Etruscan city of Tarquinia and Ceri

The small medieval village of Tarquinia was our first stop this morning. We visited the elbow fortress rising above the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. Walked around the village a bit before heading to the archeological tombs of the Etruscans. This was most interesting as they are really rooms dug into stone and are hardly visible on ground level. An extraordinary series of painted tombs which represented the most prestigious. Over 6000 tombs in this one hill have been discovered, only about 20 are open to the public.

The have built covers over them to resemble tile roofs to protect the paintings which are 2000 years old, from nature.

From there we continued our journey to the Tuscan country side to a farmhouse in the village of Ceri. We were treated to local vegetables, wines, olive oil and a scrumptious lunch. Started off with Bruchetta, salami and cured hams, followed by Tuscan bean soup then our pasta course. Dessert followed.

In the village was a small church with the same paintings as was in the tombs, all over the walls. There was even a local priest in the confessional to hear the confessions of the sinners amongst us.

Great day was had by all. Pics are taking too long to load, will try again later.