Ciao Italia, we have arrived!

Ciao from www.italybestsecrets.com
We touch down at Rome Fiumicino Airport at 6am Tuesday ..... it has been raining. First stop the airport bar for italian coffee with yummy brioche! After collecting our hire car, a zippy Fiat Punto diesel, we head off on the A18 towards Civitavecchia, via Lake Bracciano (does that sound familiar? it's where Tom and Katie Cruise celebrated their wedding). The drive is on a windy road but very pleasant, not chaotic or congested. We enjoy the green scenery, pine groves, oaks, chestnuts and bamboo. First stop is Sutri, an Etruscan village, on the SS2 Cassia, where we walk into the roman amphitheatre and the adjacent rupestrian (stone) church, originally built by a sect pre dating christianity, then remodelled as a christian church with frescoes. If only these walls could talk! To view these amazing sights you must be accompanied by a town guide and sign the visitors book.
Our stomachs start to grumble, so we head into Sutri's piazza and the Panificio where we enjoy pizza bianca rosmarino each for only one euro and twenty cents. Off we go to Soratte Outlet Centre, near the A1 exit Ponzano Romano for a spot of quick shopping. On the way appearing before us suddenly is the hamlet of Calcata, built on tufa stone, and home to artists and other creative people.
We leave Soratte and drive to Farfa Abbey passing lots of lovely olive trees, after a recommendation from the friendly shop assistant. What a great tip! Farfa Abbey is marvellous, not only the original abbey tower and cloisters, library but the whole complex is for pedestrians only, and some of the original space has been converted to small charming shops or B & B's. You park nearby just outside the abbey walls, walk across a road and you enter another world! Unfortunately the cafe here is closed, so we decide to drive towards Rieti. Just after the town of Toffia, we see a sign for San Benedetto Agriturismo and head there along a white gravel lane. We are in the Sabina zone, well known for its extraordinary quality of extra virgin olive oil. The biggest olive tree in the world is in this area, apparently you can fit 7 pigs in the tree's trunk! The hostess says they are closed today, but very kindly offers to feed us. The owners are very friendly, and show us around the property, they have horses, pet donkeys, they make their own olive oil and wine ... what more could you want. The wine is a blend of Malvasia Bianca and Verdicchio. We leave promising to exchange emails.
Our first three choices for accommodation for the evening are booked out. So there must still be quite a few visitors in the area. We drive towards Valnerina crossing the Lazio-Umbria border, and by now are starting to feel the jetlag. We are instantly revived by the sight of the Marmore Waterfall, near Terni, the highest waterfall in Italy. It is spectacular, with plumes of water spray and an amazing energy. We take a couple of photos, then proceed towards Norcia, stopping at a 2 star hotel at Scheggino, a medieval town built along the banks of the River Nera, where the clock bell tower still chimes on the hour, but that does not disturb our sleep. What a day!
We know that the next day we don't have to drive as far, as we are now in Umbria, ready to visit our relatives. Talk to you soon, Ciao ciao.