Blogs from Orvieto, Umbria, Italy, Europe

Despite being up early with the idea of visiting the duomo we were surprised to find out that it did not open on Sundays until 2:30 as there were multiple services being preformed. So our plans changed and we headed for the quaint little streets and medieval byways. On the way we stopped at the archaeological museum and had a fabulous conversation with one of the men that run the place. Seems there are lots of Etruscan tombs and ancient burial sites in the tufa all around the city. Orvieto is a wonderful little city with lots of children and families living very pleasant and relaxed lives just 60 minutes from downtown Rome. After some nice views and curious little back streets, we made our way back to one of the restaurants we had heard about ... read more

Oct 27-30, 2017 Orvieto The remainder of our birthday week trip took us for a few days to one of many Umbria hill towns, Orvieto. We hopped back on the train from Rome which took us to the base of the volcanic plug which Orvieto is situated on top of. In fact there are two parts of the town, the modern lower part where the train arrives and the one we were headed to, the medieval upper town. They fortunately have a very inexpensive 90 second funicular ride that you can hop on to take you up the 1,000 feet to the top. When you reach the top you notice that there is still a road that takes you “up” even further into the town. They do have a shuttle bus that can take you into ... read more

Geo: 42.7165, 12.1116This afternoon we caught the train to Orvieto and were glad to be out of Rome. It was an easy train journey and took about an hour and a half. ... read more

Geo: 42.7165, 12.1116So, we drove north and are now in Tuscany. We stopped at Orvieto, which is an Italian Hill Town. There are many hill towns in Tuscany and Umbria, particularly the former. They were built during the middle ages as defensive structures due to the constant small time warfare and raiding. So, this massive Roman Empire is reduced to sibling squabbling. But there are attractive sights left for us. In Orvieto, the church is rated by some as the most beautiful in Italy. We do not disagree. Unfortunately for us they were engaged in restorative work on the exterior front. The inside was pristine. The church is rich with paintings and frescoes. In fact Mike (aka Michelangelo) reviewed the ceiling and wall art before painting the Sistine Chapel. Bird is also especially impressed with the ... read more

We left Florence mid-morning in our brand new Fiat 500. There have been remarkable improvements in the past 40 years and according to Jack it is a fun car to drive. As we left we realized that we had plenty of time to make a stop and still arrive in time for our 1 PM lunch reservation at Alforno's. The restaurant was recommended to us by Yoav and Orr who lived in Italy for two years and have great taste in food. Leaving Florence, I said that I didn't want to go back to Siena or San Gimignano, not because I had been there and checked them off a list of places I've been, but because I have such good memories of being there with the kids and I wouldn't want to tarnish them. We spent ... read more