(D) Our first full day in Orvieto and what a really gorgeous place it is. There aren't many tourists about but the place is full and alive with the majority of shops and eateries open so I think, apart from it's obvious attributes of stunning and charming beauty, it's a good off season location as there are still lots of choices about for dining out etc. I don't know how touristy it is in general, or how busy it gets in summer but we have noticed ...

(L) Once again we woke just before 7 and got down to breakfast by 7.30. We had packed up all our stuff last night so it wasn't too much of a hassle getting ready to leave.... we waved our gorgeous terrace goodbye and left our room around 8.30. When checking out they were ok with credit card payment for the original room booking + city taxes but the upgrade and parking had to be paid in cash??!!At the car we got organised and Deb gave Jane instructions to get ...

(D) Stunning Siena, it's just beautiful! We thoroughly enjoyed our evening on our terrace after dinner last night and it's good we did that last night as today there has been a biting wind and it's much cooler all around. Liane looked at the phone weather app earlier and it said it was "5 feels like minus 1" but the wind through my bones felt like way more minus than that. Wind walking as a sport notwithstanding, we still loved wandering around Siena...

(L) Time to move on, it’s been great seeing Venice but now we’re off to see some of Tuscany and even a little touch of Umbria.... for the Aussies it's more of the OOmmmbria NOT UMmmbria!!! We had our alarm set for 6am but both of us were awake before then, all the usual last minute checking and packing was done as well as trying to get the last of the photos uploaded so we could post the blog for our first full day in Venice….. the internet...

(D) Another day when it’s my turn to start the writing – we both say each time “but I’ve got nothing to say” as it’s hard to start recalling and recounting our daily activities. The fact that we both know how much we’ll appreciate the efforts we’ve made as we re-read this blog in years to come really helps with the creative push though! I know Liane has blogs from many an earlier trip but my first experience was ...