Trip to Vallepietra

On Sunday we took a trip up into the mountains outside of Rome to escape the heat of the city and see a little bit more of Italy. We stopped for lunch in the tiny town of Vallepietra, which ended up being most of where we spent our day. Vallepietra's elevation is 2,700 feet, which meant quite a few windy roads through the mountains, thinner air, a stiff breeze, and cooler temperatures. Here is a shot of the "main" street in the town.


As you can see, the residents of Vallepietra feel quite secure leaving the keys to their house in the door.


Where we stopped for lunch, there was this really nice triple fountain. The water was icy cold, and quite welcome.


This is a shot from Vallepietra looking down into the valley below.


A picture of Mom and Philomena at an overlook. As you can see it was quite windy.


From Vallepietra, we climbed a little further up the mountain, to the Santuario della SS Trinita, a sanctuary where there is a famous image of the Trinity. Here is Augustin, on the trail.


Once we got to the sanctuary we saw the fresco. It was quite unusual seeing the Trinity depicted this way, all three persons look exactly the same!


This is the overhanging rock that you see over the sanctuary.


A family shot, with the mountains in the background.


We descended the mountain on the other side, which took us through the little town of Jenne, population 460. Jenne is famous for its willow forests, the bark of which Salicylic acid is extracted from. Salicylic acid is chemically identical to the active component in Aspirin, and has been used since the time of Hippocrates to ease aches and pains and reduce fevers.


The last town we passed through on our way down the mountain was Olevano, which is derived from the words Olio e Vino or "oil and wine". As you can imagine, Olevano produces quite a bit of wine and olive oil. Here is one of the vineyards.


And here is a shot of some not-quite mature grape clusters.