Alternative tourism: from hikers and bikers to archeologists and art historians

watercolor by Alice Lejeune

Tourism statistics are nothing more than a dry collection of numbers. Living here and writing about this area gives me the privilege of meeting the real people behind these numbers: a collection of very interesting individuals.  

Archeologist Stephanie exaimes a plaque in Vetralla's city hall 

All of the people met over the past few months had a special, personal reason for coming  to this lesser known area of central Italy. Each had a special itinerary to follow  which ranged from literature, sport and history to archeology, music and dance. 

From the island of Crete, artist Tim spent a week walking in the footsteps of D.H. Lawrence, using  only public transport  and participating in the life of our circle of friends. 

lunch on the terrace with Teresa 

Teresa, from New Mexico, comes annually as she organizes workshops for writers and aspiring writers. Art historians and museum curators are other visitors who are always welcome.

Museum curators Annawies and John visited  from Boston

Author Mark  meets local actor, Christian

Marged (r.) joins local residents for  Wedding of the Trees festival

Marged and Mark both came to Viterbo to study Italian and cooking and stayed on for local festivities.

Jim, bandaged after a fall in London, 

Jim,  an eco builder from Scotland, arrived at night last week, weighed down by a huge backpack.  
He was following in the footsteps of his father, once  a POW  in Vetralla's Camp  68. Jim read about the camp  here and decided to come see for himself. 

Meeting the locals near the POW camp 

Checco Lallo's  pottery cave has not changed over the years 

We showed Jim a place that hadn't changed since his father was a prisoner here in 1943. 
This group of international lawyers who came in May,even  got a chance to try their hands  at the potter's wheel .

Trying out local crafts 

POW barracks in the background 

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Jim meets Ivo who was a prisoner of the Germans


At least once a week a group of pilgrims on foot or cyclists  passes through town, stopping in the main  piazza for a break during their long ride from Siena or Viterbo to Rome.

Bikers from all parts of Italy (and Brazil)   take a break in the piazza

German scholars  and American trekkers often  stop  at our  local bookshop looking for maps of  ancient  Roman roads and books about the area. 
Last week a troupe of young Russian ballet dancers arrived  in Viterbo to present  Swan Lake during the Tuscia Opera Festival. They didn't see much of the city but gifted us with a magical evening. 

dancers applying makeup  in the piazza

The 13th century  Papal Palace was the backdrop for Tchiakovsky's  enchanting music and ballet. 

Ballet dancers from St. Petersburg, Russia 

warming up for  Swan Lake in Viterbo

 Another  international group, this time French archeologists, stayed for an entire month  as they uncovered an Etruscan tomb complex hidden in the woods near Tuscania. 

walking to the newly discovered tombs

Vincent  Jolivet  from CNRS, Paris leads  the group 

Edwige Lovergne  explains her discovery 

tools for the archeological dig

We anxiously await the published report on the French archeological team's discoveries. 
 

a sneak preview of the tomb complex

 Individual travelers like Tim and Jim who like to rough it, prove that you can get around  our area (with difficulty) using public transport, but it makes sense  to rent a car if two or more persons are traveling together.