A lovely visit to her very beautiful and sanctuary in Siena. Siena is a busy place but it was very tranquil there. (And unlike the Duomo, I was welcome there.) It was another of those places that requires SILENZIO and I behaved. I think I am getting the hang of that.

We spent a wonderful week in the Umbrian town of Panicale. It is picture perfect but a real town too. My next door neighbors were five cats. I tried to terrorize them but they paid me no mind and by the week’s end we cohabited quietly. The town bells rang every hour on the hour in the square outside our apartment beginning at 8 in the morning and continuing until 11 at night. They startled me at first but I quickly got used to them and loved the little square where B and G let me go off leash in the morning and evening.The restaurants in the town square were very dog friendly. Aldo, Victor and Simone all welcomed me and we had some truly delightful evenings which even included gelato for me.(Grazie , Aldo.) It is a terrific place to stay.

La Foce is absolutely spectacular. It is an English garden designed by Cecil Pinsent and Iris Origo that was created in a place that was practically barren until the Origo’s brought water here in the 1920’s for the house, the garden and the surrounding farmland. ( It was actually Iris’s grandmother who brought water to La Foce because she paid for it. She had loads of money and was apparently appalled at what she found water-wise when she visited.) Even with the water, the garden was ultimately more successful than the farming because the soil is really poor and not strong enough to support crops year after year. We didn’t mind at all that it was raining for our visit. It was magical: it was like England with a Tuscan background.

I am officially a member of the EU! I have an official EU pet passport. We visited a lovely vet today and she certified me. I met a sweet puppy there. Poor little one ate a sponge and the doc was helping nature take its course. Puppies are cute but basically have no clue. Here I am at the vet. They call me il bisono tedeschi here.

We have spent the last few days looking for St. Francis and he has not been hard to find. So far, my favorite part has been walking Isola Maggiore. Assisi is spectacular but I was asked to leave the Basilica which I did not think was very Franciscan. (At least the guard showed us out via the Giotto frescoes and we took our time exiting. ) My so-called behavior was very good except for two incidents both of which, curiously, involved nuns and upset B. First, going in to see where St. F’s father locked him up, I barked at a sister who just got too close . When I am in my bag that is very disturbing to me; I feel very out of control. B really over reacted. Does she think nuns are some kind of endangered species who require careful handling? Sister seemed no worse for the encounter. (One photo here is the church on that site.The others are on the Isola.)The second incident was at St. Clare’s San Damiano. I didn’t go in and was fine sitting outside the convent as B and G went in individually. Then two women stared me down when I was with B and I had to tell them to back off. Again, B was a little nuts because I broke il silenzio. Mi scusi.