The Duomo di Orvieto, a 14th century Roman Catholic cathedral.
Sunday was a free day, and we decided that it would be best to spend it in Orvieto. Orvieto is the exceedingly old hilltop town located roughly 20 minutes from Bolsena. Located on top of a craggy and rocky precipice that is often surrounded with atmospheric fog, Orvieto is one of Italy's more scenic burgs and a wonderful place to spend the day. I certainly enjoyed it: the cathederal is a singular work of art, the streets are appropriarately winding and quaint, and the views of the Umbrian countryside from the top of the hill are unbeatable. (It is said that the Romans, after routing the Etruscans from Orvieto, forbade anyone else from living there because it was too damn easy to defend. I believe it).
Before we left, we had a simple lunch ala Enzo. He prepared an excellent pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil, and water mozarella, a sort of pasta-based insalada caprese. This was served with some excellent and savory pan-roasted chicken.
Neat statues on the duomo's facade.
The drive to Orvieto went quickly, as we passed through the rolling and green countryside. Thankfully for us moderns, a highway now exists to the peak of Orvieto. You may also take a funincular railway from the train station.
Gelato flavors (few zillion).
Fig and strawberry gelato.
We got out of Luigi's van, and began wandering the streets, popping into Orvieto's quaint ceramics shops and fancy-paper emporiums. It was siesta time and we decided to go for a gelato - a reccomended place was located near the cathederal, or duomo. I had fregola (strawberry) and fig, and was quite satisfied: the strawberry flavor was intense and clarified, and the fig was not too sweet, containing the complex and earthy flavor of the original fruit.
The others had been to Orvieto before and decided to go on a tour of Orvieto's complex underground - the mesa the city rests on has been dug into extensively during the town's long history. People traditionally used these caves as pigeon-roosts (pigeon being a good protein source in siege situations,) wine cellers, and arenas for food preservation. (Digging into the rock was outlawed sometime during the 50's, as people began to fear structural unsoundness as a result of all the burrowing).
Tower in Orvieto.
We walked through Orvieto's almost cliche-like quaint backstreets, and admiring the astonishing views that peeked out from seemingly every corner. We found a nice incline to rest on and watched the world go by.
Park in Orvieto.
We headed then to a nice park, where a tennis match was going on and most of Orvieto's people were looking on. I perched on the sheer edge of the cliff and looked out into the horizon: I could see the farmer below me watering his tomatoes and see the white peacocks he kept walking around, could see the Eurostar blaze below me and the little fountain that marks the Orvieto rail station - in other words, I could have watched forever.
But of course I could not. We headed back to the Duomo to meet the others for drinks, prior to dinner. We found ourselves a nice enoteca on the street and ordered some excellent, crisp white wine, which we downed two bottles of while enjoying the people watching and conversation.
After our drinks, we walked around for a while trying to locate a good restaurant. Our original destination was closed, so we consulted the mighty oracle of Rick Steve's for a second option. He directed us towards a pizzeria.
The wood-fired ovens turned out great thin crust pizzas. We enjoyed pizza with gorgonzola and walnut, prosciutto and mushroom and egg, and eggplant.
We hung out for a while longer (forcing poor Luigi to wait, but he got some wine,he would live). I hope to return to Orvieto soon.
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