Orvieto

Welcome back to sharing my adventures in Italy. I took the train outside of Rome for the first time today and am pleased to announce that I didn't get lost even once. No problem. Walk 15 minutes to bus #8. Take the bus to Trastevere train station. Take train to Tiburtina train station. Get on train to Orvieto. Take train 1 hour and 10 minutes. Exit train, cross the street, buy ticket and board the funicolor (sort of like a cable car) for the ride up to Orvieto. Voila - two and a half hours after leaving the apartment............ Welcome to Orvieto. The trainitalia trains are very nice -- clean and quiet riding. It was quite relaxing. I had visited Orvieto last year by car and, entering this year via funicolor took me in the opposite side of the city so I was pleasantly surprised at seeing part of the city I didn't see last year. As always, it wasn't easy choosing which pictures to share with you. For some reason I really love laundry and stair shots, so you have to be exposed to them. The town is primarily medieval in style. I brought my guidebook from last year and used it to guide me through the town once again. It is peaceful and beautiful.
The roads are very narrow and it seems strange to realize that people live here and go about their jobs, school, and lives in the midst of this beauty. There are plants and flowers lining every stairway and pouring from window boxes throughout the city. The main contrast from this city and Rome and Capena (where I stayed last year) is the total absence of graffiti. Italians are very expressive and like to express themselves with spray cans wherever there is an opportunity to

do so. On trains, walls, doors, sidewalks, etc. I actually use the graffiti to help me find my way sometimes! But in Orvieto, there is none. Possibly because they are supported by tourism.

I really like this picture of an alleyway - a vicolo; which means small street. The stone of the walls and slate roofs surrounded by all the plants speaks to me. I enjoy the rooftops in these small cities. These type places always make me think of what Florida and its attractions make copies of to attract tourists. And yet, here is the original medieval city. I know I'm prattling on, but I really enjoy visiting this city.


The cathedral is breath-taking and it constantly frustrates me that there is no place to stand and get a picture of the entire building in one shot. It's simply too big. The colors on the front actually gleam in the sun. There are paintings upon paintings inside and I focused on a set of paintings in a "small" (compared to the main cathedral) chapel on the right side of the front of the cathedral. There are a series of paintings on the walls by Luca Signorelli that follow his vision of the end times. Preaching of the Antichrist; End of the World; Resurrection of the Flesh; The Damned are taken to Hell; The Elect Being led to Paradise by Angels. The images are captivating. Regardless of your beliefs, it's difficult not to be drawn into the scenes. They almost come alive. I didn't notice them before, so it was a new experience for me.





This last picture was in a different church and I loved the way I could see the rays of the sun pouring into the window.

After taking the previously mentioned means of transportation home again, I relaxed for a bit, got dressed up (yep, stocking, dress, heels - the whole thing) and took myself out to dinner at a restaurant around the corner from my apartment. It was fine, but sad. At home it doesn't bother me to go out alone, but it just seems wrong to eat alone in Italy. I think I'll save my solo eating for lunch when there are tons of people milling around and cook dinner for myself at home. I did learn a new word today...... when you have on narrow heels and walk along the cobblestones they become........wait for it.......... HOBBLESTONES! (I made that up) As much as I tried walking on the balls of my feet, my heels would slip between the cobblestones and I would sort of hobble. So, from now on, cobblestones will forever in my mind be hobblestones.