Saturday 22nd in Orvieto

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Casual breakfast, gathering of our belongings and taxi to the Rome train station. Purchased some tickets for our travels from Orvieto and Florence and boarded our local train for the one hour trip to our new home (for two days). What a dramatic difference Rome to Orvieto, From hectic to tranquil, from busy to sedate, from city to country. Orvieto is a world apart, a real hill town with stone buildings out of the medieval period … and a spectacular duomo that brings art and culture to this hamlet. We dropped our bags at the hotel, Virgilio, and walked to our luncheon at Osteria da Mamma Angela across from the city hall. There is a festival underway for kids of all ages with classic wooden games of every kind. What fun to watch everyone playing happily … while we ate a fantastic luncheon. Extremely frsh vegetables, wonderful butter and truffle ravioli (Peggy) and thick noodles in pistachio based sauce. We have arrived in heaven.

Afterwards we wandered back to the hotel, checked in and took a little rest. John went out to see the extend of this medieval city high atop protective cliffs. In the midst of his walk, John discovered there was a special piazza filled with tents selling chocolate products. WOW. Meanwhile Peggy has gone into the Duomo to view the Signorelli Chapel and the incredible frescoes of the last judgment. We connected and went to check out the chocolate (purchasing some cannoli with chocolate rather than pastry outsides. Have not tried them yet but they look incredible.

Wandering back to the hotel we stopped at an Enoteca on the Piazza del Duomo for a glass of wine and some local bruschetta. Met a bunch of students from Rome (some of whom live in the Bay Area) and a tour guide who is an extreme supporter of our current president. She was forceful in her support and left little room for another point of view but certainly was knowledgeable about the area, the wine and the food. Therefore she can be forgiven. Some more wandering and then to our room as the evening settled in on Orvieto.

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