January 14, 2026

January 14, 2026

Aimee was sorry to check out of our Rome hotel this morning. She loved everything about it especially the breakfast. I much appreciated the free beer that showed up every day in our fridge. What’s not to like about that?

We walked to the train station and checked out the departure board. It said our train left from Track 1EST. Aimee thought that meant they estimated it might be track 1. We have been fooled before by this kind of thing. I assumed this meant some weird track. I was right; it meant east, as in halfway to Greece. It was a lengthy march down an extra long passageway. Even though we were early we barely made it on before the train pulled out of the station.

Our train followed the Tiber upriver into the mountain spine of Italy. Two hours later we arrived in the hill town of Orvieto. We crossed the road and bought funicular tickets to sweep us up to the city level. Our hotel was two blocks uphill higher into the city.

We are too early to check in so we dropped our bags and wandered towards the city center. It was a slow walk as Aimee wanted to browse the many stores. We were gobsmacked when we reached the Duomo in the central piazza. It is beautiful and has the most unique decoration I have ever seen. The lower half of the front facade is covered in marble that has been sculpted in bas-relief just like the many Roman sarcophagi we have seen. The upper half of this Gothic cathedral is filled with gold mosaic paintings.

While Aimee shops I examine the artwork in more detail, especially the bas-relief closer to my eye-level. One panel on the lower right has some scary looking scene probably representing the Last Judgement. Our visit of the interior will have to wait till tomorrow.

We stopped at an overlook onto the Umbrian valley. It is very picturesque and what we imagined rural Italy to look like with rolling hills and lots of olive trees and vineyards. We stop in a cafe for a light meal. We have Bruschetta with Hot Chocolate. It is better than before. It is so thick that it is like drinking melted chocolate. Aimee the Chocoholic thinks it is to die for.

We have an appointment to make, so we return to the hotel, check in and meet our driver. He is classic Italian, showing up with a black Mercedes, wearing sunglasses and sporting a leather jacket. He drives us the fifteen miles to the nearby town of Bagnoregio. It takes almost forty minutes because the roads in this area are very winding up and down the hills. He drops us at a parking lot on the edge of town where we get our first view of the original old town, now called Civita da Bagnoregio. It is very cool looking.

The old mule path up to this hill town has been replaced by a modern pedestrian walkway. It is a much steeper and longer climber than it looks. It is a twenty minute hike to the entrance. It was worth the effort. We pretty much have this village to ourselves. It looks like the picture perfect movie set for an Italian hill village. I later learn that it has actually starred in several Italian films. We walk to each end of the town and then Aimee does some real shopping. I get a new winter stocking cap and tasty gelato.

The Asian tour bus arrived so we took that as our cue to leave and meet our driver who has been waiting. Back in Orvieto we take the opportunity to visit the very unique St Patrick’s Well. During the 1527 Sack of Rome, the Pope took refuge here and had this new water supply built to outlast any siege. It is an engineering marvel. The 175 foot deep water is reached by a double helix spiral ramp. Aimee and I traipse 250 steps down and then find out it is 250 steps back up. I am sweaty by the time we reach the top again.

Next door is an old Etruscan Temple from 500 BC. The Etruscans were the first settlers of this town.

Aimee and I find a nice restaurant near our hotel where we share a Caprese Salad appetizer and a meal of the local specialty Umbrichelli all' Amatriciana. Aimee raved about it. We came back to our hotel room and cracked open a bottle of the local Orvieto Classico Superiore white wine. There is something to like about rural Italian towns.