fun with photos in Orvieto, Italy

Some of my favorite random photos from around Oriveto:

The ground around the Duomo is beautiful:

Orvieto's Underground, Italy

Sean was very interested in seeing the caves that cover the underground of Orvieto. Since the small town is built on a large hill, there is not a lot of space... so people began digging/building underground. Every house... EVERY HOUSE in Orvieto has its own cave! Amazing. The caves used to be used primarily for storing wine... and working... basically people's offices. We even saw an olive oil making station in one of the caves!

The Orvieto Underground tour took us into two large caves... they are the only two caves (out of about 2,500 total!) that are open to the public today. All of the other caves privately belong to the people of the town.

The second cave that we saw had been used to house pigeons. The pigeons lived in the holes built into the wall of the cave, shown below. Pigeons could take care of themselves... coming and going as they pleased... and were much cheaper than chickens. Because of this, a traditional dish in Orvieto is... yes... piccione... or, pigeon. Sure enough... piccione was on the restaurant's menu that night... and Sean ate an entire bird for dinner. Well done Sean, well done.

We were lucky enough to see our apartment's landlord's cave! We had just returned from the tour and ran into her. When she heard that we went on the tour and enjoyed it... I asked her if her family had a cave under the building... and she invited us to see it. Amazing. Today, the cave is used for storage.

It used to connect to the house but now the stairway has been filled in.

Funny moment: Dad and Sean were talking with the landlord's husband and the man gave Dad a nice bottle of wine. He explained that the wine is his Sunday-drinking-wine while he goes hunting. Dad asked him what he hunts... the man reached into a large freezer that is in the cave... and pulled out a WHOLE, FROZEN PHEASANT. No joke.

walk around the wall - Orvieto, Italy

Returning from the morning spent in Lubriano and Civita di Bagnoregio, we went on a walk along the wall that circles Civita's cliffs. The views were great!

I spot a castle!

Dad, Mom, and Sean:

We found the public funicolare to ride back up to Orvieto!

1.30 euro for each person is as much as my one-stop bus ride to school in the morning... and this was much more fun!

back to Orvieto...

The drive between Civita di Bagnoregio and Orvieto is gorgeous. Dad pulled over for a minute so that we could capture the following view... looking at Orvieto in the distance atop the summit:

Our rental car for the week... and our mighty driver!

Orvieto's Duomo

The Duomo in Orvieto is gorgeous. One of my favorites that I have seen. It reminds me of Siena's with the black and white striped marble inside and out...

I was thankful to be treated with a clear view of the Duomo our second day in Orvieto when the fog lifted!

I spot a Duomo!

Mom and Dad taking in the view:

JUMP!

Sean enjoys it too   : )

Pretty cool how different the stripes are along the side, compared to the colorful front:

A view of the Duomo's square (the Duomo is to the right):

Orvieto's DOORS

My dad asked me a couple times: "What are you taking a picture of?!" ...as I focused on a random door and nothing else.

I like doors... and windows... locks... and random things like that in places around the world. Some are so pretty to me... maybe for no reason... but I like them. Below are some of my favorite doors from Orvieto:

A door that's not a door!

Our apartment's landlord's family makes this (wooden frame shown above)! They own a wooden furniture company. Their designs are all over the city... mostly in the surrounding blocks to her family's house and the apartment we stayed in. Their family has been in Orvieto long enough that there is a street named after them... and their furniture shop is on both sides of the street.

And even a couple of Christmas doors!

walking around Orvieto, Italy

We spent two days exploring Orvieto, a cute city within Umbria. Everything was very walkable... although the streets are VERY narrow (especially for the rental car, which was quite small... but Dad is a rockstar driver and did well -- glad it wasn't me in the driver's seat!).

A carving in the wall where we turn off the main street to go to our apartment:

Walking along the main street in Orvieto:

Pretty cats all over the place:

Relaxing in the Duomo's square:

Orvieto's FOG

Milan gets quite foggy many days... and apparently Orvieto is no different this time of year. Our first day there was very foggy... so foggy, in fact, that we couldn't see all of the Duomo (the city's large cathedral):

The Duomo's square:

The gold on the Duomo still shone through the fog!

Chestnuts roasting on an open fiiiiiire...

enjoying Orvieto with family!

Orvieto is a cute little city (I would call it more of a town actually). We spent two nights here and really enjoyed it.

Mom and Dad:

Sean:

Roasting chestnuts! ...Dad and Sean loved these.

A small band dressed as elves... very cute and great music!