Underground in Orvieto's caveens

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Our day began with a half-decent breakfast around the table chatting with a couple from Australia over one too many cups of rich Italian coffee. We headed up the hill to Orvieto, found the heavily frescoed Duomo and purchased tickets for an underground tour of the caverns. Every third step one takes here is above one of 1200 caves or caverns dating from Etruscan and medieval times that honeycomb this city. We saw the remains of an old olive press where blindfolded donkeys walked in circles turning a heavy stone wheel, deep Etruscan well shafts, quarries, and most interesting to us, rooms of rows of small square cubicles carved into the soft rock where pigeons were raised for their eggs, their meat, and for sale. Now we truly understand the term "pigeon-holed".

Assisi was our next destination. While we did arrive at the agritourismo where we were headed, (www.incampagna.com) I think we covered a lot more kilometres than we needed to. We need a more detailed map than the one we have. Once again, it was one of those "Whatever have I done?" moments as we drove further and further, higher and higher along narrow country roads in the hills above Assisi. Ruurd, our Dutch host, was here to greet us and show us around his home, parts of which date from the 1500's! The vistas from this house are amazing. We sat under the pergola watching a shepherd with his flock and his dogs in the field below. From our room's window, we can see for miles over Assisi and a wide expanse of valley. Right now, at dusk, we can hear frogs croaking, see the twinkling lights of the city below, and smell the freshness of the air after this afternoon's rain. The Basilica of St. Francis is fully lit and it looks as if it's glowing. Peace. When I asked Ruurd this afternoon what made he and Letizia choose to live here, he just smiled, waved his hand over the view and said exactly that. Peace.