A Ferry Ride, No Pizza at the Pizzeria, and the Hike that Almost Killed Us!

Just north of Panicale is Lake Trasimeno (which I call Lake Tiramisu in my head) and yesterday was our day to check it out. This lake is where many Italians go to enjoy the beach in the summer with their families, but this time of year it is very quiet. Our plan was to take the ferry to Isola Maggiore where we could do some hiking and have lunch.

Of course, we got there really early because we weren't sure where to go, where to park, where to buy tickets..... and because we are just always early. So we had plenty of time to walk around the ferry dock. Next to the dock is a campground, a beach, a bar, a 1940 disco, and an interesting (Greg would say creepy) sculpture area. This whole area was very dated looking and weird different tacky let's just say odd. Maybe so because it was deserted now but I could visualize a ton of families with kids running around the campground which consisted of tiny huts, permanent campers, and communal bathrooms.

The beach. Colorful, yes?

We call this the Stephen King Sculpture Garden. Imagine if they came alive at night.

One of the nicer campground options. You know how I love camping!

So the ferry arrived and we took the 10-minute ride to the island. Most of the structures on the island were built in the 12th century, and there is really only one street that runs along one side of the island. The feeling was such a sharp contrast to the area around the campground. The trails were very nice, but like all the roads and trails here, they are extremely hilly.

Old olive trees growing next to the trail

The church at the top of the hill

We had seen several restaurants and a pizzeria along the single street, so our reward for hiking around the island was to be a pizza. Unfortunately when we walked into the pizzeria, the owner said they had pasta and antipasti.... but NO pizza! We were really hungry at this point so we jumped on the next ferry and headed home.

In the afternoon we visited an organic farm that grows veggies, apples, grapes for wine and had a number of fun things. Again, Greg found some stuff in jars we will try to bring home. And they also have a very cool way of buying wine. Bring your own jug and fill 'er up. One hose is red and one for white.

We also went to a vineyard close to Panicale called La Querciolana. There was no one around when we first arrived, but eventually a elderly man and a woman appeared. They spoke very little English but knew we wanted to buy a bottle of wine. They tried to tell us about it and we tried to understand, but eventually we just indicated which kind we wanted. We didn't have the exact amount and they had no change so they insisted we just take the bottle and bring the money back today. Very nice people!

We never drive in these little towns but the locals sure do. Here's a car parked in our "road" in front of our house when we headed out today. The steps on the right go to our door.

This morning we went back to the bread lady in Paciano who turns out to German and not Dutch. We bought a few things and started out on a hike that I thought we be a few miles but because of the hills was really torture. Greg thinks I'm trying to kill him. I'd mapped a route, and after an hour we realized we were only 1/3 of the way there, so turned around and headed back. Exhausted. And sweaty.

So this afternoon the only thing we did was shower, laundry and we did drive to the vineyard and pay for the bottle of wine we took yesterday. A lazy afternoon.

Here are a few shots from our walk today. The weather was not ideal for photos but Greg found a few things of interest.

Trimming the olive trees. These guys loved having their picture taken!

To continue our lazy afternoon, we've created a "clean out the fridge" salad for dinner and walked down to our tiny butcher shop and asked for hamburger. The lady understood what we asked for, grabbed some beef, ground it up in this cool grinder, pressed the meat into this metal contraption and here we are! They look amazing!

Chocolate tomorrow....... (a teaser for my chocolate loving friends... you know who you are)