Days 13-14: Orvieto | rick-steves-italy-1

Cavalleria rusticana -

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"When in Orvieto, do as the..."

Where are we?

Andiamo a Roma

Italian composer Pietro Mascagni wrote this one act opera, CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, in 1890 based on a short story of the same name published in 1880. This intermezzo evokes the tranquility of the Italian countryside surrounding Orvieto.

Continuing on from Assisi, we arrived at the outskirts of hill town ORVIETO. This tour showed us diverse Italian terrain, but central Italy reflected our perception of the country. Rolling hills, cypress and olive trees, vineyards and hilltop towns. We were told we would be staying at an Agriturismo....what??? This Italian term for a combination farm/bed and breakfast was new to many of us.

Michele, our bus driver, amazed us with his skill negotiating the hilly countryside with our large bus. We, meanwhile, had no idea what was in store for us.

We were met by members of this family-run business and were assigned to what can only be termed a condo for our two-night stay. Lush accommodations, pool, bar, full-service spa, wine celler and restaurant...a two-day luxury respite to prepare us for our Rome finale.

Wine tasting and a delicious group dinner on the premises followed. We overheard several tour members say, "I think we'll just finish out the tour here..."

DAY 14

Today was a "choose your option" day. Option One: Stay at the Altarocca and utilize their facilities to relax, or Option Two: Spend half the day in charming Orvieto. Not wanting to leave out any part of our tour experience (and, admittedly, hoping to find ceramics to take home) we chose Option Two. Michele drove "Option Two" members to a parking lot convenient to the funiculare which took us to pedestrian friendly, old town Orvieto. Mary gave us the background information necessary to appreciate the Duomo and other sites we may be interested in seeing. After touring the Duomo as a group, we were given ample time to have lunch and pursue our own interests. Option Two turned out to be a good one for us as upon returning to Altarocca we still had time to relax, swim and hike to the top of Alta Rocca, a tufa formation, with its magnificent view of Orvieto.