March 22, 2026 - Tired of Looking at Italian Hill Towns?

 I'm not!  Today, I checked out of the Airbnb in Viterbo and moved to Roccalvecce, literally a block from my friends' house.  Then, we headed to lunch in another nearby hill town.  They're everywhere!  And so beautiful.

Here are more photos.  In reverse order, of course.

M, L and E dropped me off near my house, then went on home.  They were worried about me walking about 50 yards by myself.  Their house is so close and the town so small/quiet, they'd have heard me if I needed help.

Matt and I shared this pizza with gorgonzola, spicy sausage, caramelized onions and cheese.  Very thin crust and very delicious.  On our 15 minute drive home, we saw several wild boar and a porcupine.

My living room in Roccalvecce.

The bidet is tucked away on the left.

The living room - that's front door.

My bedroom for the week.

It says Taverna but I think it is a private home.

These lights shine on the castle at night.

Just past the awning, next to the parked car, is Matt and Lori's house.

Their next door neighbor's front door.  He doesn't live there but is currently renovating it.  You can buy a lovely small home for less than $20,000 here.

Matt and I went antique shopping.

That's Roccalvecce, from a distance.  The big yellow building is the castle.

We drove to a village for lunch and then walked to some ruins afterwards.

Dogs seem to be welcome everywhere, including restaurants.

Best olives ever.  They don't eat olives so I ate the whole bowl.  They'd been marinated in fresh orange juice and zest.  I'm going to try that when I get home.

For lunch, a light (!) dish of beet risotto with burratta.

Eileen had a chicken cutlet with some really tasty roasted potatoes.

I'm going to try making this tortini de patata - basically grated potatoes, mixed with milk, topped with cheese and baked, then topped with fried onions.

This shrub with new red leaves are everywhere and make stunning hedges.

Wild iris are all over, both white and purple.

Another view of Roccalvecce.

In the newer area of Viterbo are a variety of "big box" stores for food, furniture, etc.  This place was huge and similar to a Super Target, but less expensive.

And, it had a resident cat.

March 21, 2026 - Viterbo, Italy

 I'm going to be posting lots of photos.  I may not have descriptions for all, but they'll come as time permits.  Bottom line, it was a wonderful day of walking around Viterbo, then visiting Roccalvecce, where I'll be moving tomorrow, for the rest of the week.

Many thanks to Matt, Lori and Eileen who've gone out of their way to make life easy for me here.  And Lori - great job driving on the narrow, winding roads, with aggressive drivers everywhere.  

I figured if I loaded the photos in reverse order, they'd come out in the correct order.  Nope.  The first photo is us having pizza in my apartment in Viterbo, which was at the end of the day.

Now, I'm going to bed but enjoy...

Photos!

Pizza for dinner in my apartment in Viterbo.

Sunsets have been spectacular.

Looking toward to old neighborhood in Viterbo.

This was the start of my first visit to Roccalvecce.

This is the town "bar".  Just off the main square, there's an honor system for the drinks and snacks.

The main square.

That's the front of the castle, which now has private apartments that you can purchase.

This light came with Matt and Lori's house.  They hate it.  I like it.  What do you think?

Decorative gnomes are VERY popular here.

Coolest 9 year old on the planet.

Not a great photo of Matt, opening his front door.

Each floor has a room.  Living room/Eileen's room is the top floor, which opens outside to where the car is.  This is the kitchen/dining room which is on the first floor and also opens to outside.  On the second floor is Matt and Lori's bedroom and the bathroom.  The stairs and stone and old.  If I lived there, I'd need a portapotty in the bedroom!

Most of the furniture came with the house.

They have a working fireplace which they use to help heat the house.

Matt collects and sells antique books.

View out the back from the to

3rd floor living room/bedroom.

We stopped at a grocery store.  The prices are great

And there's a big variety.

Including an entire aisle of pasta.  It is Italy, after all.

But I can't escape Mickey.

ng some beautiful villages, including Roccalvecce, where I'll be staying for the rest of the week, starting tomorrow.

Thanks to Matt, Lori and Eileen who were splendid tour guides.  Lori was a great driver on the narrow winding roads. Italian drivers here seem just a touch aggressive.  I'm basing that on the number of cars who sped by us, on curves, in no passing zones.  

Photos!