(D) Our first full day in Orvieto and what a really gorgeous place it is. There aren't many tourists about but the place is full and alive with the majority of shops and eateries open so I think, apart from it's obvious attributes of stunning and charming beauty, it's a good off season location as there are still lots of choices about for dining out etc. I don't know how touristy it is in general, or how busy it gets in summer but we have noticed that there is a dearth of English speakers which is just thoroughly lovely. It's always such fun to try out an Italian word or phrase or mime things to have a conversation!

The weather was crisp and clear, and though there was some cloud there was no wind and it was sun and blue skies most of the day. We spent most of our time out exploring the town (ie getting lost!) and stumbled across some glorious vantage points, one being the Giardini Cumunali di Orvieto, a public park, which is a beautiful spot. It is bordered by the walls of the old city - and Liane loved walking along them. The view was indeed amazing and I would pop up for a little peek occasionally (to take photos of course!) but it is so high up and such a big drop down that I wasn't loving it so wandered more on the "low road bits" in between most of the time.

Our initial aim was St Patrick's Well, which Liane really wanted to see and it turned out to be literally next door to the park so once again, though goodness knows we are incapably of walking a straight route, we did find our way there eventually. I must admit that Liane pulled Jane
out on occasion and when I scolded her for "ruining the fun" she commented that she just had to know where she actually was, I think because this time she had a specific destination in mind and a time frame to do it in given I'd "booked in" to email with Greg at 12 and we left home at @9.30 - that sounds like a lot of time but the way we wander around time kind of flies!!!

Once we arrived there and I saw the sign with its warnings of claustrophobia etc, along with a model of the actually Well with its tiny windows and narrow stairs, I decided discretion being the
better part of valour I wouldn't join her, so I happily sat outside to wait whilst she bravely ventured forth. She was actually back before too long at all as, though she made it almost all the way down, she said her legs were killing her - I can imagine, as we have been walking and walking and walking for weeks and by the look of it those are some serious stairs!!!

After that we had a totally delicious lunch, at Bartolomei, which we both thoroughly enjoyed.Our waitress was really lovely and friendly and was thrilled that we enjoyed our meal so much that we soaked up the sauce with the bread - she said the chef would be "contentemo" - or something similar. We got the gist though - they were happy we'd loved their food.... and so were we!!!

From there we wandered, had a few bouts of rocks, papers, scissors throughout the day to choose which lane to turn down, and constantly surprised ourselves by stumbling across somewhere we'd been before but from a different direction. I love getting lost! Liane especially enjoyed getting lost after a visit to a jewellery store where she bought a couple of gorgeous bracelets.... the rest of the afternoon she was pointing "let's go this way", like a girl with a new engagement ring, as she admired one of her new bracelets displayed on her outstretched arms. It became a bit of a running joke and the best thing is that, as she bought two, the other one can feature in the pointing which way to go photos today!

We both indulged in a wooden spoon made from olive wood and enjoyed listening to the passionate wood worker who explained the proper care of them. The rest of the beautiful things in his shop were incredibly hard to resist but we have to keep reminding ourselves of the limitations of our suitcases!

A couple of other things we did today were a) book a tour with Christina, a friendly shop owner, for Civita Di Bagnoregio which is at 10.30am tmw and we are very much looking forward to that and b) make an enormous pot of vegetable and bean soup which we thoroughly enjoyed for dinner. I really love self catering - yes it can be inclusive so you don't get to interact as much with the locals but oh it's so nice to come home to a peppermint tea for a mid afternoon break and then to come home in the evening to a hot, nourishing and yummy soup when you're worn out from wandering and want to vege out in your trackies and totally relax!

(L) What a wonderful day just wandering the streets, well they're more like laneways. At one stage we stumbled on a Piazza full of market stalls, everything from dried fruits, fruit, vegetables, flowers, clothes, shoes and knick knacks! We did buy some split peas cos we've been looking for them our whole holiday and had no success in Ireland. 

As Deb said we found our way, with just a little help from Jane, to Posso di San Patrizio (St Patricks well). I think I first heard of it on Tripadvisor and especially wanted to see it. Cost was only €5 so I set off down the stairs alone, as Deb said she'd done her fair share of caves etc so sat this one out. It is totally fascinating, built over a 10 year period 1527 to 1537, commissioned by the then Pope, who was holed up in Orvieto after the sacking of Rome, as he was worried in a siege situation the town water supply might be poisoned.

I have to copy and paste from Wikipedia because well they tell it better and I think it's amazing how this was accomplished at the time:

The name was inspired by medieval legends that St. Patrick's Purgatory in Ireland gave access down to Purgatory, indicating something very deep.The architect-engineer Antonio da Sangallo the Younger surrounded the central well shaft with two spiral ramps in a double helix, accessed by two doors, which allowed mules to carry empty and full water vessels separately in downward and upward directions without obstruction. The cylindrical well is 53.15 metres (174.4 ft) deep with a base diameter of 13 metres (43 ft). There are 248 steps and 70 windows provide illumination. 

I do also have to say though that I only saw one door and one set of stairs but if you had lots of people you could probably spread out and try to work out which set is not in use. Maybe you have to be there to understand what I mean.... or just look at the photos. I made it about three quarters of the way down but my legs were getting sore and I still had to get all the way back to the top.

The other thing we tried to do was find our car! When Cesare had driven down with us and walked us back to the apartment we had tried to take note of where we were going so we could remember the route but do you think either of us can even work out which direction we should be going in?? Of course the question, when we do finally find it is do we lug all our luggage down there or are we going to have to drive up into town and then try to find our way out again? Jane isn't too much help as there's so many one way streets etc... oh well at least we've got 2 whole days to find the car and work out a solution! 

We were in before dark, so somewhere between 4 and 5!! Had a nice lazy evening and relatively early night - all this walking is wearing us out and we've another full day planned tomorrow.