We’d been in Italy four weeks when we donned our only jackets as “raincoats” to load the car and check out of the cozy “Old Cave” duplex near Florence. We were headed for Villa Perlata in Montefiascone, 62 miles north of Rome.
To avoid a repeat of the “no advance tickets” wrinkle experienced in Florence, this next place was to be a “don’t move the car” stop where we would sit still for a couple of days and pin down what we’d do on our upcoming stop in… Rome! (And perhaps preorder some tickets this time?)
As we returned the keys to the friendly rental owner, Cristina, she suggested a scenic stop on our way south in San Gimignano, a village started in the 3rd century BC! The area took off as a town in 63 BC when a pair of rich brothers came from Rome to build really big castles. Then named Silivo, the town truly got noticed in 450 when Bishop Geminianus saved the castles from being wiped out by the troops of Attila the Hun! Okay, so one stop along the way can’t hurt, right? 🙂
And what a pretty stop it was!
The weather and time worked against us, so we saw it but didn’t really get to SEE it. Oh geez…
After gelato and a quick panino for lunch, we were back on the road to Montefiascone with its ancient Rocca dei Papi (Fortress of the Popes), cathedral and churches from the 14th century. Stop, Susie. Remember the plan. No sightseeing on this stop. Sigh.
Villa Perlata in Montefiascone overlooks the 5th largest lake in Italy, Lake Bolsena, a great spot for former cruisers to sit still. On our drive along the lakeshore, we enjoyed the lovely sunset before quickly realizing sunset means darkness, like really dark! Once you drive beyond the parklike lakeshore, there are no more streetlights, and we still had to find the villa, pull the car up to the correct locked gate just off the road, walk along the shrubbery/fence line to find the small gate containing a lockbox, enter the code (thank goodness for phone flashlights) and acquire the keys.
After we got our things inside and Todd locked the villa’s massive door in the inky darkness, Susie declared the villa we could barely see to be beautiful and excitedly stated she couldn’t wait to actually see the place in the morning. Ha!
There was a small issue with the dishwasher mysteriously turning itself on during the night and refusing to stop without turning off several breakers, but daylight revealed that the villa, while quirky, was, indeed, quite lovely.
The owners said to help ourselves to any produce available in the garden and left us fresh olive oil they’d produced, as well as some local wine, “Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone.” Huh? Well, we’re glad you asked! 😇
Interestingly, we’d found ourselves in a wine region with a fanciful story and funny name that has been repeated for centuries. In general, the tale is that of a 12th-century bishop traveling to Rome who sent a servant ahead to find the best wines, with instructions to write ‘Est’ (Latin for ‘It is’ or ‘There is’) on the door of any inn where he was especially impressed with the wine so the bishop would know where to stop. Legend has it that the servant was so impressed with the wine being served at a Montefiascone inn that he enthusiastically scrawled “Est! Est!! Est!!!” on the door.
Today, the “Est! Est!! Est!!! di Montefiascone” wine region caters to tourists visiting the nearby Lake Bolsena, while the wine itself receives mixed reviews, such as “… the dullest white wine with the strangest name in the world” or the “… history is more compelling than what’s currently in the glass.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Don’t know about the white, but we actually enjoyed the red that was left for us.
Not moving the car does not mean not moving ourselves, so we took daily walks to explore the grounds of the villa.
With our research done, tickets ordered, and souls refreshed, we sat back to enjoy the sunset.
Next, all roads lead to Rome!
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