orvieto

On Friday, our group took an overnight trip to the beautiful town of Orvieto! The town is in the Umbria region of Italy, and it rests up on a hill with medieval walls surrounding it. It used to be an ancient Etruscan city, and over the years it was populated by the Romans, and then became a sort of a fortress in medieval times, so it has many layers of history. Being up on the hill provides great views of the Italian countryside in all directions.

Upon arriving, we first checked into our hotel, the Grand Italia. The hotel was really nice. After getting some lunch, we walked around the town (it is really small so this doesn't take very long) in search of some good views. We found a great spot and explored the area for a while, enjoying the scenery. I also liked seeing the quaint little side streets of the town as we walked around.

Sheida and me at the first viewpoint we found

One of Orvieto's many small, quiet streets.

We met up with the group later for a visit to Orvieto's Duomo, or cathedral. Inside we saw the Capella di San Brizio with frescoes by Signorelli. The gothic church was really beautiful and was like a miniature version of Florence's Duomo.

Il Duomo, Orvieto's cathedral

Crazy organ inside the Duomo!

Capella di San Brizio

After the Duomo visit, some of us walked down to see the Albornoz Fortress, which is now a public park. We walked along the walls that surrounded and protected the city in medieval times, which was really cool. Once, again, the views were AMAZING. We also saw the remains of an ancient Etruscan temple, probably from around 6 or 7 BC! So old.

Part of the fortress

The walls surrounding the hill town of Orvieto

Then it was time for our group dinner! We went to a nice little place called Antico Bucchero. I had some sort of pasta with vegetables which I forget the name of for primi, veal with a balsamic sauce for secondi, and of course tiramisu for dolci, all with the vino bianco which Orvieto is known for. After dinner we found another great lookout spot and sat in the grass for a while, looking up at the stars and watching fireflies go by. Life doesn't get much better than moments like this.

On Saturday, we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the Pozzo San Patrizio, which is a well from medieval times that has a unique double-helix design so that donkeys getting water could go down one side and up the other. We walked all the way down to the bottom of the well, which was cool, both literally and figuratively!

The view from the bottom of the well

Outside of the well-yet another amazing view!

After our visit to the well we had a bit of free time before catching the train, so we wandered around the town, looking at the ceramic shops that Orvieto is known for. We also had chance to climb the clock tower, which is the highest point of Orvieto. The 360 degree views up there were great, and it was super windy which felt good since it was so hot. After spending some time up there we got sandwiches and headed for the train station.

The view from the top of the clock tower-the roofs of Orvieto, the Duomo, and the hills of Umbria.

I really liked Orvieto because of the small-town feel, and also because it didn't feel touristy at all. It was a relaxing experience, and when I come back to Italy someday, I definitely want to spend more time exploring the countryside. Now I can't believe that this is my last week in Roma!