From Bolsena to "Est!Est!Est!"

As my life in Italy goes on, i find it more and more difficult to stay inside and focus on writing, as i'd rather go out and explore; like a Sherlock ( a less charming version, of course) searching for clues and trying to understand how everything is made and done. No worries, i won't arrest anyone in the end of my stay here, but i might just be found guilty of falling completely in love with the place. They say you need three months in order to catch feelings and i think i exceeded that time now. So i am entitled to declare my love for Tuscia region without receiving too many critics.

Anyways, back to the point: besides their coffee and their unconditional love for dogs, Italian people have something else to be proud of: the landscapes! Of course, each country has some sort of mountain or sea or magic hill that became national pride ( here, i am including my own country, Romania); but witnessing the Italian country life is one of the most charming and cute ( if i may) experiences of my existence.

Recently, and by that i mean a few days ago, i found myself in the back seat of a car and 25 km away from Viterbo ( "i found myself" = i willingly entered in the car for the road trip - in case it needed to be mentioned) : in the beautiful city of Bolsena, which comes with its own attached lake: Lago di Bolsena! I personally believe that "city" is a big name for such a small community, but "gorgeous" hits just right.

(click on the right side to slide).

I wish i could tell you more about the people of Bolsena, but due to the current restrictions there was no one on the streets. Except for a man having a deep, profound conversation with his dog in front of his house. " Posso fare una foto?", i asked. His face lightened up while telling the dog to look at me.

The dog didn't look at me. It seemed that he could only understand feelings, not orders. He ignored me majestically, while i continued to exclaim and marvel.

Not far from Bolsena, 14 km away, we stopped by Montefiascone. It is a town and comune of the province of Viterbo and it stands on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena. I prefer another description though: the city of "Est! Est! Est!". Let me explain: the story is that a traveler came to the city to find good wine; and his valet, who preceded him, wrote "est" ( "it is", from Latin) on the doors of all the inns where good wine was to be had. In Montefiascone, the inscription was repeated three times!

Naturally, this lead to a wine festival where you have to walk from bar to bar to test the quality of the wine... a three days festival. I am not sure if by the end of it anyone will learn Latin - there are more chances they will forget even the romance language they currently speak.

(click on the right side to slide)

The sun sets again in its own glorious style, and the car goes back to Viterbo with a nostalgic me in it. I am watching how the light hides slowly behind the olive trees, in the cold air of January.

"This was a good day!", i think for myself. And the day was good indeed...