Orvieto. Thursday, June 9, 2005

The train ride to Orvieto is not really direct from here. At around 8 we left Perugia station and had to change in Chiusi and again in Terantola-Cortona. Not really a big deal except that it takes a bit longer to get there. We are well aware that having a car would make our traveling around easier but having a car here in Perugia would mean experiencing all the inconveniences of owning a car in a big city, like parking and so forth, so we choose not to at this point.

We arrived in Orvieto around 10 (by car it would be less than an hour) with the whole beautiful blue sky day in front of us. We stopped for a cappuccino and a brioche at a little outdoor café first since we hadn’t taken time for breakfast at home and just enjoyed watching the people pass. Orvieto is smaller than Perugia and doesn’t have all the big buildings and sprawl. It is definitely a tourist destination, as it boasts one of the most stunning duomos in Umbria. The last time we were here the façade was completely covered in scaffolding and we didn’t have the opportunity to see the incredible mosaics, marble and intricate stone patterns that we greatly admired this time. The piazza in front of the duomo is really lovely as well with all these pretty shops, flowers and cafes. The cathedral itself was begun in the late 1200s and completed in 1600. Typical of these ancient cities. The interior is built of alternating courses of black and white stone and there are semicircular arches, a timbered ceiling, frescoes by Luca Signorelli and stunning stained glass windows that radiate against the dark stone walls. Religious music softly played in the background, which has the effect of reminding you that you are in a sacred place, not a museum but also enhancing the experience in a most gentle and lovely way.

One of the wonderful things about this life of ours is that we don’t feel rushed to see everything there is to see in one day because we know we can always come back and plan to. Our goal in coming to Orvieto was to see the exhibit of Miro’s prints that was to close on June 12. We enjoyed seeing these playful works of Joan Miro, soaking in his use of line and color and inventive compositions.

An unexpected treat was seeing the work of the Italian artist Giulio Aristide Sartorio (Roman, born in 1860 and died in 1932), who painted these incredible oils and pastels. The landscapes are amazing and I was told, what he is remembered for. But I really loved the huge allegorical paintings that are at the same time ancient and modern, his use of the medium is rich and textured, realism and fantasty combined and the effect is stunning. Some of these paintings were studies (and at the same time, they are completely finished paintings!) for an enormous frieze that adorns the Italian Parliament building in Rome, which we vow to see when we go there some time this summer.

We ate lunch in a little local place – Bob enjoyed a nice pasta; I had the veal parmegiano with a glass of local wine. We’re getting the hang of this closing midday also. We learned that the Duomo closes but the Miro exhibition did not. So we explored the Duomo first and then went to the Museum. That allowed us time to see both, unlike the American tourist who asked us around 2:00 how to get into the church. He was frustrated to learn it would not open again until around 4. When you are traveling on a limited time budget, these are important things to know. It can be frustrating for the traveler who only arrives in a city around 1 to find many buildings closed and without the language to read the signs, they must go away disappointed and annoyed thinking the Italians just close these monuments on a whim.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day. We peaked into workshops doing woodwork, found some wonderfully whimsical ceramic whistles, a toyshop with antique toys and bought another little gift for Kyla, which we will send to Chris for her.

I even managed to find a few hours to do some painting of the surrounding countryside and the volcanic rock the city sits on while Bob went off with his cameras. Orvieto is famous for its wines and you can see all the vineyards below from the city above and also from the train as you ride past all the large and small plots of land covered with olive trees and vineyards. All in all it was a delightful day.

Ciao,
Rosemary & Bob