Orvieto day 2

This morning in the breakfast room I chatted with a couple from California. They raved about a pizza place, not far from the convent, where they’d eaten the night before. They said the pizza was the best they’d had in Italy, which is saying a lot! When I looked for the place later, I was sad to discover it was closed that day. Too bad!

 The little chapel at Instituto SS Salvatore in Orvieto

Each convent I stayed at had a chapel, but I never attended Mass or prayers at any of them. Everything would have been in Italian, and I wouldn’t understand anyway. I often heard the nuns singing, and that was lovely.

Today my plan was to visit the National Archaeological Museum of Orvieto. It’s a small museum but houses a multitude of Etruscan treasures, many from the necropolis at the base of Orvieto. The necropolis dates to the 6th through the 3rd centuries BC. There’s really nothing to see there except the empty tombs, but the museum was fascinating. Delicate gold jewelry and lots of ceramics and pottery, in addition to bronze armor were nicely displayed in the 5-room museum.

A display of jewelry and beads

Hammered gold jewelry

The piece that looks like alligator skin is a bronze grater.

The porcelain and pottery were mostly found in pieces and were reconstructed.

This was a rather large piece and must have taken lots of time to put back together!

Bronze shield and armor. Notice the “six-pack” on the breastplate.

Everything was labeled in Italian and English. For most of my visit, I was the only person in the museum. 

Eventually there were 2 other English-speaking gentlemen looking at the exhibits, and we all agreed that this museum was a treasure. The two guys had a house outside of Florence and were looking for some nice pottery in Orvieto, famous for its pottery and ceramics.

After my visit, I stopped for lunch. The food was just OK.

A selection of cichetti for the first course.

I finished my day looking for a souvenir Christmas ornament and saw lots of beautiful and colorful pottery in many shops around town. 

There were so many pottery shops like this one!

I headed back to the convent for my last night. On the way I heard a rumbling of thunder, or was it a handcart being wheeled along the cobblestones? From now on when I hear rumbling thunder at home it will bring back the memory of those handcarts!

Tomorrow, I head to Rome. Did I see every notable sight in Orvieto? No! 

The Duomo in Orvieto

When I booked 4 nights in this little town I must have been thinking I'd need a break between the large cities. There's not that much to see right here. I've already been to the famous nearby hilltown of Civita di Bagnoregio, which is only accessed by an elevated donkey path. I don't have a car, and I didn't book any local tours of the area. So, I get to/need to slow down for a few days.

The breakfast here is comparable to the other 2 convents I visited.  I think they're all serving what Europeans might eat, rather than an American version of breakfast. According to one of our guides, Italians just have a coffee, and that's it!

The one thing I didn't like was that we had assigned seats here, and I was sitting at a table by myself. That made it harder to connect with the few other visitors in the breakfast room with me. And connecting with other visitors, dear friends, is my reason for being. I just had to get up and walk around to talk to people.

A house with fragments of arches on the facade

Clock tower built in the 14th century, 

originally used to keep track of workers' time while building the cathedral

In between all the great meals in Orvieto I did visit some fabulous sites. I bought a combo ticket for the Duomo, the underground passages and the Duomo Museum.

The Duomo di Orvieto

The nave front and back

Statues of the 12 apostles line the nave. They were removed in 1897 in a move to modernize the church and returned to the Duomo 122  years later.

The Chapel of San Brizio, decorated with frescoes circa 1500

The Chapel of the Corporal

In a turquoise frame above the altar, an ancient bloody cloth is displayed. The story goes that in 1263, in the nearby town of Bolsena, the Communion host held aloft by the priest during Mass started to bleed, dripping onto the altar cloth (the Corporal). This proved to the skeptical priest that the host was truly the body of Christ. The pope proclaimed a new holiday, and construction on the cathedral (where the miraculous relic would be displayed) began in 1290.

In tunnels under the Duomo. It looks just like our basement. Lots of broken stuff.

It's just missing the multitude of Xerox boxes marked "misc. papers".

The Duomo Museum was filled with paintings, frescoes, mosaics and sculpture from the cathedral.              

I had a late lunch at Trattoria Da Carlo. As a single diner, I never know if I'll be stuck off in a corner, as was the case here. I was seated next to an Italian family who never said a word to me, although I was very nice about their dog hanging around under my table. I even talked to the dog!  After they left, a very nice couple from Colorado sat down, and we had a great time chatting. Terri and Ken own a house here in Orvieto and visit a few times a year. They gave me some restaurant recommendations which sadly never worked out. Either the restaurants were closed on the day I stopped by, or in one case had just that moment closed so the owner could celebrate his birthday. I bid him a buon compleanno and walked on.

