Orvieto to Lucca

A couple of photos from the mini-bus driving through Orvieto (which can be pretty hairy...)

and a selection of random shots from the train.  We went from Orvieto to Firenze (2.5 hours), then Firenze to Lucca (1.25 hours).  The train to Lucca was a double decker which was fun.

Once we got to Lucca, we bought bus tickets (and lunch - it was 14.30!) and found our hostel very easily.  We have a 4 bed room which is double storied - 2 singles below, 2 singles and the bathroom above.

Some much needed clothes washing, then out to find some gelato.  Bikes are rampant here, and places to hire bikes are a dime a dozen.  We grabbed a bike each and rode around the city walls.  Phil had had enough with one circuit and then continued to walk the whole distance around the walls, which we were told was about 4 klms but appears to be around 6 klms, but Caelli and I did a couple of laps then rode through the city.  The walls of Lucca are intact - they haven't been breached since the 14th century.  They are two storeys high and about 20 metres wide.  They are currently a walking/cycling path that is very popular with both locals and tourists.

Gelato flavours: mint, coffee, lemon, caramello, coconut, bruccella di Lucca (aniseed), marmalade, fior di latte, extra chocolate, trifle.

Birds in southern Italy

Common birds:  feral pigeon, starling, blackbird, goldfinch, greenfinch, house sparrow, tree sparrow - am I whetting your appetite here?  Didn't think so.

The common corvid in Rome is the Hooded Crow; in Orvieto it's the Jackdaw.  Really liked both of them.  Next most common bird is the Swift - especially mornings and evenings.  They are fantastic to watch, zooming all over the place.  Yellow-footed Gulls (larger than Pacific) were also very common in Rome.

Interesting birds:  House Martin, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Robin, Chaffinch, Italian Sparrow, Serin (sounds like a blue wren with zzz's), Blackcap (which is a warbler which sounds a lot like a blackbird crossed with a Reed Warbler - never shuts up and is incredibly difficult to spot).  Bigger birds - Jay, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Black Kite, Kestrel.

Also saw a riccio the other night - a hedgehog!

Orvieto - Last Day

Breakfast at host Sabrina's house is lavish.  Two types of homemade bread, a couple of flavours of jam, some slices of meat, warm boiled eggs, pastries, homemade cake, juices, water, tea, cappuccino - it's fantastic.  Following brekky, we headed for Parco delle Grotte - Orvieto Underground.  It's a tour of some of Orvieto's caves which riddle the cliff on which Orvieto stands.  Over 1200 caves have been documented - all man made, some as many as 3000 years ago.  It was pretty interesting.

After that we tried to find the place I was told rented bikes, only to find that they don't.  That wasted over an hour.  Then we went looking for a couple of churches - San Giovenale and San Giovanni.  Both are closed pending restoration work.  However, we stumbled upon Sant'Agostino, which is currently a museum housing the 12 Renaissance statues of the Apostles that once graced the Duomo but were removed around 1890 to bring the church more in to line with its Gothic origins (ie bare and undecorated).  This was really interesting - the 3m high statues have been in storage from 1890 to 2005.  They were created between 1550 and 1720.  The chap there told us that the paintings that once decorated the Duomo were on display in the Palazzo Papali - the Pope's Palace, part of the museum complex.  Off to see those, which were 4-6 m tall and were painted between 1550 and 1620.  Back in to the Duomo to see where everything used to be.  It's very sad that all this art was removed, as the cathedral currently looks bare and unfinished, with patches, hooks and holes where the art used to be.  In all of these places, taking photos was not allowed, so this will be a very bare blog post.

We had tea out tonight.  We managed to find a meal that Phil would eat - sausages and chips (although the sausages were a bit too spicy for him).  Caelli had ravioli and I had fettucini with mushrooms.  Yum (although the serving size was huge, so it looked as though I didn't eat anything!)  Back to the rooms to pack as we move on to Lucca tomorrow.

Gelato flavours: nocciola, yoghourt con fruitti del bosco (fruits of the woods), fior di latte, limone, cappuccino, capriccio (nutella).

Orvieto - Exploring Orvieto

I got up early this morning and went out for a walk (in the cold and misty rain). The town is fantastic! Small windy streets with vertical panoramas as buildings appear atop rock (and sometimes vice versa!) Wonderful views over the Umbrian countryside, not only from the walls but squeezed in between buildings as the streets head further uphill and "inland".

After a lovely breakfast at Sabrina's house over the road, we headed for Anello delle Rupe - the walking path around Orvieto at the base of the cliffs. We accessed it from near the Duomo (where they had a hand-bike/running race with the finish line in Piazza del Duomo) and we headed down the cliff. We wandered anti-clockwise towards the train station, where we stopped to watch the funiculars come up/go down the hill (there's two and they're attached by a cable). We then headed uphill to Fortezza dell'Albornoz, the old ruined fortress (which was built in the 1350s), and some more spectacular views.

Next stop was Pozzo San Patrizio - St Patrick's Well. This was commissioned by a pope in 1527. He was worried that the town wouldn't be able to withstand a siege unless it had a reliable water supply. It was completed in 1537 and is 53 metres deep (we're talking about a town on a cliff, remember), 13 metres wide, and it has a double helix spiral staircase, so you go down one helix and come up the other. Pretty amazing.

