Cathederal at Orvieto
Our farmhouse for a week
Connie with purchases at Deruta
Thursday, October 15 -- Day 11 -- Day of Rest
Took the day off. Freezing this morning -- so unseasonal there was no scraper in the car and C. used a kitchen spatula. Hung around the farm and the local town of Rivortorto. Charlie roasted his chestnuts in and outdoor fireplace and shared them with Paolo and Luigi, the handyman. Nothing much to report.
Friday, October 16 -- Day 12 -- Making Up For Lost Time
Went off to Deruta to pick up our order. Since it was a lovely day we went to the centro on the top. The town was filled with pottery shops but it looked like a ghost town it was so deserted. Saw a wonderful ceramics museum, which we had entirely to ourselves. It demonstrated how they cleaned and restored the shards from the local ruins, and displayed an extraordinary amount of stuff found in the area from centuries BCE to the present. They also showed how they made it then, and now, and it’s basically the same way. Learned that a plate we had just purchased was in the “grotesque” style from the 17th century.
When everything started to close in the afternoon, we were on the road again, toward Orvieto. Have finally learned to schedule travel time for the hours when everything is shut down. Orvieto is a little bit bigger, and had more of the feel of a real place, where people actually live. The main church here is hands down my favorite of all we’ve seen. Except for a very ornate façade, it is quite simple, with the sides striped in the gray and white stone that makes me think of Ucello. Not a lot of side chapels. And best of all, we were fortunate to time our visit for a wedding. There was an organ and a soprano for the ceremony and the acoustics were incredible and this girl had a gorgeous voice. She sang in English and Italian, and the ceremony was bilingual, so I guess one of the couple was an English speaker.
In Orvieto we went to the archeological museum (2 museums in one day!) and learned that the Greeks‘ ceramics had traveled to the Etruscans, so some of the stuff dug up was Etruscan in the Greek style and some of the stuff was really Greek -- and the Greeks changed their style for the Etruscan market! Really makes me feel that what passes for history in the Americas is so recent. Even if we look at the native cultures before the Europeans, it was pretty primitive. We’ve stayed in places that are older than any building in the Americas.
Strolled the town’s streets and went into the caves that were discovered under a local restaurant. The cistern that had been dug around 700 - 500 BCE was only recently discovered when a little trattoria tried to expand. Needless to say, he couldn’t do his expansion, but he’s (with the help of the district) created a little museum, and they’re raking it in at 3 euros a pop. Those Etruscans were busy guys.
Came back for dinner in Assisi. We discovered the back road by just following our street from the farm (its only 4 or 5 km) so we were pretty proud of ourselves. Had a great dinner at La Fortezza. And took our short-cut home.
16,042 steps
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