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!

I Found Someplace Older Than Me!

 

I'm going to Paris!  But, only for a couple of hours.  My final destination is Roccalvecce Italy, a Medieval hill town, with a couple nights in nearby Viterbo, on the way.

My travel has slowed.  Mostly because I hate to leave Buddy the Wonder Dog.  Also because I'm lazy.  And, travel costs money and every once in awhile, I hear my financial advisor start to mumble under his breath.  When I suggested another world cruise recently, he just laughed.

Anyway - this is my first big trip of 2026.  I write this blog to keep friends up to date on where I am, what I'm up to, but it's mostly for me.  A way to back and relive the fun.  Please excuse typos, etc but enjoy the photos.

Had to laugh when the photos loaded.  The sequence is backward, again.  Let's just pretend I meant to do that.

Morning view in Viterbo from my living room.

Ok, technically, this is the view.  But look over the roof - see the bells?  Which I heard at 8:00 a.m.

Just inside the main entrance to the apartment building where I've rented an AirBnB.  How cool are those copper pipes?

In the main square at about 8:30 on a Friday night.

They flew to Rome from where they live/work in Amman, Jordan, then spent hours waiting for me in the Rome airport.  Thanks, Matt, Lori and Eileen!

I've flown business class trans-atlantic before.  But I forgot how stingy they are with water.  When I got on the Paris/Rome flight, I had 4 of these little guys to make up for it.

This doesn't look like business class to me.

Seats in business class within Europe are the same as coach.  But, they don't put anyone in the center seat.  And, they fed me this, on a 2 hour flight.  Cold curried chicken (don't recommend).  Wonderful cheese and bread and a sort of cream puff that was good.

Those are my knees pressed into the seat in front of me.  I have long legs and it makes travel uncomfortable in coach.

America, what is wrong with us?  These are bathrooms in the Paris airport.  Notice that there are no gaps so people can see in?  Admittedly, these are in the business class lounge, but I visited the public toilet in the Rome airport - no gaps!

Paris let's you know where you are.

Nice weather flying into Paris but a bit chilly - about 55.

I opted for the express dinner on the 8 1/2 hour flight from Orlando to Paris.  Because it was 1:00 a.m.  Tasty.

My seat.  

Cool sinks in the lounge in Terminal C at MCO.

And giant videos of nature.

Not many flights at midnight.

TSA looks empty, right?  No.  There were as much space in front of me, packed with people in line for security.  No TSA pre-check.  It took almost an hour to get through security.  The line of cars waiting to get into Terminals A/B (domestic flights) was back to the 528  ramp (if you're not local, that's a couple miles from the terminals.

An old friend is taking care of Buddy and the house...Buddy seems to be fine with it, lol.

I was supposed to fly to Amman earlier to celebrate Eileen turning 9 but then Israel invaded Gaza.  So I brought a few gifts.