A quick lunch and back to the cliff walk - along the top. By this time the weather was lovely. When we came to Porta Vivaria, one of the old gates guarding the entrances to the town, we headed down once again. We had a look at the Etruscan Necropolis (500 BC) as we went past, and made our way to the elevator that goes up to the top of the cliff at the south-western end of Orvieto (the funicular is at the north-eastern end).

By this time we were in dire need of a gelato fix (well...Caelli was), so we headed for the centre of town. We then climbed the Torre del Moro - the clock tower - which has great views over Orvieto and the surrounding countryside.

We also visited Pozzo della Cava - the Well of the Cave - which was an accidental discovery about 30 years ago. A family were extending their home when they stumbled upon a series of caverns dating from Etruscan times (2,500 years ago). A 36 metre deep well was found here as well as an Etruscan cistern.  There is also evidence of ceramic production over many centuries (Orvieto is still known for its ceramics today).

Gelato flavours: bacio (choc-hazelnut), fior di latte (flower of milk), fior di latte del arancio (ditto with orange), creme brulee, cappuccino, pinola (not sure but it could be pine nut), coffee, pineapple.

MAMMAL WATCH: Hedgehog.

Roma to Orvieto

Up early to catch the 9am train from Rome to Orvieto. There were a lot of tunnels - this part of Italy is quite lumpy and the Italians seem to like to go through rather than over. The funicular up the cliff was exciting,

and we hopped on the mini-bus to go to the far end of Orvieto where Ripa Medici is located. Sabrina met us in Piazza della Repubblica and we walked from there. Our apartment is on the first floor with windows overlooking a magnificent view of Umbria. The living room (which has a sofa bed made up for Caelli) has a small table and chairs and a couple of cabinets. The bedroom has a large canopy bed, a small table and chairs and some small dressers. The bathroom is small but very clean (the window overlooks the tiny street) and there is a small kitchen with cooking facilities, fridge etc. The whole apartment is beautifully decorated, and the views are to die for.

We went for a walk, starting out along the cliff but eventually heading inland. The streets are really skinny - hardly wide enough for a small car - and there are shutters and window boxes everywhere. We found our way to Plaza del Duomo and the beautiful cathedral.

We grabbed some lunch and some gelato, and it started spitting, so we visited the Etruscan Museum (opposite the Duomo - it has great views of the Duomo from its upper storeys).

Then we went inside the Duomo. It's huge inside, but very bare and sparsely decorated, especially compared to the churches in Rome. There's a lovely chapel off to one side which is filled with frescoes painted by Luca Signorelli around 1500, and are considered notable (he was one of Michaelangelo's inspirations). Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos inside the Duomo. We then started wandering. There are a lot of ceramics shops (one of Orvieto's specialities) which were bright and colourful. The rain sent us inside for coffee (and gelato - guess who had gelato!) We made our way back to Ripa Medici to dry off. The views are now quite misty!

Later that night, Phil and I went to a free concert of classical music and operatic arias. There was a brass quintet, a soprano and a tenor. The concert was really good, of a very high standard, and it was lovely to have just a 5 minute walk to get home!

Roma - Waiting for Caelli...

With Caelli due to fly to Rome today, and us meeting her at 12.30pm, Phil and I went sightseeing to fill in the morning. First stop - San Giovanni in Laterano. It's a massive cathedral just inside the old city walls of Rome.  With some amazing sculptures on top of the facade and a massive interior, it was well worth going to visit.  So were the city walls!

Back on the metro, this time to Piazza del Popolo. This is the site of the old main northern entrance to Rome - yes, more old city walls! With several fountains and a genuine Egyptian obelisk, it's an interesting piazza. There are a couple of churches there that we looked in, too, and several more we found when walking down the Via del Corso. First, Santa Maria dei Miracoli,

Chiesa Gesu a Maria al Corso,

Chiesa San Giacomo in Augusta,

Chiesa dei Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso, which was filled with lots and lots of different coloured marble

and Sant'Andrea delle Fratte, which had a couple of lovely statues by Bernini..

We also saw the Spanish Steps

and the Trevi Fountain by daylight - both of them packed full of tourists.

We arrived at Termini station where we were meeting Caelli at 12.30pm, but no sign of Caelli. With shuttle buses running late, and us not realising there were two shuttle bus terminals at Termini...Caelli didn't arrive until 3pm. The chocolate teddy bear with the cup of tea was most appreciated. Off for a walk - starting from the Pantheon, which was built in AD127 as a pagan temple - the original dome - and then was transmogrified into other religions with the passage of time. The front facade couldn't be more different from the rear of the temple. The first two kings of Italy are buried here, as well as Raphael. (Caelli and I are in the first two photos.)

The Chiesa di Santa Maria sopra Minerva is Rome's only Gothic church, and was built upon an older church.

We had a quick look in Chiesa di San Ignazio before going (again!) to the Trevi Fountain (which was still packed, by the way!)

A quick look at Piazza Colonna and Palazzo Chigi (with TV reporters), before heading to the Vittorio Emanuele monument and a bus and tram home.

Gelato flavours today: crema (cream) and nocha (hazelnut). With Caelli at the Pantheon: coconut, tiramisu, strachiatella (choc chip), lemon and strawberry. For dessert: lemon, pineapple, vanilla, creme caramel and strachiatella.