I’m writing this blog from a little village in the hills northeast of Rome, Selci in the province of Rieti in the region of Sabina. Not as well known as, say, Tuscany or Umbria, Sabina nevertheless boasts plenty of charms and wonders of its own. For example, its olive oil provides the standard by which all others are measured (so, of course, we will be toting home a few liters of the wonderful stuff). I can personally attest to its plethora of lovely churches, quaint and ancient towns, fabulous food and friendly citizens. Over the next several weeks, I’ll be reporting to you on all the places we visited on our Mediterranean cruise and our experiences here in Italy, but I wanted to give you a brief picture of our lovely retreat here, less than an hour’s train ride from Rome but blessedly far from the madding crowd. Yes, even in late September, there are still plenty of crowds in Rome, and the weather there the last few weeks has been as warm and humid as it often is in August. I’m not sure how many folks live in Selci year ’round, but it can’t be more than a few hundred. It is perched on a ridge between two valleys, just to the east of the Tiber River. The main street through the village boasts a macelleria (butcher shop), city offices, stationery store, ferramenta (hardware store), alimentari (grocery), church, camera/video store, post office, bank (with Bancomat – ATM), mortuary and the hotspot: the Nero Wolf bar. Here village men stop in for coffee in the morning and a game of darts or cards in the evening. It’s more like a café or diner than a tavern, and it also provides free (and surprisingly quick) WiFi.  I stroll up there a couple of times a day to check on work coming in via email, and I exchange Buon giornos or Buona seras with Alicia, the owner, and the other patrons. We are staying in a two-story, two-bedroom house which sits in the medieval part of the village. Built in the 12^th century and boasting walls at least 12 inches thick, it stays cool throughout the warm days with the metal shutters blocking out the heat. In the evenings we throw open the shutters and allow the cool breezes to flow through. Early mornings bring a varied chorus of dogs barking, roosters crowing and sheep baaing. Each evening we observe stunning red-orange sunsets from the upper balcony outside our bedroom and watch the haze from small brush pile fires and mist creep through the valleys. The pace here is measured, easy and relaxed. While we’ve had somewhere to go or things to do every day, our time has not felt rushed as it was for the first part of our trip. I think I’m getting a very good taste of La Dolce Vita. Like the gelato, it could quickly become addictive. — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor