Orvieto, Italy is the city of fairy tales

Having always had a keen interest in ancient history, I had a longing to visit Sicily as it is known to have some of the best preserved Greek and Roman ruins in the world. My good friend Teo was kind enough to offer to take me on a 10 day road trip to explore the wonders of Sicily.

The drive from Milan to Messina is more than 12 hours so Teo suggested that we brake our journey at Orvieto, an ancient city where there was once an Etruscan acropolis. The initial view of Orvieto is like something from a fairy tale. The description found on Wikipedia tells it all:

"Orvieto is a city and comune in Southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The site of the city is among the most dramatic in Europe, rising above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are completed by defensive walls built of the same stone." (Orvieto)

 

Arriving after dark only added to the city's fairy-tale effect as we followed the stone street that spiraled into an Orvieto illuminated by lamps and house lights from the base of the butte. After searching in vain for a site to camp, we decided to spoil ourselves with a night in a hotel. We dropped our stuff off and headed out for a night on the town, which included an incredible dinner that I will never forget. Handmade pasta with a black truffle sauce. If you're ever in Orvieto I recommend Buca di Bacco Trattoria-Pizzeria located on Corso Cavour, 299/301.

As we meandered our way through the streets of Orvieto we saw a couple who had decided to light lanterns to release into the sky in a way similar to the Thai festival Loi Krathong.

We called it a night rather early since we had a long day of touring Orvieto and driving to Sicily ahead of us the next day.

Good morning, Orvieto! This is the view that greeted me on my first morning in a new city.
Orvieto proved to be even more beautiful by day.

 I loved this! The little automated guy and the bell move!

 The Duomo of Orvieto was begun in 1290 and is famous for its facade, designed and sculpted by Lorenzo Maitani 1308-1330. The chapel of San Brizio, within the duomo, is also famous as its frescoes were done by Fra Angelico and there is also Luca Signorelli's masterpiece, "Last Judgement".

From the Duomo we continued our meander, often choosing sidestreets that looked interesting. 

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 This is my favorite street in Orvieto.

The church San Giovenale was constructed in 1004.

Many of its frescoes are from the 13th century.

For this cat, the church walls were simply another place to rest.

Orvieto is rife with little sidestreets with balconies overflowing with colorful flowers. I love the idea of having a room that is a bridge. Optimum people watching!

I managed to find the one ugly place in Orvieto. Use this phone at your own risk, the birds seem to like it!

The view from Orvieto is just as remarkable as that of Orvieto. If I could find a job and a cute apartment with a bridge over a quiet sidestreet I would move here. Alas, like most good things in life, good-byes had to be said. Sicily awaited us!

Taking the ferry at midnight was exciting!

My first glimpse of Sicily proved mysterious. I had to wait until morning to discover what Messina looked like by day. Tonight we slept in sleeping bags on a quiet beach. The next day we discovered that we had slept near a sign that said camping was prohibited and also in close proximity to a police station. Fortunately Sicilians are pretty relaxed and no one bothered us.
Messina and my first granita will be revealed in my next entry.
Stay tuned!