We arrive in the eternal city ready for action because basically we have zero idea where Capena really is. All we know is that it is outside of Rome somewhere. All calls to Fabrizio's cell phone are unanswered. We buy a map and locate it. Now we have to get there somehow. There is a pretty big difference between southern Catholic Europe and Protestant North. Any student of history could babble on about it for hours but for the traveler it is the lack of knowledge of English in the south that hits home immediately. We were having major problems getting any sort of directions to Capena. Finally Steph got some sketchy directions from a polizia and we were on our way to Monterotundo which apparently is pretty close to Capena.

When traveling in rural Italy remember one thing; don't go anywhere on Sunday because everything is closed and busses don't run. We get off the train in Monterotundo and we are supposed to take a bus to Capena. Of course we get about three different set of directions on how and where to take the bus. Finally this old lady tells us that the busses don't run on Sunday.

Were screwed. We have no way of getting there. So, we walk down the Via Salaria and come upon some guys selling fruit. Steph goes over to them to get some peaches or something. She comes back all excited, "You aren't going to believe this! I got usa a ride!"

This ride is this old cat with a "tractor" which is really a gas powered golf cart with a bed. We hop in back and put towards Capena. We must have looked classic cruising down this major road going about 25 mph in the back of this tractor bed. Great view though.

We stop at this cross roads and were out. I give him 7 dollars worth in Lire and he gets all excited and tells us to get back in. Apparently we weren't all the way there yet. Felt like I'm in Mex all of the sudden.

He drops us off at the bottom of this hill, which seems to be Capena. Little do we know there is an upper and lower Capena and obviously we are in the lower. It is blazing hot now and we don't have clue were they live. Thankfully we know that Fabrizio's last name is Sistele and Mama Sistele used to own a pizza parlor in town (no joke), so we start asking around. Common name but it's a smallish town; somebody has to know them. We seem to be gaining some attention on this sleepy Sunday afternoon and some teen age boys peek their heads out a second story window across the street and are hot on the girls. They immediately start calling around asking if anybody knows Fabrizio, but its the neighbor carrying a watermelon and a baby that knows the family and they give Mama a call. All I here is "tres Americani" and the next thing we know Fabrizio's brother is on the way to pick us up. Good thing it is a couple miles to upper Capena. We are so grateful to these guys Frannie starts just giving them stuff. It's too funny.

The look of astonishment on Lena's face said it all. I don't really think they thought we were coming. Fabrizio lost his cell phone so they didn't know we had been calling and we would have had a much easier time of finding them if we knew that Fabrizio was universally known as "Tamburo" in Capena. Lena and Fabrizio live in Old Capena which is about 1000 years old. The old part of town overlooks this valley and is just breath taking. All the buildings are made of Tufa stone, a volcanic rock that is soft like limestone. Their house was built in the 1000s. It is really cool with wood timber ceilings and an awesome view from upstairs. The only drawback for me was the shower. One of those sit down models about big enough for a small child. Takes quite a bit of getting used to. The main square , just a twist and turn from their place, faces the old monastery. It also had a little bar we spent a lot of time at where all the locals go to starting around 4:30 after the siesta. It was like being thrust back into time.

Let me just say that the hospitality of the people of Capena was just overwhelming. I don't know if it was an excuse for them to party but we ate and drank like royalty every night. One night we went to what his names mamas taverna which was an ancient wine bar. He is a potter and they had decorated the taverna beautifully with pottery, mosaics, and paintings. All of old Capena is on an ancient aqueduct and at the very back is a cellar that drops down to the aqueduct were they used to store the wine in jars. It's amazingly cool down there even when it is baking outside. Truly an amazing place and the sad thing was we didn't bring a camera that night. I still think most people don't believe the story of this place because we have no pictures.

Another night Tamburo's parents had us over for dinner for Mama's pizza. Unbelievably good. Put it this way, I had prosciutto for desert. Papa was also plying us with wine and Lemoncello. Everybody has vineyards here and makes their own wine. Around Capena and most of Lazio they produce a crisp semi sweet white wine that is excellent. Most of the locals cut the raw wine with water but I actually preferred it straight up. Tamburo's dad had a vineyard and olive press and I was very impressed by the quality of the oil. All the wine was great from Papa's to the little bar in the square where you would get a glass for 50 cents. Food, wine, beer and coffee. All excellent everywhere. The freshness of everything makes such a huge difference. You think we're spoiled here in California. We got nothing on them.

Not everything was eat and drink though. We had a few activities. One day we went to a volcanic lake that is spring fed. Beautiful. No boats are allowed on this lake and the clarity of the water was amazing. It was nice to drink beer and swim to relieve the ever present summer heat. Another outing was a quick jaunt to the Vatican in blistering 102º heat. Didn't help we were all hung over like dogs. The highlight of that trip was the lollipope. Thats right, a lollipop with the Pope's face on it.

It was a great stay. To many good times to recount but we were on a tight schedule and had to get going.

On to Florence »