The second weekend of September (and the second weekend of Shannon, Matt & Ari's visit) was all planned out by Jamie to see a typical Italian town and Rome. Our first stop was about 2 hours, 45 minutes up the boot of Italy from where we live, a town called Orvieto in the Umbria region. Orvieto is a fairly flat town built up on tufa (volcanic rock) - a very picturesque town, and very visible driving up (or down) the A1 surrounded by it's tufa cliffs.
We visited the very old duomo, walked the cobblestone streets, peaked into several shops and just enjoyed the Italian town for it's beauty. We missed out on some highlights, like the Pozzo di San Patrizio (St Patrick Well, built for the popes) and the underground labyrinth of caves and tunnels. A town easy to get to as a day trip, or as a stop on another road trip or on our way home, we'll be back to visit for sure!

We stayed just outside of Orvieto at a really fantastic agriturismo: La Rocca. It was one of the most beautiful settings and the agriturismo had so much on site including an awesome pool (the kids LOVED!!!) and a really amazing restaurant. I could see myself going back to stay at La Rocca a few more times, or at least for a few days to get away and relax.

Like most tourists want to see, we headed to Roma for the next two days to hit the highlights of that city, one of the most amazing cities in the world.
We stayed right outside of Vatican City, in fact we could see the pillars surrounding St Peter's square looking out our apartment window. Pretty cool!

We let Shannon and Matt have a few hours without Ari while they did the main tourist (not-so-toddler-friendly) attraction there: The Vatican Museum which includes the Sistine Chapel. Meanwhile, we took Ari, Riann and Lincoln on a bus ride over to La Bocca dela Verita
(the Mouth of Truth, well known from Audrey Hepburn's Roman Holiday) before heading back to St Peter's piazza to let the kids play (and do some nun counting) and met up with Shannon and Matt.

The second day there, we saw the Colosseo and the Roman Forum, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon... a day filled with walking and seeing as much of Roma as possible.