I think we have reached our breaking point. Savage woke up ready to leave Orvieto -- I don’t think he liked the penguin A/C in our room. But I loved it because it made it cool :) Told him if he wanted to find another place to stay at and go to - have at it. He surfed the net for a little while to no avail. So I guess we will be staying. Sometimes he can't be bothered.
Sabrina was in the kitchen and had made a great breakfast - scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, and grilled tomatoes -- are we in England? First time we had that. Awesome!
I asked him very sweetly (he always said ask not tell and I might get a positive reaction -- not easy for a bossy person like me) if we could do what I want to do today. And he said slyly with a shit eating grin.... "maybe"... if he approved of the ideas. Supervision, supervision...
My idea --- Check out the Duomo, Go on a tour of the underground Etruscan tunnels, Visit a Local Winery, and Check out Civita di Bagnoregio..... My magic number is normally four things in a day. His magic number is one tourist activity and then a nap. We will see how it pans out.
Off we went, the Duomo was amazing -- black and white stripes on the outside and different mosaics from beautiful shiny tiles. The doors were massive. The inside was cavernous and reminded me of the great cathedrals in England and France. We didn’t buy a ticket to the Chapel of San Brizio (inside the cathedral) -- frescoes by Fra Angelico and Signorelli’s fresco of the Last Judgment. But you could see them through the screens -- awesome. You could see the “damned” soldier angels and the evil ones dragging them to the underground supposedly Michelangelo used this in some of his work too. The whole thing left you in awe. Say what you may about the popes they knew how to build monuments.
In one of the chapels, they had a service going on and the singing was haunting. There was a huge organ on the left side of the church, you could only imagine how amazing that concert must sound. I sat and prayed a little on the stairs. It’s so unusual to be in a church and “tour” it. I was so thankful for having a trip of a lifetime. Great company, great sites, and great new outlook on life -- what a blessing.
Went to the tourist office and did recon on the Underground Tour. Savage was so not going to go for this -- but he did. Bingo - Yeah, me. We had to kill an hour and needed to eat and get some water. There was a swanky looking restaurant but no one inside. We sat down and waited and waited... the sourpuss of a waitress came by and finally gave us a menu. I guess she didn’t like his wifebeater t-shirt. We decided against it. Best move of the day, if she didn’t like our attire, she could bite it. If you can't be pleasant, stay at home.
Across the lane, there was a little restaurant that had A/C (even if they couldn’t spell- but they did make a good try).
hum?
7 euros for water, coffee and a fruit cup... I needed that, you could only eat so much during the heat like this. Who is this person and where have I gone?? I don’t think I have ever eaten fruit for a meal. Savage knew I liked foreign currency and he finally ponied up a 2 dollar Aussie piece. Why is he being nice? I guess he is feeling a little guilty for leaving me early in Italy? Nah, I know he is so ready to get rid of me.
Eating at the bar was fun -- they had a nice bathroom and Italian music videos playing on the TV. Those songs were really nice, why don’t they play them on the radio? Much better than a fancy restaurant, I am really not that high maintenance.
Got back for the tour -- LOTS of people, uh oh, Savage isn’t good in crowds, what will happen. Some people just don't know how to dress. I don't agree with Savage on some things but the lycra issue -- I agree totally - -bike riding yes, hanging out in, no.
They broke us up into two groups. We had a short little Italian girl as our guide. She was an excellent tour guide. They took us down a hill on the side of the wall -- then we had to go through a locked gate to a narrow stairway. All these tourist (and us) wound our way to these cool caves. (It was cool down here.)
The first cave room was an olive press area -- very neat - you could see how the Etruscans dug it out. Next we saw an old Etruscan well -- not good for the traveler with vertigo (but he sucked it up and actually had a good time). The well had footholds in it for people to climb in and out of it to dig out the water.
Then on to the lower caves where pigeon farmers used to farm their stock. I guess this is where we get pigeon holes from ....
During World War II, the locals used this as a shelter. The city was supposed to be an “open” city and not to be bombed but the lower part was destroyed. We could see the views from here too.
There was a Dutch family on the tour with us and they had matching clothes -- no words for this...
We trekked back to the room for the obligatory afternoon nap (on the way, I fell in the street again -- second time on this trip, I never fall, what’s wrong with me?). I even slept a little today.
Two things off the “list” and now to drive on to Civita di Bagnoregio (can’t believe he is taking me there -- shocker, yeah). He drove and I got to see the amazing views out the window. I love this area of Italy too. On our two trips so far we have seen, Milan, the Lakes area, Bergamo/Pisa, the Italian Riveria (twice), Umbria (different parts), Tuscany, Basilcata, Sorrento and we will be off to Roma tomorrow. I do so love exploring in Italy. There is so much still to see. Savage is so right -- this whole country is a museum.
We stopped at an overlook and could see the whole hilltop city. The drive out made me a little queasy, lots of hairpin curves etc, but the racing car driver loved it.
We passed three or 4 wineries but they were closed -- three sites out of four isn’t bad for the two of us. We found the town and the little parking area, this was definitely not a tourist mecca -- probably 15 cars max could park here. There was a huge steep ramp to the city. I so don’t like steep things, I always feel like I am going to fall down them. A motor scooter (not a moped) speed by me on it’s way down. Savage beat me to the top of course. I didn’t see him anywhere, but it’s not like he could go far.
The town is very unusual -- it’s on the endangered list of World Monuments. Very few inhabitants and the buildings were so neat. No cars are allowed up here, scooters yes. Not many people here at all. The whole place was in different stages of renovation.
The main square was small but they used to have horse races here -- an outdoor cafe, and just a few businesses -- of course a church in the center of town too.
Found Savage in the church (odd place for him, a cafe yes, church not so much). He was sitting in a chair very quiet and it looked like he was meditating. Maybe he was praying? I checked out the church and prayed a little in this ruined church. The church was being restored but was in bad shape.
We wandered around the streets and saw an older disabled lady sitting on a low stone wall, she had crippled hands. We paid her to go into her private garden (or was it her garden?). Great place to take photos -- wonderful views of the valley. Strange how some parts parts looked like quarries -- you could see the erosion off the other hills. I can only imagine how the erosion on this city’s hill looks. Kept wandering and went into shop for popsicles -- :) yummy lemon ones. Got some postcards. Went into a courtyard that went nowhere. Tramped down the ramp slowly as not to fall. Played rock, paper, scissors to see who drove back. Racing car driver got to drive back too -- he was loving it.
our parting view
At Orvieto parking garage, we took the escalator up instead of elevators -- was lagging behind as usual. We found a cafe and got some cold drinks -- cokes cost a lot here. They brought us chips and zucchini pizza -- it was good. People watching was great.
Went to dinner at Trattoria del Moro (where they had suggested last night). Nice lady that didn’t speak English well. I had Osso Bucco and gnocchi. Savage had pigeon. I tried it but it was definitely not me, tasted like pork. Excellent meal and I did try different things -- no spaghetti bolognese :) The new adventurous me ---
Found a horse statue that we each hopped up on. Sat outside the Duomo for a little while and visited. I really liked that view. It was amazing at night.
Penguin was on high and slept good that night. Off to Roma tomorrow....
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