JCW MCS at the inner gate of the city of Siena, Italy
The day spent driving through the Italian provinces of Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio was spectacular in its scenery and off-the-beaten-path roadways. We drove out of Florence and bypassed the A1 Autostrada to take in the old city of Siena. The stop was brief but we did manage to get the car pretty far into the old city.
Western Shore of Lake Trasimene at Castigliano del Lago
We then journeyed by backroads to Lake Trasimene in Umbria. A lake that is not fed by any rivers (although the Tiber runs nearby) the water level rises and falls primarily based on rainfall. As a history buff I have been interested in this lake because it was the site of one of Hannibal Barca's great victories over Rome during the Second Punic War in 217 B.C. At Trasimene, Hannibal managed to ambush a Roman army and trap and destroy it against the northern shore. Panic spread in Rome after this attack and just might have spelled disaster for Rome, but Rome soon recovered.
Siena and Lake Trasimene
