Fiuggi

During our two-week stay in Italy, our school made Fiuggi our home. We took our day trips and weekend trips from our homebase in a small hotel called Hotel Bonifacio. Fiuggi is a tiny town about an hour from Rome. Fiuggi is famous for its water that supposedly has cured popes and Michelangelo of kidney stones. Our hotel was full of elderly people who were visiting the town to cure their various ailments.

I loved Fiuggi so much, especially Fiuggi Alta, the historical part of the commune. Everybody in this town was super friendly. There were three gelaterias in walking distance of our hotel.

On our last day, my friend Giulia (pictured above with green hair) and I decided to talk a walk on a nature trail that the group had found. (Side note: I was not with the group on this walk because I ACCIDENTALLY HITCHHIKED!!!!! I thought a girl in a car was part of our group so I got in with a couple of my friends and then she ask where we were staying then she drove us there. We were all safe.)  We walked past a house with a bunch of kittens that looked like Bad Bad and a super cute little dog (also pictured above). We didn’t see any people so we called the dog and cats over. A little boy popped his head out of the door so we went on our merry way.

On our way back to the hotel, we came to the same house again. This time, a little girl noticed us playing with the dog (who was outside of the gate this time) and she came out and started talking to us. When she realized that we spoke English and not Italian, she started to giggle. Eventually she brought her brother and grandma out. Her grandmother was so kind as to pick us fresh apples from the tree in their courtyard. We had great conversation, even with the language barrier. Giulia and I knew a little Italian, she knew a little English, we all knew a bit of Spanish, and Google translate helped us with the rest. She was so hospitable and we were so sad to leave.

I cannot wait to return to Fiuggi one day! That small town certainly has a little pizza my heart!