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!

Menfolk chatting in a shoe repair shop in Torino

This shoe repair shop was near my Couch Surfing host's apartment in Torino (Turin), Italy. I happened to glance inside and was touched by the scene of traditional, older male Italian culture.

I love these small, locally run shops dedicated to one purpose. I'm sure the wives are busy ironing clothes, scrubbing floors, and preparing meals while their men gossip together in their buddy's shop wondering what's for dinner.

Couch Surfing in Torino included a student demonstration against Burlusconi

To break up a week I had here in my home town of Vedano Olona I decided to check out the nearby city of Torino (Turin). At first my plan was to make a day trip out of it but I quickly realized that there was enough to see to warrant a longer stay. I decided to give Couch Surfing a go. Couch Surfing is an online network designed for travelers who are interested in not only seeing the sights of a new place but also in meeting local people and learning more about the local culture. I had had great experiences with the organization in SE Asia so I made sure my profile was updated and sent out requests to be hosted by a friendly local for a night in Torino. I was fortunate to get a positive response from the host I had desired so off I went early on a Thursday morning. 

My host had informed me that she worked during the day so I had sent out a request for someone to meet me to hang out and show me around. I got two responses, one from a German tourist who was just visiting too and wanted company and another from a Torino local who wished to be our tour guide for the day. 

We spent the afternoon touring Torino.

We began our tour with the Egyptian Museum for which Torino is very famous. Thanks to excavations by Italian Bernardino Drovetti the Torino Egyptian Museum hosts the second largest collection of Egyptian artifacts of any museum in the world. Cairo has the largest.

After the museum, we explored city.

This piercing is a bit like something from our 1% for art program.

There's an active rowing club in Torino. My Couch Surfing host later informed me that she used to be a member and found it quite enjoyable before school.

The famous Mole Antonelliana, which hosts the Museum of Cinema, is possibly the tallest museum in the world.

Me with the local Torino guide and the German fellow CSer.

At this point we all went our separate ways and I headed to my CSing host's house. She and her apartment proved to be lovely and after some coffee and chatting we went out to meet her friends for an aperitivo, an Italian tradition Torino is particularly known for.

Northern Italians go out for an aperitivo generally as a post-work and pre-dinner activity. It offers people a chance to unwind after a stressful day in the office, spending time with friends over a good drink or two. Basically it goes like this, you buy a drink and you eat whatever you can for free. Usually it's just "finger food" but in Torino it's something exceptional. There was pizza, various types of pasta including one with mussels, salads, meats, and bread. They kept bringing out new dishes as soon as others were empty. So we ordered a bottle of wine to share and ate dinner for free! Not a bad deal, if you ask me.

Then we headed out for drinks at a bar near the city center where my CS host's friend worked.

The outdoor seating afforded me the opportunity to show off the spiffy jacket I purchased on my excursion to Barrow this past summer. It has a polar bear embroidered on it.

Since my host and her friends are all post-grad students, we then headed to a student owned, decorated, and organized bar to meet up with more of their friends. It was great to be in the student atmosphere again with interesting posters and creative people eager to discuss their studies.

You know you're among good people when they start singing, "I'm not crying. I've just been cutting onions. Making lasagna...for one. Oh, I'm not crying." Anyone who can quote Flight of the Conchords is good people.

I was impressed with the active university student population in Torino, especially the next day when, after exiting the apartment for a morning tour with my CS host, we were greeted by a student organized protest against Burlusconi.

We arrived at the tail end of the demonstration. Apparently earlier there had been an altercation with the police. My host explained that the students wanted to make sure that their demonstration made the news so unfortunately they had to do something to draw attention to their cause.

Times sure have changed. The traditional pizza, ubiquitous with Italy since the 1800s, now served alongside the kebab.

A medieval castle within Torino's Parco del Valentino.

 Torino is a city well worth a visit. 

I had a particularly enjoyable time thanks to the social network that is Couch Surfing, my host especially made my stay extraordinary. 

When you visit Torino don't forget about the traditional aperitivo!