ORVIETO

 

ORVIETO – ON THE ROAD AGAIN.

 

20^th November:.

It was a pleasant 20C, so we enjoyed the scenic miles of our journey bowling along the E45 to our first night’s stop –

 

ORVIETO:  NEARLY EMPTY GREAT HOTEL

 

Hotel Oasi dei Descepoli:- Firstly – this hotel was tucked away down a rather mean alley close to the station, in a dingy area of the small city.  We had to ask the way of the only other householder we could see.  We proceeded until we found some large gates fronting a long drive bordered with cypress trees.  It had lawns to one side. We emerged in front of a very large building in the style of my secondary school built in the 1930’s, except for the series of lofty patio doors on the ground floor.  In front was a wide terrace scattered with tables and chairs.

 

ORVIETO HOTEL: CLASSIC ART DECO

 

Inside, the ground floor was pure Art Deco.  A classy marble staircase rose from a complete circle of steps. Graham took photos of just that.

The place was sadly rather empty, so looked bare, but we had a spacious bedroom.  This was well appointed and very comfortable.  We loved the extremely nice shower room, furnished with adequate towels.

 

 

ORVIETO HOTEL: HIGHEST STANDARDS MAINTAINED

 

In the morning we descended (you could only descend that staircase) to the basement, where a most sumptuous feast was laid out as if for fifty people at least.  We got chatting to the few other guests there, and someone was at hand to supply copious hot coffee.

ORVIETO HOTEL: INTERESTING HISTORY

 

We learned that a rich priest had built this place.  He wanted a modern seminary with lots of amenities for sport and leisure activities, as well as learning, for the young men he enrolled, It was such a pity that on his death the building was sold as a hotel.  Because it was taken over by a high-class place in Bari we received first class service from the skeleton staff in late November.

In the early morning Graham went out onto the balcony and took many atmospheric shots of the long drive, looking rather menacing, though beautiful, shrouded in mist. ***

Room Tip: There are 400 rooms, I believe – ours faced the long drive and gardens.

Can thoroughly recommend
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g194843-d278186-r459619818-Oasi_dei_Discepoli-Orvieto_Province_of_Terni_Umbria.html#

 

 

 

 

21^st November:

ORVIETO CITY

 

We knew that we had been in Orvieto way back in 2001 when we took our very first holiday in Italy.  My son Richard suggested (no doubt prompted by family complications) that we take a special holiday, instead of spending money on a big party to celebrate our Silver Wedding.  We remembered liking the town, but nothing more.

 

ORVIETO:  WE SHOULD HAVE FOUND THE TOWN PLAN

 

“Why don’t we just take a quick ride around and let the SatNav direct us out onto our road,” I suggested.  Graham readily agreed.

Mistake: We turned the SatNav on too early; so we missed the centre. and instead found ourselves trapped in a long, long uphill climb on a busy road full of shops and offices.  There were endless level crossings – but no little green men.  Mostly, on the Continent, people just step out onto the crossing and drivers have to be ready to instantly STOP.

 

THROUGH UMBRIA AND TOSCANA.

A CHANGE OF LANDSCAPE

 

Eventually we were in the country again.   The E35 Highway took us through farmland that was flat and totally different from that in either Puglia or Basilicata.  Even Campania, though greener than either, has its share of mountains and plains.  This land was somehow dry looking even in November, and the style of the houses and farms we passed were now totally different.  We were in Umbria.

Then suddenly, low green hills and prettier scenery made us think ‘Toscana’.  Yes; to my right appeared an avenue of cypresses marching uphill to a romantic-looking, typically Tuscan farmhouse.  The landscape was all gentle hills clothed in greens and golds. We were in the land of a thousand travel posters – the Quintessential Italy!

 

 

 

A LITTLE GEM – RESTORED AND OCCUPIED?

 

“We’ve been on this road before,” I said, and Graham agreed, and even remembered routes we’d taken in the car we’d hired for a fortnight back in 2001.  On that occasion we had found ourselves by a most intriguing tiny town of many pretty towers – Buonconvento.  It was hidden behind a high wall.  We had walked in to find that the whole place was undergoing very sympathetic restoration.  So I looked out for it this time.  Unfortunately, we were on the wrong fork of the road.  We could have revisited the monastery nearby,; Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore.  Within it, along with other treasures, were many exquisitely inlaid fine wooden picture-panels.  In fact, Graham had surprised the rather snooty monk in the shop when he willingly paid a high price for a book illustrating them.  He did not care that all the text was in Italian.  This time, slightly reluctantly, we decided to press on.

 

 

A NOSTALGIC REVISIT.

 

“I think you’ll find,” said Graham, “that pretty soon we’ll reach Pistoia.” Pistoia had been the closest town to our base for our very first week in Italy.  We had stayed in the picturesque and excellent Villa Vannini, high up on top of a mountain.  Ski-lift cables crossed just above the road there, and in late October cyclamen grew in the hedgerows bordering the road.  I felt nostalgia for the place.

“Are you sure?  It didn’t come up on Google maps.”

“That’s probably because Pistoia’s a smallish town,” he replied.

Sure enough, Pistoia was right on our route, so we decided to stop for lunch, remembering a large square with colonnaded cafes on all sides.

 

THE SAVIOUR OF ITALY

 

Only we must have been the other side of town.  Instead of wasting time searching, we explored our immediate area.  We soon discovered the County Museum, fronted by a most imposing equestrian statue of Garibaldi.  A pigeon seated majestically atop his cap lent this national hero even more height.

 

AN AL-FRESCO LUNCH

 

Right next door was a garden, and in that garden there were white tents and trellised gazebos, and we saw people seated happily gobbling lunch, all amongst the statuary and plants.

This appealed to us and soon we too were tucking in.  I remember that suddenly my appetite returned and I enjoyed a superb, hearty vegetable soup.  Graham cannot remember his meal.

After a short exploratory walk to digest our lunch we were on our way again, passing through and close to many pleasant small towns.  All had the typical tall, square towers pierced with numerous Roman-style pillared arches.   The buildings here were totally different in both colour and design to what we had grown used to in the South.  This was the Italy of the travel posters, and we thoroughly enjoyed seeing it again.

We passed by Lucca, knowing too well from past experience the impossibility of parking anywhere within a short walk of the Citta Antica, which in any case we had well explored in 2001 before all the strictures came in.  We just carried on, enjoying the scenery on the way to our next overnight stop.

 

Text by – Jackie Usher, SWWJ. (aka author Debbie Darkin, & ‘Graham Liverpool’ on Trip Advisor.)
Photographs by – Graham Usher.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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