This is post number four about our Italian trip. The previous posts are:
Bagnoregio was one of the places I was most excited to show the girls. From a distance it looks like a fantasy and once you enter the town it oozes history. It’s easy for me to imagine living there in the distant past when its perch must have made it feel quite secure.
We made reservations for all of our accommodations well before the trip. When Carol and I traveled Italy 2001 we made almost no reservations but with kids we didn’t want to risk having trouble finding places to stay.
Our accommodations for this trip were a mix of small hotel (Venice), traditional B&B (Rome) and four apartments reserved through Airbnb (Milan, Florence, Bagnoregio and Vernazza).
They all turned out quite well but the Airbnb apartment we reserved in Bagnoregio was probably the winner due mostly to our hostess: Marta. She greeted us so warmly when we arrived and showed us to our lovely apartment in a charming historic house with a peaceful and scenic garden. Marta sent us to the restaurant of a friend a short walk away and we enjoyed a delicious dinner (Carol had rabbit!). Then in the mornings Marta and her parents laid out a spectacular breakfast. The highlight of breakfast was home-baked chocolate cake!
There are two towns: Civita di Bagnoregio is the picturesque, 2500-year-old Etruscan hill town, and its former “suburb”, Bagnoregio (now the active town), is a mile away. We stayed in Bagnoregio. From what I could tell, there are very few places to stay in the Civita and they are quite expensive. Wikipedia says only 12 people live there year round, and only 100 people in the summer.
The Civita was severely damaged by an earthquake in the 18th century and then underwent two centuries of decline. Erosion was causing the houses at the edge of the town to fall off the cliff. More recently, the town has been recognized as a world heritage site and measures are being taken to save it.
The day after our first night in Bagnoregio we drove to Assisi for the day (subject of the next post). When we returned to Bagnoregio that evening we walked from Marta’s B&B down to the Belvedere (“pretty view”) where there is a small bar/cafe with a garden overlooking the Civita. The light was great and we captured some pretty photos. We decided not to eat at that bar and instead wandered back through Bagnoregio and found a pizzeria.
Along the way we encountered a falcon just sitting out in the open near a tour office.
The next morning we ascended the steep causeway and entered the Civita. The buildings in the hill towns are all made of tufa - the native volcanic rock. It has a distinctive, attractive look. Very “romantic” to my eyes. The whole town feels like such a time capsule, and the views in every direction are dramatic and look like paintings.
The girls’ favorite part was that the Civita is home to many cats. They made friends with all of them.
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