Orvieto

Our third morning was an early one: Departing our B&B in Rome to catch an 8:30am train headed to Orvieto, then onto Siena. Widely enough, I woke up at 6am that morning. Partially because it was a big travel day and I was anxious about missing the train and partially because the pigeons outside our room made the most atrocious cooing noises ever and partially because I was starving, which always wakes me up.
We got to the train station in time to slip into a bar (coffee shop) and sip a cappuccino (for Nick) and an Americano (for me). Italians typically enjoy their incredibly good espresso while standing at a bar. They sip quickly, potentially munch on a cornetto (Nick's was filled with nutella....nutella for crying out loud!!!), chat wildly and then depart with a simple "Ciao!" It is oh so fun to watch...what a contrast to our American Starbuck's experience: Sitting for hours, drinking a 20oz quad-shot, half-caf, non-fat, extra-hot, vanilla latte, hold the foam. Prepare yourself Americans: The biggest cup they have in Italy here holds 4 oz. Which was something that I actually struggled with. Yes...I missed my 20 oz drip coffee with one sugar and a splash of half and half. So...in midst of our trip I actually ended up ordering two drinks: A cappuccino ~ for the foam and an americano ~ for the girth. Three drinks, two Americans...we really confused them! But I digress...)
After our coffee, we hopped on a train and studied up on what we could pack into our few hours while visiting one of the hilltowns: Orvieto. An hour later, we arrived and so did the drizzly rain. Since it was such a small town and the train station lacked lockers to hold our bags, we followed Rick's advice and dropped them off at a hotel up the street. We continued up the hill...a really, really steep one (the Vann's typically choose the walking route) and popped out at the top of the hill and the base of the town itself.
Instantly we were in love. Cobble stone roads which were also the walk ways, flowers hanging in the balconies, little alleys decorated with trailing vines that connected with other streets, cute shops, small markets selling fresh stuff only: meats, vegetables, bread, cheeses, flower shops, restaurants/cafes and of course endless gelatrias. Since Nick and I were so overwhelmed with the sites we saw in Rome, we decided to not do any formal site seeing in Orvieto(aka pay to get into somewhere and take the tour) but instead, walk around and see what popped up.
Of course, I was starving as soon as we arrived, so after a little struggle finding a place (the Rick suggestions we checked out weren't open yet) we decided to wing it with a random pizzeria and my, oh, my I am so glad we did. Take note that there are more restaurants than you would ever know what to do with everywhere in Italy. Most places serve similar items, so really it is just a matter of a few considerations:
1. What atmosphere you are looking for
2. Pricing
3. Your gut feeling about the place
Needless to say, it can be a little overwhelming if you let it be (like when buying shoes or booking a hotel on-line...so many options, so many choices...which one do I go with!). We finally landed in a cute little pizzeria on the main drag. My Pizza had prosciutto (officially my favorite Italian meat - I eat it EVERY SINGLE DAY on our trip), artichokes, olives and cheese. Nick ordered the calzone (which is really just a pizza folded in half) with prosciutto, tomatoes, arugula (Rocket) and cheese. We immediately swapped half our entrees, toasted our vino rosa de casa and dug in. Heaven, pure heaven. Who knew pizza could be that good. Crispy thin crust, light cheese and all bursting with flavor. After both our plates were empty, I sat back in pure delight, a little fuzzy from the wine and totally pleased from the pizza...life is good!
From there we explored and as time progressed we begun to brainstorm ideas for the B&B nick and I want to have in the future. Orvieto seemed perfect. Scenic, authentic, great people, fun things to do and see, unlimited local agriculture, and great places for wedding chateaus (hint, hint matt and ami) and hill-side homes (hint, hint mom and dad) for the dogs to run around in.
We would grow a great garden, have a few livestock, build a rockin' mt. bike course into the side of the hill, and have our guests' enjoy the scene of the town, then come back to a fabulous locally grown meal. Perfect! After walking just over half the trail that surrounds the town, it was confirmed. At that point, Orvieto was our favorite. 10 out of 10.
Just before heading out of town to collect our bags and back to the train station, Nick and I collected fixings for a picnic dinner while waiting for the train. We went to three local places that provided all of the items fresh off the shelf or out of the bin: Two kinds of meat ~ Prosciutto (yes...I was obsessed) and some really dark meat, thinly sliced that we had no idea what it was, two kinds of cheese ~ one soft like brea, one hard like Parmesan, fresh pesto, fresh bread, fresh tomatoes and arugula and locally made chocolate. We bought some white Orvieto Classico wine and were on our way for an amazing picnic for just under $20 euro.
Our train ride went without a hitch...even including a 30 minute layover in a random town that I can't even remember the name of. We arrived in Siena at 11:30pm only to discover the buses stopped running at 11, so had no choice but to were huff it to the hotel. With every step, prayers were shot up to God pleading that the nuns didn't give our room away AND that our feet could stand the unknown miles we had a head of us until we arrived. But of course, God provided...at 12:15am we found out hotel, ripped off our shoes and hit the sack in preparation for another day in a new town. Ahhh...nothing like a really good bed to sleep in.