Orvieto and Rome

Part 1 of Orvieto: This entry will be in two parts because of the good WiFi connection we finally have. When we arrived in Orvieto, we took the funicular (cable car) up to the town. It is another medieval city surrounded by a wall. Orvieto is situated on a plateau and the views are spectacular. We checked into Hotel Corso - a quaint little hotel, and an even smaller room, but it was very nice. Hotel rooms this small in Canada would be considered dives, but here they are nice. No such thing here as wasted space. We didn't even unpack because 1) we are only here one night and then on our way to Rome, and 2) we wanted to get out and explore. We don't want to waste time unpacking when we could be out seeing the sights. The first thing we did was go to the Duomo (church). It is as impressive as the duomo in Florence... Just not as massive, but still gigantic. There are four pillars on the front of the church, and each one tells a story from biblical times. We each bought a gelato to enjoy while studying each pillar. The first pillar is the story of Genesis; the second is the Tree of Jesse; the third, episodes from the life of Jesus; and the fourth pillar is the Last Judgment. The detail is amazing. What sculptors could do with marble back then is amazing. I may be wrong, but I don't know if artists would bother with sculpting with such detail these days because now it's all about money and how fast they can get it done to sell it. There is so much history here in Italy that I am still amazed by it all. We climbed down St. Patrick's well, which is 175 feet deep and 45 feet wide and had two spiral stairways with a bridge at the bottom which allowed one-way efficient traffic flow. The well was built because the pope got nervous and moved to Orvieto after Rome was sacked in 1527 by renegade troops of the Holy Roman Empire. After that, we went for a walk on the outside of the wall and it was like being in the Lord of the Rings. Arrigo made a funny video about the walls of Mordor. We'll post it on Facebook since I can't post it on the blog. A few people were out for a run. What a great place for a run... and if you want hill training, whether, running or riding your bike, this is the place to be. The scenery was - oh! have I said how beautiful it is here - spectacular. We came across a castle in the middle of nowhere, and just below our walking path was a couple gardening. Talk about having a room with a view - the rolling hills of the countryside and a castle in the foreground. When we got back to town, we got lost trying to find our way to Piazza de Popolo when we ran into a local who noticed that we looked lost. He asked us where we wanted to go. You know what men are like when they get lost - they won't ask for directions. Arrigo simply said "I'm looking at the map trying to see where we are. I, on the other hand, quickly asked him how to get to the duomo, because once we're at the duomo, we know where we are. We got talking and it turns out that he is from California. Well, actually, he was born in Orvieto, moved to California, and came back to Orvieto after many years away. Enrico, that is his name, suggested a good restaurant for dinner; he even walked us there so we would know where it was. It's a good thing we got a reservation for 7:30 because we were the only people in the restaurant. They eat so late here, and not only that, they have an appetizer, first course, second course and something dolce (dessert). I can see how they don't get fat in these midaeval cities because they stay fit from all the uphill walking. If it wasn't for that, they would be fat. After dinner we relaxed in our hotel for the rest of the evening. The WiFi is much better here than in Florence (go figure), so I was able to publish a blog entry with no problem at all. Tomorrow we leave for Rome, where we will be for five days. Part 2: Orvieto and Rome After breakfast this morning, we went for a walk to see where it would take us. We happened on the market we read about. Perfect! Shopping - hee hee. I did buy some clothes and we bought some fruit for the train ride to Rome. We started making our way to the hotel to check out and then made our way to the funicular to get to the train. We're here... Rome. It's a huge train station. If we ever find our way to the tourist information booth in the train station, I'll be sure to update you on the continuing travels of Arrigo and Ellen. Stay tuned.