After lunch I walked down to one of the arched gateways that led up a steep cobbled road into the city from the valley below. I was dreading walking back up and decided to take a staircase I saw. It seemed to be an easier climb to the upper village and led me to a wonderful overlook of the surrounding hills. When I mapped my return to the convent, it was surprisingly close by.

The valley below Orvieto and hills of Umbria beyond

On the way back to the convent I stopped at the local grocery store, Pam, and picked up some snacks for dinner. Church bells rang the end of day.

Closer to heaven in Orvieto

I purchased my train ticket to Orvieto online a few days prior to my departure from Florence. The cost was $22.50, and the trip would take 2 hours and 10 minutes. I bid a sad arrivederci to the sweet Sister at the desk. She had summoned the taxi for me a few minutes earlier. The taxi cost almost what the train ticket cost - $21.21 compared to $22.50, which speaks to the affordability of the trains!

I had a bit of a wait for the train, but I'd rather be early than race down the platform at the last minute! There were a few English-speaking people in the waiting area to visit with until my train departed. Two police officers walked through the waiting area and seemed to randomly pick people to check their passports. On the reader board we could see that a few trains had been cancelled, and the word on the street was that the big bike race in Italy, the Giro d'Italia, was causing the disruption. Luckily, my train wasn't affected.

On the train I was lucky to be sitting with 2 American women from Minnesota, who were meeting a group in Orvieto for a week of painting. I was staying at one convent, and they were staying at another. Funny that a relatively small hill town would have more than one, but on the other hand, there was a prominent cathedral in Orvieto too, so that may have accounted for the proliferation of nuns in town, essentially operating guest houses for religious pilgrims.

I shared a taxi with the 2 Americans for the ride up the hill to the upper town. There might have been an easy way to get there by an elevator carved into, or pasted onto, the cliff, but not knowing exactly where our convents were located, we elected to splurge on a ride. We were sure we’d run into each other again, walking around town over the next 4 days, but we never did. I should have gotten their contact info.

I'm staying at Instituto SS Salvatore in Orvieto. I booked it through booking.com, and thought it was probably a former convent, turned B&B, but no, it was an actual convent, staffed by nuns. The location was great. Within a block or two there were several restaurants, and the entire town was an easy walk. 

My room has a queen-size bed, a bathroom, and another bedroom (which is locked), but obviously could accommodate a family of 3. It has a balcony, and a nice view of the garden. 

The fancy ironwork is on the entrance gate to the convent

The patio, the neighbors and the distant hills of Umbria from my balcony

I found a place for a late lunch, tucked into a tiny square up a little alley. Ristorante Antico Bucchero was a nice place, if indeed they had an old butcher. (After some research, I found out that bucchero is a certain kind of pottery found in the area😊. I thought an old butcher would be worthy of note too!) I had cacio e pepe, which is a classic Roman dish of pasta with a sauce made with melted cheese and seasoned with pepper. The grated cheese is tossed with some pasta water to create a smooth sauce. We've tried it at home, and it's tricky to get the sauce to come out smooth. They did a nice job with it here. The noodles seemed to be hand-rolled rather than put through a pasta machine, and I heard from a local that this kind of pasta is traditional here.

I had my favorite orange drink, a Spritz, with my lunch, and dessert and an espresso too. An Italian espresso is about 1 tablespoon of coffee in a tiny cup. Perfect to end a meal.

I walked the few blocks over to see the cathedral, Duomo di Orvieto. It's just so big, for this little hill town! 

The Duomo di Orvieto, built at the end of the 13th century

Orvieto sits on a foundation of tufa, 1,000 feet above the valley floor and has quite a long history, going back to 900 BC when it was a major Etruscan town. It was destroyed by the Romans in 264 BC, and uninhabited for the next 6 centuries. After the fall of Rome, and subsequent attacks by invaders from the north, people in the valley headed back into the hills, and rebuilt Orvieto over the Etruscan ruins. The town flourished in the Middle Ages. The population then was about 30,000, and today it is about 5,000, all in less than a square mile atop its hill.  At one time there were 50 churches in town. Now half of them are inactive.

