Tuscania and an olive plantation, Italy

Our next port of call was Civitavecchia, the very busy sea port that is closest to Rome, which is almost two hours drive away. Having been to Rome in my tours of Italy, I chose instead to travel to the Etruscan countryside, explore the historic village of Tuscania and go to a tasting of olive oils and home-made delicacies at an olive plantation, neither of which places I had seen before. 

I was so glad I made that choice. There were some wonderful panoramic views of the surrounding countryside from the old part of Tuscania, and the oven-toasted bread and award-winning extra virgin olive oil and other treats at the plantation were sensational. And we were just a small group and the whole trip was more leisurely than our usual shore excursions. 

Having driven through much of Tuscany in May, however, I must confess I was quite shocked on our long drive to see how parched the land looked. Most crops had been harvested, and all that remained was some brown grasses and dry earth. What happened to all the lovely lush greens? Our guide told us that they had little rain in winter, and they now have had such bad drought conditions that Rome may have to put in place water restrictions for the first time. Shades of Australia, which has had many long periods of drought, and water restrictions. How awful, when this land has been such a productive food bowl. Malaga in Spain, which we visited a couple of days ago, also has drought conditions. Its river has run completely dry. 

On our journey, I also noticed many wind turbines and even some solar farms. I was very pleased to see that, as previously I had been told that Italy has the most expensive power bills in Europe due to its high dependency on France and Switzerland for its power. Hopefully renewable energy sources will help mitigate that a bit. 

The following photos will give you a snapshot of a most enjoyable day. 

Tuscania is quite a large, hilly town. This photo was taken just inside the entrance to its very old part.

One of the outdoor cafes inside the old town. I had a lovely coffee at one during our free time.  

A view from one of the shops in the old town. Many unique items using lavender were sold here too. 

The back of the old part of town, from where we saw some splendid views. 

An old building at the back of the old part of town.

One of the views we saw.

Looking in a slightly different direction. 

Some of the new part of the town, viewed from the entrance to the old part of the town. As usual in Italy, the buildings were a lovely mixture of different warm colours. 

Above the archway into the old part of the town.

Looking into the old part of the town through a smaller archway that was next to the main entrance.

At the olive plantation, where we were shown some old ways of harvesting the olives, then a film clip of the way they are harvested and processed now. This tree was a mere 50 or so years old. The plantation has many very old trees as well - and about 16 000 trees in all. 

Some of their produce.

One of their awards.