A:

Four of the five terms I was able to study Beginners Italian made use of a book that was, as one teacher Loretta put it, one big advertisement for a medieval town in Umbria called Orvieto so this was our destination today- one hour and a bit on the train from Rome. The book was called "Bongiorno Italiano!"

M:

Roma Termini is a very attractive station once you enter. It is constantly crowded and everything you read advises great care in looking out for your belongings. Given the nature of some of the people who seem to spend most of their day there, this seems good advice.

We had found the right bus to take us there, and, in typical Bezzina fashion we had enough time to buy tickets for Marthese and Elias to go from Verona to Brig (in Switzerland) on December 28. We discovered the self-serve machines don't work for international trips, so went to the counter- no real wait - and got very friendly service. When I began to ask in Italian for a ticket from Verona (da Verona) the guy asked me if I wanted one to Verona (a Verona).I assured him that I did in fact want them "da Verona". (Wayne and Shuster: "If I want two, I'll ask for them" - see earlier entry). After that we were done very quickly and efficiently.

The indicator board was not showing our platform yet, so we decided to get a drink in one of the attractive bars on the station. While Anne thought about drinking her tea, 1E came up as our platform. I went down to get some directions, among which was the news that there was a strike on today (in the end it didn't affect us), but we should proceed to the furthest reaches of the terminal. A little disconcerting, but we were committed. I waved Anne down from her eyrie in the cafe, and we set off. On the way we even passed Termini's own supermarket! (Future travellers may want to remember this - near platform 1.)

We had unreserved second class seats - just over 7 euro - so we climbed aboard what seemed to be a second class carriage and settled in.

The trip took us through the Roman suburbs, and on to the countryside of Lazio and then Umbria - picture postcard material.

A:

Once at Orvieto station we bought our "Carta Unica" for 18 Euros which is the simplest way to see the town and includes access to all the major sites and the transport involved. The first thing is to get the funicular up from the modern town where the train takes you, to the old town of Orvieto perched high on the rocks above. There was a bus labelled Duomo waiting so we hopped on and it took us through the narrow streets to the remarkable Duomo which is a major drawcard for this interesting town. Building work on it started in 1290 in the Romanesque style but Gothic features were incorporated later and the result is extraordinary. It took 200 years to build. You can spend a long time just looking at the façade with its gold mosaic, and intricate sculptures of the Genesis, the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Apocalypse on four major panels all along the facade. It is said that a skeptical priest, Peter of Prague who doubted if the host could be the real presence was on his way to Rome and stopped to say Mass in Bolsena. As he raised the host, blood started to drip from it and it was caught in the altar cloth which is housed in a special reliquary in the church in Orvieto to this day. This is known as the miracle of Bolsena.

Also in the church is an amazing fresco of "The Last Judgement" by Luca Signorelli, which has recently been restored. Unfortunately, elsewhere in the church we saw graffiti on some walls and even statues.

I ordered "un caffe e una pasta" at a café in the middle of the markets. Mick was enjoying una porchetta- roast pork on a bun which he reported was delicious. In Italy you order and pay at the cashier and then take your receipt to the barista who makes the coffee etc. As I was handing my receipt over I realised my mistake- un caffe is an expresso which I didn't want. I should have said un cappuccino. The caffe is cheaper. I muttered something to this effect but thought I'd best leave it and just drink the black coffee but the man made the milky coffee for me and didn't ask for the extra payment. I gave it to him plus a tip as I left. It is these little kindnesses you remember when you are on the road.

Orvieto is known for its hand made ceramics and there is basically an entire street of shops selling hem. Most of what we saw before the shops closed at lunchtime was gold and green, and if we had found a really nice, easy to transport plate we may have considered buying one. (M:Never did. The problem was transportation rather than beauty!)

We climbed the 173 steps up the Torre del Moro (tower) from where we had a lovely view (see the "cover picture" for this blog). While we were atop the tower, the bells struck 12.30 ie two strikes, while we were looking at them. This reminded me of climbing lots of stairs in a church tower in Germany with Connie and Matthias (of Marthese's exchange family) to be rewarded with a great view at the top. From the heights to the depths, the next stop was the Pozzo della Cava (Caves' Well) which had Etruscan, Medieval and Renaissance archeological findings in a series of nine caves, which were discovered when a local restaurant began digging to extend the premises. We had lunch at that restaurant, a very quiet affair as we were the only patrons.

M:

Perhaps the star attraction of Orvieto after the Duomo was the view looking outward from the ramparts across the surrounding countryside. It would have been a formidable place to try to attack, as you can see for miles in every direction. There are a couple of pictures in the album that give a sense of this.

A:

The last point of interest was the Pozzo di San Patrizio- (St Patrick's Well) which Mick bravely took the 248 steps down and back to see. There is a double helix staircase here which was cleverly designed for donkeys to go down to collect water and return without bumping into each other. It was built in 1527 when popes at the time were in some danger after the Sacking of Rome and Orvieto was used at a refuge and a secure water supply was needed.

The train trip home was interesting. Booked seats were required. We had noticed that we had non adjacent seats in the same carriage (M: despite having booked two together, we thought). As the train pulled up on time at Orvieto we ran to carriage 9, having no clue prior to its arrival as to where the carriage would be. The carriage was set out in dog-box style like the old Australian country trains. We both found other people in our seats who showed no inclination to move. I had a window seat- number 25 but found myself sandwiched in number 24 (I assume) between two women who continued talking non stop over me for the entire journey. Fortunately the man in the other window seat which may have been mine got up about halfway through the trip and sat in a fold down seat in the corridor so after a while I moved into that seat. The women looked at me as I did so but as they were talking dialect I had less chance of communicating with them than usual and so I continued reading my book and enjoyed the view. Mick had the opposite experience with barely a word spoken in his section of six seats. (M: The other matter of note was that none of the lights in the dog boxes worked, so every time we went through a tunnel, and after sunset (the last 20 minutes or so of the trip) we sat in the dark).

The bus from Termini to near our flat was so crowded that no- one could have possibly validated their tickets. We were glad to get off. Nives, our teacher, told us later that this crowding was unusual due to a strike that day that Mick had heard at the station earlier but knew no details of.

So - I am really glad we took the trip to the place I have been hearing about for most of the time I was studying the language and would recommend others see this amazing town.

M:

To cap things off, we discovered some high class programs in English on the TV - CSI and House. Who could ask for more?