuppa di farro and I have the ribollita (a bread and vegetable soup)--both hearty, delicious and warming. Diana's filet is great and I enjoy my trippa valdorciana. We drink the house wine--a bottle of rosso di montepulciano--which we like very much. The meal is topped off by a perfect panna cotta...one of the best that we have ever had.
We quickly walk back to the apartment down the deserted and wet main street. The apartment has been warmed up by the portable heater so it is comfortable for us to go to sleep. We hope for improved weather in the morning.
Jim and Diana
posted by Jim Zurer at 8:07 AM
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