A Few Days in Orvieto

Some shots from the last few days.

Limoncello after a pizza dinner.

Cheers!

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American Beauties

Our first group has dispersed for new adventures. Catherine Anderson’s group called themselves American Beauties and Their Cameras – and they were! A few more pics from the week.

I loved this. This was a photo workshop and the kitchen where we had a cooking class was littered with cameras. Totally appropriate.

On the way to the necropolis, and at the necropolis.

And the Beauties.

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Surprise – Cavalli in Orvieto

You just never know. We went up to the Duomo this morning and this is what we found.

Some kind of gathering of horse people with speeches, cheers. Then they road off and the crews were there immediately to clean up.

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Active Thursday

Lots going on Thursday which all is fun. First the market, then we head to the cemetery and then to Palazzone vineyard.

Vendor with olives, nuts , dried fruit.

Orvieto as seen from the cemetery.

A view from Palazzone. Below Giovanni took me to see the new, wonderful operation he is setting up in the old Etruscan caves at the top of his property. He is going to make wine in the old way and ferment, age and store the wine in the caves.

The entrance above and Gioivanni with the stick for mixing the must before moving it to barrels for fermenting and aging.

This is an old hand pump that he’ll use to move the juice from the open barrel to the closed ones seen here. He also found and restored an old hand cranked wine press.

There is no way to get pictures that adequately convey the beautiful ambiance of the caves. Eventually you will be able to have wine tastings up here.

Back down in the vineyard the grapes are getting ripe, some are ripe and being picked.

Table set for the tasting with Orvieto in the background.

The evening slowly turned to velvet.

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Magic Again

Kristi and I were in the streets yesterday morning and ran into Erika Bizzarri, our expat American friend, ever young. She asked if we’d like to see the most recent excavation her archeology son Claudio was working on.

Would we ever. This is a recent find, just a few doors down from us on the edge of the rock. It is one of the roughly 1200 caves under the city, but this one is distinctly different. As they began excavating they found that the room has a pyramidal shape. Erika took us to see, where Claudio and his University of Arizona students were at work.

This is part of the cave that they knew about, right under the street, above, with a view out to the valley.

Another part of the known cave where you can see a relatively modern construction to support the roof.

Below is a waste pipe system put in at some time in the past. This was often used to send garbage from above to the caves below.

Then we moved into the newly discovered Etruscan aged part of the cave. Below is one of the many passages Etruscans dug to connect different caves together. This one leads to the pyramidal shaped room where the students were gathered for instruction.

Above are the students digging with the passage seen from inside the pyramid shaped room. Below on the right you see stairs carved in to the side of the wall leading down from the top of the room.

Back out in the original part of the cave Erika tells us about the finds which go back to the bronze and iron ages.

At one time there was a pottery kiln in the ‘new’ cave. This is a firing that failed as the pieces stuck together. Apparently this kiln was used to make forgeries of medieval pottery sold off as the real thing.

Another magical experience in Orvieto!

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Light, light, light

Fall light. It doesn’t get much better. In Orvieto in the fall, mornings often start out misty and then clear into crystal clear days. It’s been that way since we arrived.

Dappled sun on the linear park.

Afternoon light in the trees.

Last night as the sun was going down.

Part of the group on the edge taking pictures of the sunset.

This morning in the garden.

This morning walking back from the lower town.

Details from the Duomo this morning when the air seemed perfectly clear and the details on the facade standing out so sharply.

Catherine’s class working in the courtyard on their photos.

I have another piece of magic for tomorrow.

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You can’t get lost in Italy

So said Diane at our opening last night. She and Jeannie had rented a car and several times found themselves – well lost. Each time however, kind Italians got in their car and led them to where they needed to be. Diane’s comment? ‘You can’t get lost in Italy.’ I love that!

Potted palm in the San Lodovico courtyard.

And beginning our photography workshop at the Blue Bar with Catherine Anderson.

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Love the Light

The first members of our group arrived yesterday, the rest today. So blogging will have to take a back seat. Some shots from the last 15 hours.

Morning cappuccino.

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Anniversary in Orvieto

We stopped in to Vin Caffe last night for a beer. Clearly there was a party planned. It was their 10th anniversary, having opened September 21, 2003. That was my first day ever in Orvieto, here preparing for my first workshop here. And my first dinner in Orvieto was in Vin Caffe on their first day of operation. We toasted each other and they were sweet enough to comp us our beers! This is such typical Oervietani hospitality

Porchetta, bread and wine set for the festa.

Stefano gets to work cutting the meat.

Stefano and Cristiano, owners of Vin Caffe.

Feast.

Anticipation.
And some pictures from the day.

Lava cake from last night’s dinner.

Finally, carving prosciutto for our opening reception.

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Magic Happens

Beautiful day yesterday. Somehow even the harsh midday light was beautiful and I have some pics.

But the magic was at San Giovanale. This, the oldest church in Orvieto, has been having its frescos restored for the last 2 years, and the church has been closed. I’d been by earlier in the day as the scaffolding was coming down. This time it was down, but closed, door open. So I got a couple pics. Then, the guy restoring it invited me in, tho with no pictures.

It is stunning as the few pics I got from outside show. This is my favorite church here, and the restored frescos just make it even more magical.

Below, the church against the sky.

And some random pics from around town as I wandered, enamored of the light.

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