Paciano, Italy

On Friday it was time to check out of Podere il Poggiolo. We had such a nice stay, it was hard to say goodbye!

Alessandro and Serena offered the girls a pony ride on Nutella before we hit the road.

Nutella was dirty so Alessandro decided to clean her...with the vacuum from the house! Never seen that before.

Here Alessandro is telling rose to sit tall and proud like a principessa! He said she was a natural.

Mallory also looked great out there. The twins declined a ride.

Pamela works at the agriturismo and was so helpful throughout our stay!

Here Serena is calling Flor back inside before we packed her in a suitcase!

On the way out of Acone we stopped at the local pharmacy. Mallory spent the night before crying with pain in her right ear. She was still in pain as we were packing the next morning. Thankfully I was able to get drops but without a fever or seeing the town doctor, an antibiotic wasn't possible. I was hoping it was just swimmer's ear.

On the way to Rome we took a detour to the town of Paciano.

A friend knows someone who was born and raised in the small town and wanted us to stop in and ask for her if we were anywhere nearby. All we knew was that her name was Oriana and everyone in Paciano would know her.

We stopped in a butchery and although she only spoke Italian, she heard the name and pointed us in the direction of the town hall. Once inside we met another woman who also only spoke Italian but found someone who could help us. Ricardo, Oriana's son, happened to be walking by! He called her on the phone and she wanted to meet at the local cafe. She said her friend told her all about us and she was hoping we'd stop in.

She wanted to treat us to espresso and ice cream for the girls.

Group shot with Oriana and her husband Franco.

We sat and chatted for a while. We all thought it was such a coincidence that we stumbled upon Ricardo. It turns out that he is the town mayor!

She offered to show us around town. We had a great afternoon with her and her husband Franco. She was hoping we could stay for a meal but we had to get to Rome by a certain check in time.

Oriana was just great! We hope to someday be back in Paciano again.

Churches in the town center

A quick pit stop led us to Orvieto, a town we visited and loved from our last stay in Italy. We were only passing through but we did walk by the beautiful Duomo.

We got into Rome around 7 pm. We walked from the apartment and found a restaurant that was highly rated. We stood outside for about 40 minutes in line. By the time we finished our meal it was midnight...and all the girls were still awake! I forgot to bring my camera along but the city was still bustling and chaotic at 12 am!