Orvieto is an ancient city, high upon a volcanic cliff, originally inhabited by the Etruscans (don't worry, I had to look that up, too.). It was conquered by the Romans and didn't grow in importance again until the Middle Ages. There are thousands of man-made caves built into the cliff with the city sitting on top. We've been told that all the homes here have 10-20 meter deep caves below, usually used for wine cellars.
Once we got off the train, we took a funicular up the steep hillside then hopped on a bus to the town center. Here sits the Duomo.
Lunch was at Trattoria da Carlo. Best meal of the trip so far. A feeble but lively Italian grandmother came to take our order and her son cooked our food. Fresh pasta, homemade mozzarella and pesto, fresh tomatoes and onions with olive oil, and broad beans with cracked pepper.
A walk through the winding streets of Orvieto does not disappoint. The town is small and many people only come for a day trip. But we're glad to be staying overnight.
Game of tennis, anyone? (You'd win, I'm terrible)
Later in the afternoon we took an underground tour of the city's caves. Here's where they made olive oil. There were round stones which turned in different direction, pulled by donkeys, pressing the oil out.
Here's where people kept pigeons. There was a window where they could fly in and out, but they'd always come back home (homing pigeons). There were new pigeon babies every 28 days and those being the tastiest, would be eaten. "Cheaper than chickens," our guide told us.
Back to the hotel for a little R&R.
"Welcome to my courtyard!" Now go home, other annoying American tourists who were being American AF and not in a good way.
Took a stroll through the main thoroughfare in town. Learned that you need a different strapless bras for different cosmopolitan cities around the world. Looking racy, NYC.
Pre-dinner drinks. We each ordered a €4,00 drink and was served with it this shmorgasboard of munchies. All the Italians seemed to ignore these free snacks but Alexis and I, never ones to not consume food (did I mention it was free?) places in front of us, ate them right up.
As we left, we contemplated skipping dinner.
Ha.
Stumbled upon this gem of a restaraunt, Cavour, where we dined on fresh pasta with fava beans, ricotta, mint, and toasted breadcrumbs. For our first course. Followed by steak with pear and pecorino. Delicious. And some lovely Orvieto wine for €3,00/glass.
And for dessert-- an after-dinner walk and gelato. Guaranjo chocolate and mint chip (Alexis); stracciatella and bacio (me).
Tomorrow, off to Florence!
-EKW
Every meal looks delicious!!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading this over lunch. Eating Taco Bell in my car. (Bet you there aren't many Taco Bells in Orvieto!)
ReplyDeleteRule numero uno, no Katzelnick or Kdub would ever skip dinner.
ReplyDeleteYou two look thinner. Seriously. I think Italy suits you both..
ReplyDeleteloved reading this. chuckled at so much of it too (like the salt in the bread comment). also, convinced i must get to da carlo one of these days... somehow we haven't yet (it was closed the other day, though we tried!).
ReplyDelete