Orvieto

Orvieto is a beautifully preserved, walled hilltown somewhat larger than Assisi or Montone. As we arrived in town, the bus could not go to town center, so we got to walk off part of our lunch on the way to the hotel.

Village Italy 2007 - Friends, Experiences, and Memories
A Journey through the real Italy on a Rick Steves' tour

Orvieto

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Cecelia tells us about the winery and the area

After the morning visit to Deruta, we headed across the Umbrian countryside to visit the Tenuta Le Velette family winery. The winery is situated on a hill with incredible views of Orvieto and the surrounding valley. White wines are a specialty in Umbria, but they also have award winning reds. Cecelia (of the family) told us about the history of the winery and gave us a tour of the “wine cellar.”

Bell tower at the winery.

Char adopts the local winery mascot.

Cecelia poses for the paparazzo (one paparazzo, two paparazzi)

Incredible views of Orvieto from the Tenuta Le Velette winery.

When we were nearly stuffed (but not quite), Cecelia brought out a special surprise for our group, fresh mozzarella di bufala (from milk of the water buffalo) made less than 24 hours ago in Naples – presented with tomatoes and green salad to represent the colors of the Italian flag. Mozzarella is only considered fresh if it is less than 24 hours old. Mozzarella di bufala is extremely moist and flavorful. If you’ve never tasted this, there is no good way to describe it, but if you ever get the chance, take it!

Later, we gathered in the main house for a special wine tasting (and lunch) while learning which wines are best paired with various foods. Cecelia gave us a few hints on wine. “If you feel like you need to comment on a white wine, you can always say it tastes like apples. This will always be correct.” Cecelia also told us about some interesting Italian expressions like, “He (or she) has short arms.” In Italian, this is a roundabout way of saying their arms are so short that they can’t reach into their pockets – or a nicer way of saying they’re cheap. It’s interesting how expressions evolve so differently across cultures.

Since we had “inside information” that tomorrow was Giorgio’s birthday, some (most) of us bought some wine to start the celebration early. Sufficiently “wined” and “dined” (stuffed from lunch and fresh mozzarella), we headed for our hotel in Orvieto.

For lunch, we bought a slice of watermelon from the local grocery, and then went back to our favorite internet café for a huge pesto pasta salad, mozzarella and tomato sandwich, and chocolate éclairs for dessert. After lunch we climbed the tower in city center. The elevator takes you to the second floor, and then there are an additional 173 stairs to the top. On top there were more great views. Cathy went back to the hotel while I wandered the town for another hour or so looking for photo opportunities.

Day 6 - Thursday - 20-September-2007

Hotel Corso provides a complete and tasty breakfast including hard boiled eggs, meats, cheeses, breads, yoghurt, and coffee or cappuccino. We had most of the day free to explore Orvieto. Cathy and I did a lot of walking, our favorite pastime. We found some great views along the city walls (we had some difficulty getting to the outside wall in some areas because of construction or no convenient cross streets).

We had a gelato (imagine that) and took a break to do some e-mail at an internet café. We had cappuccini and Paul bought some incredibly spicy chocolate (perhaps with cinnamon, chili, pepper or some combination). Cathy, thinking it was just plain chocolate, popped the whole thing in her mouth and we thought we might have to call the fire department. We had a light dinner (salad and pizza) at Pizzeria Charlie’s with Barbara, Paul, Bonnie and David. The local red wine we chose was fairly acidic and by far not the best local Italian wine, but the pizza and salad were good.

The Duomo itself has an intricate façade and striped sides that consist of travertine alternating with greenish-black basalt in narrow bands. It’s really quite impressive. The shops were filled with lots of locally made ceramics, pottery, and Pinnochio souvenirs.

Our hotel, Hotel Corso, hosted welcome drinks for our tour, then Karin took us to see the “frescoes of the apocalypse” by Fra Angelico and the “Last Judgement” (1449) by Luca Signorelli in the Chapel of Saint Brizio in the Duomo. They are beautiful and unusual, very lifelike depictions, many of which include some (and in some cases, a lot of) nudity (no photos allowed here either). Also in this Duomo is the Chapel of the Corporal (where the linen tablecloth made famous by the miracle of blood of the host is displayed).