The train trip from Ancona to Orvieto took about 4 hours with one train change in Orte. It was an easy trip as the train wasn’t too crowded. It was nice to arrive in a familiar city – we hopped off the train, crossed the street, bought tickets for the funicular and up we went!
Our 1.30€ funicular ticket also got us a bus ride to the city center and our hotel, Hotel Duomo was a short walk away.
Orvieto is a hill town with a very long history – early on, it became one of the major Etruscan cities.
We had an excellent tour guide for a look at the Etruscan and medieval caves. We learned that individual families dug into the soft, volcanic tufò to create a cave for storing foods, taking shelter during sieges, or as workshops for producing olive oil. There are over 1200 caves still being used by the citizens of Orvieto today!
Orvieto is famous for its beautiful cathedral.
Its difficult to capture the beauty of this Cathedral, especially on a sunny-blue-sky day when the gold sparkles in the sun.
The city is busy with tourists, and we encounter more Americans than we’ve seen in any other city so far. Yesterday, the laundromat went to was busy with people from Tucson, Chicago, and us.
In spite of the crowds, it’s easy to find quiet alleys to explore.
We’ve already eaten some great food and Larry found an excellent version of one of his favorite sandwiches…porchetta! This one had the added bonus of pecorino cheese and sauce with truffles.
People watching is a fun sport here – this adorable couple was posing – she put on her wedding veil (?) for this photo.
It’s quiet in the evening, but we found that we need advance reservations for popular restaurants so we’re set for tonight and tomorrow.
One more day here before we leave for our last stop…Rome!