Blogs from Umbria, Italy, Europe - page 3

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 ... read more

July 18 Tuesday Slept in for the first time since we left England. But of course that's 7:30 for me. I took my time getting ready for breakfast and even played some Candy Crush and Fairway Solitaire for a bit. Breakfast was not ideal. No buffet. Choice of over easy, hard, or omelet for egg choices. I went with the omelette. Imagine my surprise to find french fries mixed inside the omelette. They must've used the leftover french fries from yesterday's dinner. LOL. Then they offered really under cooked bacon and long hotdog looking sausages. Once again think God for bread rolls. They had juice on the table but I didn't care for it. When I asked for water they told me I couldn't get a glass of water but I could buy a bottle. After ... read more

What a day! This morning as a group, we went to Assisi, Italy. What a beautiful town. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get there from Rome, which was nice because I got some sleep. We had to go up a steep hill, because the town is on the hill overlooking the beautiful countryside. First stop was the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. This has been one of my favorite churches that I have seen in Italy. Then, we had free time to explore the city. A group of us ended up just walking the (up hill) streets going into the shops and food places. For lunch, we stopped at I Monaci. It was good and cheap, but nothing to brag about. I have learned while traveling outside of Rome, there are more ... read more

Italy, Day 10, Thursday, October 13, Chianciano to Orvieto to Sorrento. Chianciano provided a rosy-pink and blue-gray sunrise over the valley on our last day. We packed a weeks' worth of clothing and purchases into our suitcases for our journey south to Orvieto and finally Sorrento before heading down to breakfast. As we were leaving the hotel, Abdu, the wonderful hotel manager, gave me kisses goodbye. I felt like I was leaving a good friend. As we left Tuscany we headed due south on E35 passing more farms and vineyards under overcast skies before coming into the ancient city of Orvieto in the Province of Terni in southwestern Umbria. Ben described Orvieto as a ‘slow city embracing the slow food movement’, and he said the white wines of Orvieto are particularly prized. The city itself is ... 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