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
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.
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