Our stay at Valle Libera passed quickly, and farewells began even before we entered our last week here. The Belgian couple will continue their journey through Greece and Montenegro. On a Friday, on our last day with them, Jordie invited us to a bar in Ficulle (the nearest village) where he knew the owner and the person responsible for cocktails. It was an excellent evening, during which we experienced a genuine Italian aperitif.
The next day, we were already on our way for a new getaway! This time, we started with the natural hot springs of Saturnia. Completely free to access, everyone can come and enjoy these natural hot water pools. That’s exactly what we did.
We ended the day driving through Tuscania at sunset towards Orbetello where we would spend the night. Sunday was very sunny, perfect for our plan to finally use the bikes and take a ride through the Orbetello lagoon nature reserve. We spent a good few hours cycling around, only managing to see the famous flamingos from afar but still enjoying seeing the sea and having pizza on the beach (reminiscent of some of our weekends in Algarve).
We managed to get home in time for dinner and to meet our new “coworkers”: a young Australian couple, Mark and Chloe. We quickly realized they were interesting, cool people with many common interests. Although we were only together for a week, we managed to establish a good connection with them. We convinced them to extend their future stay in Portugal, and in return, they convinced us to visit Australia in the near future. We played cards whenever we could, and Chloe even cut Mar’s hair.
Our last weekend in Umbria was spent resting at Valle Libera, something we hadn’t done in any of the previous ones. Additionally, we needed to pack again to continue our journey on Monday. It turned out to be the best way to say goodbye to this place and the incredible people who gave us such good memories. No matter how many amazing places we visit in the future, we will always reserve a space for this fantastic experience. We embarked on this sabbatical to explore other realities and lifestyles, facing and overcoming situations we would never encounter in our “normal life”. That’s exactly what we got here, and along the way, we exchanged ideas and experiences with fellow adventurers like us.
Jordie and Jasmine have a wedding planned and a baby on the way this year, as well as a growing business. We would love to come back in the near future, visit them, and see how their projects turned out.
For now, we’re off to the next destination!
Until then,
Ricardo and Mar