In a message dated 7/9/99 12:38:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< I'm leaving tonight for Umbria, near Arezzo.  How was the:

         weather
         crowds in places like San Gim
         traffic on small roads

 Signed,  Dolomite >>


The weather was much better than NYC's - dry and about 80 degrees - probably
hotter now
San Gimignano is pretty crowded but not impossible.  We saw mostly German
tourists.
The traffic isn't bad, but the roads are very small, with no shoulders, and
Italian drivers don't stay in their lanes.

The first time I drove the Fiat Brava up the very narrow, very steep drive to
the house I drove into a ditch, but that was better than driving off the
terrace into the next olive grove down.  Is that a languorous tale?

Maria D