The modern version of Orvieto is filled with restaurants and shops, some specializing in the famous local ceramics. There's a lot to occupy and entertain tourists! I'll check some of it out tomorrow.

Last day in Florence

I woke up about 6:30, and the lovely bells started ringing at 7. I was at breakfast at 7:30, and there was still no sign of the group of kids I saw checking in the other day. They must be inhabiting an alternate universe. 

I've been on the road for 11 days now, and I thought I needed to do some serious laundry, rather than the wash I could do in the bathroom sink. I looked online for the closest laundromat, but reviewers noted that there was no soap available at this particular one. The friendly nun at our reception desk steered me to another place, not far away, that did sell soap to use in the machines.

Off I went with a tote bag full of stuff to wash. No one else was in the small laundromat at this early hour, but plenty of people were passing on the sidewalk on their way to work or school, so I felt safe from possible coin or dirty laundry thieves.

Instructions in English too!

There was a change machine, and soap could be purchased for €1. My laundry was underway when an older Italian man came in. He was having a hard time figuring everything out. I directed him to the change machine. He was flustered by the washer, having inserted the requisite coins. It wasn't starting, and the coins wouldn't eject when he tried to cancel whatever he'd done. He obviously hadn't followed instruction #5 -Insert Coins (One) At A Time. So, I got involved, pushing every button, but nothing was happening. Finally, I got my mini nail file and tried to capture a stuck coin. It worked, and all the other coins he'd inserted came out too. We started over, and voila, or however you say that in Italian, the machine started its wash cycle. Wow! Me helping someone else, instead of the normal me needing someone else's help! Life was good.

I still had a good part of the day free, so I decided to visit Santa Croce Church, which I had passed a few times. Built in the 14th century, it holds the tombs of some great Florentines. The facade is 19th century, and I would say resembles other prominent churches in Florence, if not as colorful. If I knew more about architecture, I'd probably agree with Rick Steves' description of it as Victorian Gothic, but I'm not that savvy.

Galileo spent his last years under house arrest in Florence, for defying the Church by saying the earth revolved around the sun. His remains weren't allowed in the church until long after his death.

The tomb of Galileo (Galilaeus Galileius)

Michelangelo grew up in this neighborhood, so it's fitting he would be buried here

The tomb of Dante. I love the sad statue

Lots of local dignitaries are buried in the floor.

In addition to all the important tombs, Santa Croce is a beautiful church. There was some scaffolding in evidence, but not much. I thought this painting, with the patches where repairs were needed, was interesting.

My sightseeing was finished for the day. As I headed back to the convent, I got a peek at a few of the private gardens in the area. Normally, there are wooden gates obscuring the view. A car would be parked between the wooden gates and the ornate garden gates. A few of the street-side gates were open as I was walking by.

I'm sure the sign says Keep Out!

It looks like this is an apartment building, with a very nice inner courtyard

And here's the last wine window I'll ever see, unless I return to Florence!

Florence - Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens

I was up early, and down to breakfast shortly after 7. There had been a large group, mostly teenagers, checking in last night when I got back to the convent. I wondered if they'd be wiping out the breakfast buffet this morning, but I forgot they're kids and they wouldn't even be up yet.

I decided to visit the Pitti Palace today, and the Boboli gardens behind it. The Pitti Palace was purchased by the Medici family in 1550 and became the Grand Ducal residence of Cosimo de'Medici and the symbol of the great family's power over Tuscany. It continued to house 2 more family dynasties over the next 350 years and showcases many changes that were implemented over the centuries.

Sadly, I hadn't checked online to see if I needed a reservation to see the royal apartments. I did need a reservation, so I didn't get to see them. I know they were recently reopened after 5 years of renovation, and pictures online show them to be very sumptuous. 

The areas I was able to visit were amazing. I think of the army of servants it must have taken just to light the candles on all the candelabras pre-electricity.

This is just one of many candelabras in the palace

The rooms of the Palatine Gallery (early 1800s) were filled with paintings, sculptures and furnishings curated from the collection of the Medicis. The walls were so heavy with artworks in heavy frames, it made me wonder how they could even bear the weight of it all.

Nice bath nook, but no view?

A perfect entertainment center - if only they'd had a nice flat-screen TV in those days

So many candles!

The chapel (circa 1766) was jam-packed with beautiful paintings and sculptures too. 

The description of this altar says that the pictures 

are made of precious and semiprecious inlaid stones. 

