We left Orvieto as early as we could, with help from our host to retrieve Giulia from the parcheggio on the side of the hill. Thus began an eventful and mundane odyssey through the agricultural countryside of Umbria, Tuscany, and Lazio.
The farm country of central Italy is not so different from our own, except we saw no pickup trucks. The tractors and outbuildings are similar; the livestock is similar; the fields look more like New England and upstate New York farm country than like the Irish frms that we saw in 2016.
We proceeded westward to the thermal baths at Saturnia, where Jupiter once hurled his thunderbolts at Saturn, and missed, creating a geological marvel. The water is about body temperature, which is a somewhat unsettling experience out in nature.
There's an expensive spa and golf club near here, but you can visit the Cascati for free. Parking is pretty random, but everyone was good-natured and it worked out without damage or bloodshed. There's a snack bar with frozen ice cream novelties and a 3-minute pizza machine that we did not bother to explore. The public rest rooms were busy but clean.
It was somewhat surprising and disappointing to see such quotidian fare for the Italian hoi-polloi far from the tourist centers where we had become accustomed to excellent gelato, pastries, and who knows what other gastronomic wonders. The ice cream novelties might as well have been the Strawberry Shortcake and Nutty Buddy of my youth, and the Pizza2Go machine (note the English-language name!), while new and interesting to a foodie, did not quite quicken my pulse with gustatory anticipation. We departed Termi di Saturnia hungry for something better.
We set our GPS for Pompeii with a plan to arrive not later than 5pm. This brought us to several interesting places, of which none were open for lunch until Montalto di Castro, where we dined under the shadow of an immense tower.
By now we were well off the tourist track, and finding English-speaking locals became more difficult. Fortunately I could read signs and stay out of the dreaded ZTLs, but anything more complex became an adventure.
Our lunch at Ristorante La Pizzeria La Torre in Montalto di Castro was very good: ravioli with butter and sage, steak, and another pasta dish that I don't recall.
It was a sunny day, and we drove along the coast in sight of the sea for some time; it reminded us all of the Pacific Coast Highway, with farmland and flowers. After a bit we turned inland to the highway to Pompeii, to be certain of arriving in time to explore it before the 19:30 closing time. This part of the drive was uneventful and pleasant; on the highways north of Naples, Italian drivers almost always keep right except to pass.
We arrived at Pompeii in time to explore the ruins for a few hours.
One of the things that fascinated me was the condition of the ruins, including this food-seller's fancy countertop with fireplace beneath and hot food inserts in the counter. But ultimately I got creeped out by the tragedy of it all and it was time to move on.
Then we drove (twice) into Piano di Sorrento. It was twice because you go through a very long tunnel, and Giulia got confused. As we exited the tunnel, she had us take a right that should have been a left, and sent us right back through the long tunnel in the opposite direction! So of course we had to do the southbound route a second time to get back to Piano di Sorrento.
We checked in to the charming Hotel Soleluna and got a hot tip to get a good locavore dinner at BlueSea, a moderate walk from the hotel. We had a local Irpinia Aglianico wine, the usual Caprese, two different sea bass dishes, penne pesto, and a fancy dessert. Everything was excellent.