Those Etruscans were really something!

Allo!

Wow, found a GREAT place for dinner last night – small place on the main street, Corso Cavour. Lovely stone vaulted interior, divided into three different rooms. We both ordered bresaola salads with arugula and Parmesan (I really do need to learn how to spell that...) as starters, then R had cheese-filled ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce, and I had tagliatelle with a bolognaise sauce; both delicious. Interesting to eat real Italian pasta – it is just al dente, that is chewy, if done properly; think we tend to overcook pasta most of the time. Also had more Orvieto Classico (white); lovely meal; enjoyed every bite! Have decided to return there for dinner tonight, as the menu has some really interesting things that we’d like to try. They use truffles on several things, which I am definitely in the mood for; also, something called “chicken bites” with artichoke; sounds good! So, on to today!

Our breakfast spread wasn’t nearly as elaborate as we had in Rome; got really spoiled over all the choices there! Basically juice, drinks, cereal, croissant (the Italian version, with sugar on them) and other breads, as well as several cakes as well as ham. I had some ham and pound cake; sounds strange, I know, but it was a great combination! Then we headed out to the local tourist office to purchase the Orvieto Unica tickets – one ticket good for admission at about 10 or 12 different sites; a terrific deal if you plan to see lots! From there, we headed to the archeological museum – and it was GREAT! Very small place, but very modern displays and lighting. Everything there was found either in Orvieto or the immediate surrounding area, most particularly in the Necropoli Crocifisso del Tufo, the local Etruscan necropolis; amazing collection! As this museum was right next to the Duomo, we revisited this, with a particular visit to the Cappella di San Brizio, a small side chapel that is incredibly ornamented with frescoes begun in 1447 by Fra Angelico; definitely worth a visit! And all this time, setting up in the main square right in front of the Duomo, were the police! They were EVERYWHERE! We asked several people, including those at the tourist information office, what was happening, and nobody seemed to know! Just that it was some sort of celebration for the police. (Not that we’re paranoid or anything, but...) They had set up 6 or 7 big tents with chairs (with names, and I didn’t look for ours) as well as what looked to us to be police recruiting booths; then came the police band; very formal. These poor folks were all left standing out in the sun for at least an hour before things even got rolling! We didn’t stay around to see exactly what was happening, though, as too much to see...We did, however, see the police Lamborghini...and no, I’m not joking! Here was this amazing car, painted in the police blue and white with all the appropriate markings! Makes one wonder 1) where the budget came from if it was purchased, and 2) what the guy did if it was donated! At any rate, it did cause quite a stir, as everyone wanted to take pictures of it! So...after the Duomo, we booked our places for the 11:15 a.m. Orvieto Underground, and still had time to squeeze in one more museum, Museo C. Faina (fortunately, everything so far was in the main square). This was a private museum housing the collection of one man and his nephew, and was donated to the state in the early 1900's. It was housed in the original family home – incredibly painted walls and ceilings – and encompassed lots of Etruscan works, including a huge coin collection, from all over the area. (The display of the coin collection was ingenious, as you would see rows and rows of coins and then you could push a button and the rows would slowly revolve so you could see the other sides! Neat!) Toured the house and the collection, and then headed back to the tourist office to meet our guide for the English tour of Orvieto Underground. Federica was really great. She is a native of Orvieto who took a degree in languages at the University in Perugia. Turns out that thousands of years ago, the Etruscans started digging caves under their original hill-top settlement. These caves, dug out of tufa and pyroclastic ash, are everywhere in Orvieto – mostly under people’s houses nowadays! While originally used for cold storage (constant 60 degree temperatures), workrooms (we toured an old olive mill) and dovecots (allowing pigeons to enter and leave, before serving them for dinner...), they are mostly used today for wine and other storage. She insists that people don’t live in them. She also said that under her own house, they have three levels of cave, and that her mother blocked off one tunnel, as it led into a neighbor’s tunnel! Really neat! (Just mind your head...)

After this, we decided to rest a bit, but Federica had explained to us how to get to the Necropolis, and we wanted to go there. Turned out, it was, of course, at the bottom of the Orvieto hill-top ... which meant not only a down-hill walk, but quite a walk back up! Decided to try it (putting those 10,000 steps to good use...); and it was lovely! We wound around the walk-way heading down; lovely not too steep descent, and right at the bottom was a funky little restaurant! As we had somehow managed to skip lunch, we stopped for drinks and sandwiches – R had mozzarella and tomato on baguette; I had a panino (don’t know the difference between that and panini, but that’s what it was called!) of ham and cheese; both were great! We then toured the necropolis. Interesting, although like a lot of Egyptian tombs, everything that could be moved out into museums has been moved – but the tombs themselves are still standing, and you can wander freely as you want! Just wish we would have brought a flashlight, as these places are DARK inside! Decided then to walk back up, hopefully to avoid what looked to be a lot like rain heading our way – and we did – and it wasn’t bad at all! (Although we both figured that a month ago we’d never have been able to make it – all that walking is really great!) Wandered back into town (stopping along the way for my daily gelato fix...) and back to the hotel, where we settled down for a well deserved nap!

Up now, and planning 1) how to get to Bologna tomorrow (note: Have NO idea what to see or do once we get there, but perhaps inspiration will strike once we get there...) and 2) what to see in Le Marche when we get there on Saturday! I’m just looking forward to the washer, but then you all know that by now, yes?! So, here’s to another incredibly beautiful day in Italy! More later!

Ciao!
m