One of the many alleys we explored in Umbria and Tuscany in the hill towns

Hotel in Assisi

Hotel in Assisi with swimming pool

Umbria and tuscany

We have now been to several "hill towns" in Umbria an Tuscany including Orvieto, civeta, Assisi, cortona, montepulicino and now we are staying in Sienna.  Food and wine has been great. We saw festivals in Assisi and Sienna that proved we were in the right place at the right time.  We were in Assisi on October 3, and it just so happens that is the anniversary of Francis of assisi's death.  Pilgrims were everywhere and we saw a huge festival with drums and flag throwers and free food! Tonight in sienna, we ate dinner next to a huge celebration for a sienna community that won the all city horse race last month.  We weren't invited to participate but we saw several hundred people dressed up like animals and monks have a huge feast.  Tomorrow we are heading for Florence.

St.peters basilica

Today was the Vatican day. We walked all the way to Vatican city and then ended up wAlking all day long and our feet are really tired. We started at St. Peters which was huge. I didn't get an idea of how big it was until we walked all the way up to the cupola to see the view. 551 steps! We have been to a lot of big churches but this was the biggest. After having some more pasta and gelato, we went to the Vatican museum. Went through an incredible maze of old roman heads, tapestries, maps, paintings, until we made it to the Sistine chapel. It was amazing! We then found our way to the Italian masters section and saw Raphael, bernini, Leonardo, michelangelo, and others. We waddled our way back home and now are thinking about how to find dinner with the least steps. More pasta!

Lost in alleys of Rome but who cares

Crazy Italian soccer fans

Viva Lazio!!!