January 15, 2026

January 15, 2026

Orvieto gets lots of day-trippers from Rome, but it is quiet outside midday. We are up early for our morning walk around town. Orvieto is a maze of tile-roofed Tufa-stone Medieval buildings built atop an ancient Etruscan town. Our restaurant last night even had an Etruscan cave in its cellar. Two medieval fortified towers have survived. One was turned into the town clock. Aimee is happy that we stumbled upon the weekly market in Piazza del Popolo. Ceramic crafts are popular here. While she shops I walk around taking photographs.

When we reach the far western edge of town we turn and head to the Duomo. We have to buy tickets to tour the Gothic interior. It is mostly uninteresting except for the San Brizio Chapel. That was decorated by the Renaissance artist Luca Signorelli. The Sermon of the Antichrist panel features the Devil whispering in the orator's ear, a veiled political statement about the Florence leader, Savonarola. The framing is full of Grotto-esque figures inspired by the discovery of Nero's Domus Aurea. The adjacent Last Judgement panel in turn influenced Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel.

Our Duomo ticket includes a museum that we quickly walked through and a visit to the crypt. The only thing I found of interest is a collection of medieval tools,  including a dozen wooden pulleys used during construction of the Duomo.

We moseyed back to the hotel where we collected our luggage and waited for the funicular down to the train station. I took the opportunity to check out the old Papal gate that guarded the medieval approach to this fortified hilltop town. Our train was supposed to be ten minutes late. Fortunately we ignored that advice. The train left right on schedule.

Two hours later we met up with the Arno River which we followed to Florence. We found our nearby hotel. It is a madhouse though, more crowded than Rome. After checking in, we explored the San Lorenzo market. We then found a nice Trattoria for dinner. We had a tasty meal of Greek Salad and Fried Chicken with Peperonata. We followed it with Tiramisu. The restaurant looked like a former palazzo.