orvieto

Our seventh day in Italy we went to Oriveto, home to not only some tasty wine but a pretty fabulous cathedral too.  Like most of the other ancient towns in Umbria and Tuscany, Orvieto was built on top of a huge hill, and only those who live there are permitted to drive up.  Luckily, some brilliant engineer installed an unending succession of escalators within the massive city walls, and we avoided burning off any unnecessary pasta calories by using that.

Though the town was mostly empty when we arrived (we had developed a bad habit of always showing up during siesta), the cutest array of artsy boutiques opened soon after we'd visited the cathedral, and we spent our afternoon and early evening in Orvieto much like we spent every other, wandering, shopping, eating and drinking.   

Casa San Gabriel is situated near many old castles, and earlier in the day we'd asked one of the caretakers about them.  He told us we could eat in one, so we headed there for dinner.  Although we were a little disappointed when the castle restaurant actually wasn't within the walls of the castle (the whole property belonged to a country club), our disappointment was quickly abated by the arrival of free prosecco and prosciutto.  That was followed by

the.most.amazing.steak.I.have.ever.eaten.in.my.entire.life.and.I'm.from.Iowa.  Oh my God I would fly back to Rome and drive to Umbertide right now for that steak (especially after a week of eating only fruits and vegetables, but I digress).  Add the homemade limoncello and it was another great night in Italy with the people I love.

Click here for all of my pictures from Orvieto