May 26 – 30, 2015 —
From Elba we headed to the mainland of Italy landing at Punta Ala Marina to explore the hill towns for a few days with Bill and Sharon. When we picked up a rental car we were upset that we were downsized based on availability. We demanded a larger car but to no avail, so off we went, wedged in to a small Fiat with four adults and luggage. The small car size would prove to be a blessing…
The area is beautiful, green with vineyards and agricultural fields, and streaks of yellow scotch broom growing along the road sides. We expected to see only a few hill towns, outlined in the tour book, but found many scattered across the eastern part of Tuscany and western area of Umbria just a few miles apart. Most of the hill towns appear carved out of rock rising out of the valleys below. They were fortified to protect the villages from invading enemies. We stopped at several. In Santa Fiora we drove through the small town following the voice directions the GPS was providing us. Evidently the GPS lady must have thought we were driving a bicycle because she talked us into a maze of increasingly narrowing streets. 
With her ever enthusiastic voice she talked us further and further into the maze, all the while going quite steeply downhill. Bob, being optimistic, was confident that just after each squeeze, more impossible than the previous one, we would break out onto a nice driveable roadway.
Finally, we had the brilliant idea to send Bill ahead on foot to confirm the route. His conclusion: impassible! The GPS lady should have said “Oh oh!!” She was speechless and so were we. We were now so tight that we could not clear the front steps on the home in front of us to keep going. Sara had bailed out at the last corner and was behind the car. Bill stayed in front of the car to direct (not that he could now get behind it). Mario Andretti could not have done a better job than Bob did of maneuvering the car backwards, uphill to a wider point. At one point we cleared by just 1/8” on each fender, with mirrors pulled fully in. As we were nearing the end Sara commented that she smelled a brick oven and we should recompose ourselves over pizza. Bob suggested the smoke she smelled was the clutch burning up—oops. Had Bill and Sara not gotten out when they did, there would have been no getting out once wedged, even via the windows. 
As we were working on our exit, we saw a local man come out of his home with his arms full, look at our situation, turn around, and return inside. It took a bit of time but we did manage to extract the car and ourselves back out onto the town square. We celebrated our success with a fresh pasta lunch at a very local restaurant.
We went on to Orvieto, 
the largest of the hill towns. It is located between Florence and Rome. Its cathedral is described by some as having the most beautiful façade of any cathedral in Italy. Started in 1290, it took over 300 years to complete. The Signorelli frescoes are amazing as is the ornate façade which glows in the setting sun. Orvieto is also known for its Classico wine and brightly painted ceramics.
A less well known hill town is Civita di Bagnoregio which sits atop a craggy set of rocks, only accessed by a very narrow, very long bridge with a significant uphill hike to get there. There are no cars allowed in the town! Perfect! Very few people live there anymore. Young people escaped to cities with more activity and job opportunities. Older folks moved when they became physically limited and too challenged by the terrain and isolation. Now it is a small combination of restaurants open for tourists and wealthier Italians buying weekend retreats. The views out over the valleys fertile with vineyards and olive groves had Bob busy taking photos. This is a place we want to remember as well as recommend. It has character that a modern community could only hope for. In front of all the stone buildings ceramic buckets of geraniums flourish and fragrant honeysuckle vines grow up attaching themselves to the stone building fronts.
After biding a sad farewell to Bill and Sharon we returned to the marina in Punta Ala, and moved back on to Quintessa for a night before sailing back to Elba. We will stay here for a few days to do some boat projects and celebrate our 20th anniversary, then start south exploring the coast of Italy.