Trip to Italy Day 20 - Orvieto - A Planning Mistake

When we decided to visit Orvieto, I didn’t plan on my being in recovery from a cold and Bev still having one plus a strained ankle so I believed we would be able to walk around some.  However, with those problems and the cramped accommodations, we decided to leave on Sat. afternoon rather than early Sun. morning and spend the night near the Rome airport so it would be more convenient to pick up Wende by 9am Sunday morning.  So, we ate the light Italian breakfast on Friday morning then just hung around the apartment on Friday as there was nothing to see or do within a short walk.  I already knew this from our friends but don’t visit the old walled hill towns unless you are willing and able to walk the hilly streets.

 This is from the table on the veranda where I’m sitting to type this in the unseasonably warm weather. 

And I decided to practice taking a selfie. 

Wow I’m getting old. 

Then I did this. 

We are on a corner and these are the two streets which are typical for Orvieto.

 

The sounds sure do vibrate through the stone building lined streets and I can imagine the neighbors all know each other’s business.  It’s easy to see why the early Italian immigrants to the US so readily adapted to the close quarters in America’s big cities like New York. 

According to my research, civilization has been around Orvieto since the 9th century BC as the ancient Etruscans flourished in Tuscany, Umbria (where we are now) and Lazio (Rome’s location) reaching their peak between the 6th and 4th century’s BC.  In 246 BC the city was conquered by the Romans and was ruled by many until the 12th century when it’s strong army allowed it to expand it’s borders and the 13th and 14th centuries were the period of maximum splendor for Orvieto, which, with a population of around thirty thousand inhabitants (even greater than that of Rome ), became an undisputed military power, and saw splendid palaces and monuments arise in its urban territory.  Today, it has 19000 residents and unlike some of the walled cities, cars can drive along the narrow ancient streets. 

We ate a little meat and cheese (our go-to) for lunch, with our glass of wine, then ate dinner at Cantina Vera here in the apartment building.  Not surprisingly for Italy, we were the first diners at 6:30 pm and got some shots of the entrance and the cantina - they had quite the wine selection. 

We began the meal with a glass of sparkling wine from the local region - Franciacorta Brut Cuvée Antinori. 

Then we shared an appetizer of delicious Fried Rice Balls.  

For her meal, Bev had the Tagliolini, Asparagus and Castelmagno Doc.  

And I had my first ever Octopus, Potatoes, Olives and Capers.  

We may not have seen any of Orvieto, except driving in and out, but it sure was nice enjoying a fine meal there with my honey and Bev made an interesting comment – “I think I like the Italian food we make at home better than here in Italy.”  I think that is because our typical Italian dish is pasta with tomato sauce and maybe in some parts of Italy this is the normal dish but we’ve been eating most dishes that are different than that. 

Photos can be slightly enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links. 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South. 

Larry 

5/1 & 5/2/25 event dates