Arrival in Orvieto

Typical narrow street in Orvieto

Plazza Republica--50 steps from our apartment

Piazza del Duomo clock tower

Tower on the Duomo

Orvieto's Duomo (from 1330) has Italy's most interesting facade featuring  The Last Judgement 

Door to our home in Orvieto--60 steps up to our apartment - no elevator!

We arrived in Orvieto, a town in Umbria, this afternoon after a 2 hour train trip from Florence.  Orvieto is an ancient hill town that sits 1000 feet above the valley on a huge mountain of tuff, an easy to dig volcanic rock.  The city was a regional power during the Middle Ages a few centuries before Christ.  It's one of a small number of Etruscan cities in all of Italy.
Orvieto is famous for three things:  its Cathedral, its Classico wine and its ceramics.  We've only had an opportunity to walk from one end of the town to the other (20 minutes) to visit the tourist information centre.  We're looking forward to Kendra arriving from Rome tomorrow.  With her, we plan to fully explore Orvieto and the Umbrian country side.  We may even slip back into Tuscany to visit Cortona.
We're very pleased with our apartment - despite the 60 stairs to the top floor!  From the windows we have a beautiful view of the countryside.  Despite the afternoon heat, the apartment stays wonderfully cool-a nice change from Florence and Rome.
We're off for what we know will be another delicious meal, this time at Mezza Luna.  Maybe we'll post some pictures tomorrow.  Ciao!