One of the gigantic works of art on the walls of the chapel

The ceiling of the chapel

Boboli Gardens from the palace

The gardens are extensive and continue up hundreds of stairs to the top of the hill. I'm sure I didn't see every statue or fountain!

The view of the Duomo from the Boboli gardens

For dinner I returned to Cantina Barbagianni, where B.J. and I had such a great meal a few nights ago. It's not hard to get a table when you're the first one in line!

In Florence - bath towel, telo da bagno, toalla de bano!

The forecast today was for sunshine and temps in the high 60s, so I decided to go across the river and up the hill to Piazzale Michelangelo. The walk would include lots of steps, but I was sure I could do it!

On the way through town, I saw a handful of wine windows to add to my photo collection.

Once you start noticing them, they're everywhere! I especially like the last one, with the nail head design.  I'm not sure how they qualify to get a plaque designating them as "official" Buchetta del Vino.

The view from Piazzale Michelangelo was great, and it was clear enough to see the hills beyond the city of Florence.

Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo

A little further up the hill was another place I was interested in visiting. According to legend St.Minias was beheaded on the banks of the Arno River in AD 250. He picked up his head and walked up the hill, where he died and was buried in what became the first Christian cemetery in Florence. In the 11th century the church of St. Miniato was built to house his remains.

The church has a familiar facade of green and white marble (early Florentine Romanesque), and inside are some notable artworks by della Robbia, and other Renaissance painters.

San Miniato church pre-restoration

Sadly, both the facade and the inside of the church were covered in scaffolding, in the midst of restoration. I was still able to see some of the amazing artwork.

                                                 The beautiful altar, but you can see the scaffolding 

blocking some of the surrounding paintings

Some great frescos lining the walls of San Miniato

Notice the lighted glass insert in the side altar. 

That indicates a relic, or sometimes a body, is contained within.

The ceiling of San Miniato

I headed back down the hill by way of some nearby roads, instead of the hundreds of stairs I'd climbed to get up here, and because of that I saw some of the neighborhood. On one estate there was an olive grove, which seemed pretty extravagant so close to town.

An olive grove in the city

On the way back to the convent I needed a little break.

My favorite snack, an affogato, made with gelato and a shot of espresso

One problem I'm having, now that I'm depending on just my phone, and not B.J. with his, for navigation, as well as taking photos, is that the power runs down before the day is half over.  As a result, I'm trying to navigate more by memory than by constantly referring to my GPS app. This method takes me down some new roads, but I always make it back to the convent!

The staff at the front desk has been nuns, and the breakfast room staff has also been nuns. Their order comes from Africa. They speak the language of their home country and Italian. Most, but not all, of the nuns speak English fairly fluently. I'm glad I have a translation app on my phone for occasional use. I also speak Italian, well - 7 words of Italian to be precise, but I use those 7 words with great frequency and enthusiasm.

My dilemma on this day was that my room had been cleaned, and used towels removed, but no new towels were added. The cleaning staff appear to be all men. After revisiting my room a few times, I tracked down one of the cleaning guys to ask for towels. He didn't speak any English. I typed the words "bath towel" into my translation app and showed him the words in Italian. He still didn't understand. He got out his phone and had me type "bath towel" and translated it into Spanish. Oh, now he understood! Problem solved, and we both chuckled about it.

I had a nice lunch at Natalino, in the square near the convent. Good ravioli, filled with cheese, with a pesto sauce, some burrata cheese and a few sun-dried tomatoes on top. Coca zero and tiramisu for dessert to balance out the Diet Coke. Hah. The bill was €33. Kind of pricey for lunch, but there's always a cover charge added at a sit-down restaurant - €3 in this case, and I should stop agreeing to water when I have something else to drink. The water is always bottled, €3 for the liter, and I hardly make a dent in it. Well, and the tiramisu was probably €7 or €8, so it all adds up!

While I was eating, I noticed on Google news that there was a planned train strike across Italy for this coming Saturday, when I'd be going to Orvieto. Reading further though, the article explained that the strike was postponed to the following Friday, when it wouldn't affect me at all. Crisis averted. It's interesting that strikes are scheduled in advance, for one day only, to emphasize the demands of the labor group. It can really cause a problem for locals and visitors alike!

Even though I'd had that delicious and very filling lunch, I needed a little something that evening, so I picked up a small panini. I was back at the convent before the Italian people had even thought about going out for their dinner.