Slowing down in Italy!

After the fast pace of our travels in France and Germany we planned to take on the Italian lifestyle, slow and easy. Madeleine and Daniel were not too keen on the concept of a midday siesta but we soon found out that not much else happens in the middle of the day here in rural Italy; the shops are almost all closed between 1 and 4pm and the streets of little towns such as Todi are almost deserted (except for the tourists).

Tuesday arrives with us relaxing over a bowl of cereal on the upper deck looking out over the beautiful countryside.

Breakfast before the sun gets too hot.

The view from the bedroom upstairs

The same bedroom but a different view.

Our car outside the villa in Todi.

The villa was a very comfortable base for us all. If we closed all the windows and shutters by around 10am the inside of the old stone house stayed cool. Of course the pool also provided welcome relief from the heat of the day. Dad enjoyed playing the grand piano in the downstairs room and relaxed whilst listening to some of the owner's classical music collection.

Relaxing on the lawn.

We looked forward to exploring the local area a little more....... a visit to Orvieto was next on the list.....