We were to catch the train to Orvieto today, but when we arrived at the station the train was not going so we caught the bus instead. We actually walked all the way down the hill to the Santa Anna station while Laura pointed out the sights for us. We caught the bus to Todi which was about 2 hours from Perugia. Francesco, Laura's boyfriend, picked us up in Todi and drove us to Orvieto about half an hour's drive. He dropped us at the bottom of the mountain that the old town of Orvieto is situated on with the idea that we would take the funicular up the hill and look around the old town while Francesco organized our lunch. Well, things did not go to plan. There was a small queue, mostly Germans waiting for the funicular. We bought our tickets and joined the queue. We waited and waited and the queue grew longer and longer. What should take five minutes up and back was stretching into an hour. Then, at last, the message that the funicular had broken down. We would have to go up on buses that the company would provide for us. Francesco later told us that this has never ever happened before. Well, those at the front of the queue, namely us, were now at the back of the queue for the buses and as the queue continued to grow, we were even further back. When the buses arrived, the Germans rushed to get on. As we stood in the sun, I wondered whether we would ever get on. Extra buses seemed to be taking forever to arrive and the Italian funicular organizers seemed to have given up. It was all too difficult they shrugged. Laura was just ringing Francesco to see if he could come and pick us up when a bus arrived and we managed to squeeze on. By this time the Germans were singing their national song, and as the man beside me bent over all his money fell everywhere in the bus. This was quite difficult to retrieve because we were squashed like sardines and so could not bend to pick anything up. However, spirits were high because we were at last on the bus, and somehow the money was all found. At the top of the hill we did the tour with our private Italian speaking guide, Laura Healy. She took us to the Duomo of Orvieto which is absolutely enormous for the size of the town. She told us it is large for two reasons. One, because the town used to be much larger and two because when a priest was saying mass in Orvieto a miracle occurred and the host started to bleed. The bloody cloth is located behind glass over one of the side altars today. The style of this cathedral is referred to as gothic in pyjamas because the outside is characterised by green - black basalt and white travertine stripes. The exterior has 13th century bas reliefs of the last judgment, the tree of Jesse and episodes from the life of Jesus. The interior is beautiful. The baptismal font is enormous, there is a marble staircase to the tribune and the ceilings of the various chapels are covered with the most beautiful frescoes. We looked around Orvieto, walked down the small winding streets and looked over the walled town to the picturesque surrounding countryside. Francesco then picked us up and took us to his home for lunch. What a lunch! It went on for several hours. Francesco had prepared the antipasto which consisted of bruschetta, pate, various types of salami, potato salad and sheep's cheese. Then we had the pasta which had been prepared by Francesco's mother, Donata, with her renowned pesto sauce made with fresh basil from her garden, pine nuts, garlic and oil. After this Donata had prepared the main course of a veal casserole with fresh salad from their garden and green beans served with lemon, also from the garden. Next, we had cheesecake for dessert. this had been made by Laura last weekend when she stayed there. Finally, we had the coffee. What we would call short black. At lunch there were Bill and I, Laura and Francesco, Donata and Francesco's brother, Gabriel who looks like another Prince Willaim. Laura did most of the translating, but we all managed to make ourselves understood and at the end of the day Donata said what wonderful company we had all been. We also met Donata's mother who is the Contessa. She is in her late eighties. Now their house is not really a house, it is a castle perched on the top of one of the hills overlooking Orvieto. From the garden you can see Florence in one direction and Rome in the other and because of this strategic significance it was used first by the Germans and later by the Americans in the second world war. The contessa and her parents were allowed to use just two of the rooms of the castle at this time. One of the enormous fire places in one of the lounges is blackened to this day by the Germans burning all their papers there as the Americans moved in. We were given a guided tour of the Castle. It contains so many rooms, all with the most exquisite antique furniture and paintings. The grounds are extensive. There is what we would call a grassy backyard all around the house. Then there is a treed walkway and a grotto area and an enormous fountain and a very deep well which echoes as you call down into it. We saw where part of the castle had been bombed by the Americans in the second world war. There are large market gardens in another section of the grounds and extensive vineyards. There are also two chapels. The older of the two was built about the year 1000. The bell towers are still there and the bells can still be rung. There are some old outhouses that are in need of restoration. One was the presbytery for their own priest, one was for the carpenter who did maintenance on the property and one was for the care taker and gardener. Francesco drove us to the station and we took the two hour train trip home. I went to bed, Laura went home as she had an early start at Uni tomorrow, but Bill went out for pizza and met some interesting English people, Val and Christopher from Bath.
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