The morning call was set at 630am local time. We actually woke up naturally 15 minutes earlier and just enjoy the morning quiet. Breakfast at 730am and up on the tour bus by 8am, and we were on our way to Bagnoregio, local population- 12. It nestles in the hilly region, high up on top its perch, looking down at the valley. These hills used to be connected, but due to the geological properties of these rock and the content of volcanic ashes, every earthquake is threatening their existence. There are parts of the building along sides of the hill that are actively crumbling, and many hills are thus disconnected. This is one of those sites that is slowly disappearing. It is a good 30 minute walk from the shuttle drop off area to the top of the hill, and the weather was more than cooperative today, so the walk with steep uphill and downhill slopes turned out to be very pleasant. It probably helped since I was holding Ri’s hand while on the journey, too.

We had time to explore the tiny city on the rock, and found many gorgeous flowers and scenaries. You know the Ghibli Studio’s Laputa? The author was inspired by Bagnoregio and then created the animation that I came to love for so many years. Today was a sunny day, but I have seen pictures of when the mist arise and block the entire valley, Bagnoregio looks like it is flaoting on clouds. There is also a bed and breakfast on there, maybe next time when we returned? We had lunch by Bagnoregio in a Michelin Restaurant. The food was ok, but the view was awesome.

Next, we visited one of the famous World Heritage sites- Siena. The medieval architecture and the narrow streets made it so other-worldly. The streets are not sraight and the buildings curve with the street, so you can turn a corner or enter a plain wooden door, and end up staring at something amazing in your face. In fact, that’s exactly what happened, the courtyard of the University of Siena was beautiful, and the Duomo/cathedral of Siena was even more breathtaking. I was speechless for the first minutes when the giant marble church, the beauty touches somewhere inside my heart. During our free time, we came back to the Duomo, I think I could stay in the plaza all day just looking at all its statues, paintings, and the grandness of it all.

Siena is not one of those towns made prosperous by its geographical location, it was said to be established by the descendants of Remus. The twin brothers Remus and Romulus(hence the name Roma) was released into the river but picked up by a wolf who gave them milk to survive and were fed by woodpeckers, then discovered by shepherds. Eventually Romulus killed Remus for the power and the decendants of Remus fled to the nowaday Siena. There are also a annual festival on July 2nd of horse race, the festivities can last for days, but the race itself is only 90 seconds. Different families compete with horses drawn at random to show off their riding skills. We also saw many paintings depicting the festival.

Ohh, and apparently I have underestimated the pain I would endure from arthritis, so my shoe choices were a bad idea. Ri being a amazing hubby, bought me a new pair of shoes! It is red, so out of character, I know. And I promise this is not a ploy to get another pair of shoes. :p