Civita di Bagno Regio, Italia

After a train ride to Orvieto, you bus to Civita, an Etruscan city with only 15 aging inhabitants. You are entering a doorway to another way of life, after trudging uphill to get there. There are no cars and we were fortunate to have one of the only three rooms for the night. The skeleton keys for the doors were identical, but who cares? I know it's less than the Great Wall of China but it didn't seem so. Thanks, Rick Steves, for the tip.

Paolo Soleri: Charcoal Nude/Bronze Wedding Bell

Paolo Soleri, b. June 21, 1920,is a visionary architect who lectures at his "School of Thought" at Arcosanti 65 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. American Frank Lloyd Wright was a contemporary of his, at Taliesin West. Accessing his city in the desert at night without a flashlight was adventurous. We were able to watch a bronze pour where the famous bells and chimes are made of molten fire. That is his modern wedding bell chime with the green patina. If you model for him, he will give you one of the charcoal sketches. I told him that he was lucky I didn't volunteer so, of course, it is not I. He also stipulates a specific age group into which I do not fit. This discourse was in Italian but he joked back that he was glad I wouldn't volunteer! Met his beautiful sister in law, the artist Maria Soleri who was getting ready for her upcoming exhibit. Thanks for the polenta! See you at Cosanti in Paradise Valley, Arizona.