Getting away from the big city
This morning, after checking out of the hostel, we had breakfast across the street – croissant and an iced coffee again – and then hopped on our train to Orvieto. We almost missed our train because apparently, platform 2 and platform 2 est are in very different locations. Roma Termini is a stressful place.
More info about Orvieto
Orvieto is a small city on a cliff in Umbria. The medieval town has a population of approximately 20,000 and is home to the beautiful Duomo di Orvieto, a church dating back to 1290. Underneath the towns narrow streets is a maze of tunnels and caves.
We arrived around noon and took a bus up to the town, as the funicular was closed. We checked out the Albornoz Fortress and then walked 1 km to the Hotel Posta.
After dropping off our bags, we headed to the Duomo di Orvieto, where an orchestra from Michigan was performing an outdoor concert.
Kaitlin and I split up for a bit. She wandered around and got gelato while I went on a tour of Orvieto’s underground. My tour guide explained that the people of Orvieto ran out of space above ground, so they began constructing tunnels. The underground area was primarily used for workshops. I learnt that farming pigeons was more popular than chickens, as pigeons can fly off and feed themselves. Another interesting fact I learnt on the tour was than during WWII, everyone decided not to bomb Orvieto because of the beautiful Duomo and the towns historic value.
We had a short rest at the hotel as everything was closed for siesta time, and I bought some Loquats (fruit) for a snack at the Pam grocery store. I found us a nice Pizzeria close by – Pizzeria Antica Arte Napoletana, where I had a Margherita with Buffalo Mozzarella, and Kaitlin had a pizza with mushrooms and potatoes. I also had some Limoncello, which was super tasty. After dinner, we roamed around the town for a while until we ended up back at the hotel.
We really enjoyed our time in Orvieto and were surprised by how few other tourists there were here.
I couldn’t sleep again cause it was really hot and we didn’t have an AC. I knew this when I booked it, but didn’t expect the heat wave.
