All Etruscaned out - time to move on from the Province of Lazio and into Umbria

Orvieto, our camper park was
at the base of the town, we travelled
up on a cable car, then bus into the centre

Lazio has been an amazing area with it's ancient history with the Etruscans & then Romans. It's the Etruscans that really interested us and their civilised way of living so long before Christ. (Although some of the art work on their jugs and challis's weren't that civilised!) And the way they buried their dead, preparing them for the afterlife.
These towns we have been visiting have all been up on rocky outcrops, usually Tuff rock. The purpose of building so high up of course was for defence. But boy it must have made it hard work with building into the rock and then building large stone castles etc all around the tops.

As we travel through rural Italy, beautifully landscaped with rows of olive trees / grapes vines / maize / tobacco & sunflowers, the various towns we visited just pop up in the distance and before you know it, you are travelling  these medieval towns trying to avoid the centres as they are a bit tight for cars let alone Camper Vans! Some of the towns are great with their signage and have specific Camper Parks where you can park for an hour or the day (24hrs), which we try and get into and then walk around the towns.

Small side door for discrete exits

Church procession involves
the whole town

Of course every town has many churches, very old majestic looking, some in good order other not depending on the economic state of the Municipal (place). The more touristy of course have more money. But these huge churches can usually only seat a small congregation - quite surprising when looking from outside.

Civita Di Bagnoregio only accessable via pathway

Castles - of course every medieval city had a castle, and they can vary in state too. They all look magnificent from the distance and stand out on the horizons. As I don't enjoy heights, I usually dread our approach into the towns wondering what the

Amazing artwork from the 15th
century on the church ceilings

access is going to be like. The worst (or as Bill would say the best) was into Civita Di Bagnoregio, who with landslides & earthquakes over the centuries has made access to the town only accessable for tourists by foot over a long, very high pathway. I did struggle getting across that one as the ground looked like it was moving as we crossed, but well worth the visit. I feel sorry for the locals when it is high tourist season as everyone wanders pass their homes, but then they need them to bring in the money to the community.

Bill taking us on a short cut...

All the smaller towns have Siesta time, which is a great time to be driving through as there is next to no traffic. And then by the time we arrive where we want to end up for the night, the places are coming to life, great for a drink & nibbles (the Italians don't like to drink on

empty stomachs so usually give a dish of chips or chips & peanuts. In Montemilitto it was savouries or mini pizzas). All included with your drink. It was hard to see how some cover their costs. We will struggle when we return home to the 5.00pm closing of stores, amazing how quickly we have got use to the changes in time & service.

Etruscan Necropolis & Bill 

St Patricks Well
A double helix stairwell
built in the 15th century.
Amazing

With the warmer climate you don't want to be out and about in the peak afternoon heat, and the evenings are lovely in that there is no dew or cooling. Very pleasant and as we have said so many families out and about, makes such  difference to the atmosphere. No one in a hurry. Not sure we want to ever leave Italy!