A BIT OF UMBRIA and TUSCANY 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015  

Two happy people... mother and daughter... ready to join our friends, Kristi and Bill Steiner (hosts of ADVENTURES IN ITALY) for a whirlwind tour of a few of their favorite hill towns in Umbria and Tuscany. I wish our time away had allowed us more visiting time in these towns...to meet the people and join in their everyday life as we do in Orvieto where we stayed...but we would have had to extend our trip. Another time, perhaps...

The above photo is of Michelle and I at the bottom of the long trek up to the 2,500 year old town (founded by the Etruscans) called Civita di Bagnoregio. Atop a plateau of volcanic rock overlooking the Tiber River, this tiny village boasts a population of 12 in the winter and little more than 100 in summer. It's beautiful...like visiting a fairytale place, because it was difficult to see everyday locals "living their lives."  The tough trek up the steep hill was worth it...the only vehicle traffic they have is that of motorcycles transporting goods up to the residents (or shops during tourist season.) Here are a few photos of Civita...

 

The lovely nooks, crannies, cobbled  labyrinthine streets and alleyways of Pitigliano was our next stop. 

Also dating back to Etruscan times, the first record  dates only to 1061. It has a booming population of almost 4000 residents and has been known, throughout history, as "little Jerusalem" owing to the historical presence of the Jewish community that has always been well integrated into the social context of the village. Although there are almost no Jews left in town, the synagogue (1598) is still officiated from time to time. 

Here are some images from the rest of this lovely, ancient town... chock full of extraordinary ancient doors (still in use,)

shrines built into the rock,

 and superb architecture.

By this time, we were all fading a bit. But, we did fit in one more visit...to SORANO,

an ancient medieval hill town hanging from a tuff stone (tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption) over the Lente River. The first mention of Sorano was in the 3rd Century BC when it was Etruscan (of course.) The most current census was in 2001 when  a population of almost 4,000 was reported. 

Here's a composite of some of what we saw...

(NOTE: Although we couldn't find out the whole story, it seems the holes in the rock (lower right in the composite) were made to insert reinforcing paraphernalia to stop the rock from eroding further!)

Fully exhausted and thoroughly fulfilled, we returned to our beloved Orvieto for some R&R and dinner.

Our trip was just a week, but every moment of it was precious and extraordinary... food for our hearts and souls as well as all our senses. It's a place we'll be returning to again and again... it's part of both Michelle and me. Thanks so much to Kristi and Bill for providing the vehicle for us to journey to Orvieto and the care once we arrived...each time! Looking forward to the next...

Interested?  Deep Sigh :)

MEDIEVAL CENTRAL ITALY 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2015

  

Just a taste of the eye candy Michelle and I experienced while visiting our friends (and tour guides) from ADVENTURES IN ITALY a short while ago...another mother/daughter experience!

Kristi and Bill Steiner with Michelle and me

We returned to our convent Bed and Breakfast (San Lodovico Institute) for the 2nd  (MLL) and 3rd time (me) to spend a relaxing, educational and fun filled week in our all-time favorite place with dear friends. A few of the shops had changed, but for the most part, the passage of time had been suspended and Orvieto remained the same ancient yet sophisticated city. On top of a huge tufo rock with volcanic origins, Orvieto has scores of Etruscan tombs within the rock and served as a natural fortress with cliffs on all sides back as far as the 3rd century B.C...perhaps earlier.

Orvieto above and the necropolis with some Etruscan tombs revealed below

Our first stop after unpacking and seeing old friends, 

"Mama" Giovanna is the Mother Superior of the Convent

was to head to Orvieto's main attraction, the Gothic and Romanesque Duomo, commissioned by Pope Urban IV in 1290... but, it took several hundred years to fully complete. Although we were disappointed initially because there was scaffolding covering a large portion of the magnificent front, our eyes were directed to what was NOT covered... beautiful detailed mosaics in stunning colors and pure gold as well as large bas reliefs and statues that we'd never looked at so closely.

A FANTASTIC dark chocolate with orange peel gelato before a light dinner 

and our heads hit the pillows!! We felt like we were home...and we were!

We spent a couple of days during this visit further exploring Orvieto, with and without Kristi and Bill. It's a place where only residents have cars so "the rock" is fairly free of vehicular traffic... nice for walking, and walk we did... everywhere! We walked at our leisure, making photos of all the pieces of Orvieto that make it so appealing... stopping to visit with Orvietani who were familiar along the way... Blue Bar Orvieto for hot chocolate, internet and a visit with Antonny and Romina, the owners;

Federico Badia leather artisan and his wife, Hannah (with whom we constructed our own leather-bound journals late in the week,)

and the incredible sculptor, Alberto Bellini, in his shop, La Corte Dei Miracoli di Alberto Bellini.

One of our days, we spent with a world renown chef, Lorenzo, to prepare a sumptuous (and enormous) lunch. We started at the local market gathering the freshest ingredients...

then, under Lorenzo's tutelage, we prepared, cooked and drank wine for a few hours readying our feast...

Our friend  Bill, took advantage of the pasta making instructions, too!

Now, I'd like to share some of the photos of beautiful, peaceful and ancient Orvieto...

This and the following two photos are inside probably the oldest church in Orvieto, San Juvenal. It dates its creation to 1004! Amazing!! The fresco art is being restored bit by bit.

Sculptures of the Annunciation by Francesco Mochi (created 1603-1608)... were originally in the Duomo but have been moved to a museum space. They stand along with monumental statues of the Apostles, also originally in the Duomo. The faces of these sculptures are absolutely ethereal... look at the two below.

This is "our" personal angel who watched over us outside our window. Unfortunately, she's recently been painted rather than leaving her in the original stone. She's still beautiful...

Beautiful and ancient fresco on the wall of the convent kitchen

View inside the convent... the next two as well...

Kristi and Bill showed us some of their favorite hilltop villages in Umbria and Tuscany as well... more exceptional eye-candy! But, this post is long enough...the rest is for another day.

Thanks for  stopping by and taking this virtual trip with me. I hope you'll tune in for the rest of the story. The visuals are worth the few minutes!!

Big Hugs,

abbyj