"Dove la biblioteca?" "Where is the library?"

When you are travelling with a group, it is best to have a meeting place in case you get separated. When we were in Mexico with the Sharpleses and the Fieberses, we decided the library was a good bet. Mostly because we could all say "Where is the library?" in Spanish ("¿Dónde está la biblioteca?").

Luckily we were never separated, because if we were to ask directions in Spanish, I'm pretty sure someone would have answered in Spanish. Since the only other Spanish words I know are "banio", "cerveza" and "tamarindo margarita", I have my doubts that I would have made it to the bibliotecha.

On Saturday we decided to do some sightseeing, and since we've been reading up on towns nearby, we thought we'd check out Orvieto. We had also seen Orvieto in one of Rick Steves' programs which we borrowed from Jack and Beverley. It is a smallish town on a hill, and has an amazing duomo.

It was a hot, humid day, but the narrow, shady lanes seemed to always have a slight breeze blowing which let us enjoy hours of walking through the old town. I posted some photos on facebook, but I'm sorry to say that we didn't see everything in Orvieto. (We did find the library, just in case!) Since it's nice and close, there's a good chance we'll visit again before we leave. If you get a chance, google Orvieto and check out the pope's well and the underground.

We had dinner at a nearby town - one of the last Sagre of the summer. The food was not bad, but this time we stayed to enjoy some of the music and dancing. There was a live band, some old guys and a young girl, and they got the crowd on their feet! The dancing was very different than what I'm used to seeing. From the first song, the floor was full of couples waltzing and wirling. THEN came the line dancing. Being a people watcher, this was my favourite part of the evening. Watch the video below, and pay special attention to the young, tall guy dancing near the front of the pack. He was the belle of the ball, and danced every dance with a different older woman. He is also wearing the latest fashion - bright yellow pants - there were at least a half dozen other men wearing the same outfit!

I think Meryck was a little worried that some old lady would ask him to dance (Italy is the land of the cougar, but that's another post) so we left after only a few songs. I think Sagre season is officially over, but I'm sure we'll find other excuses to get out and about!