Orvieto - Day 13

Orvieto is an ancient Etruscan village at the top of a hill. We were able to drive up to it and with the help of Werner’s handicap tag, were able to park in the middle of the village. It is quite a tourist mecca. It’s known for its Duomo.

It’s vistas were incredible and we found a little park to sit and make a friend.

Rick and I visit some Etruscan ruins found in the 1980s during the renovation of a restaurant. We climbed many, many steps down to examine pottery kilns and wells. We couldn’t even imagine that we were touching something walls that were chipped away thousands of years ago.

Werner and Susan headed back to the hotel for a rest while we were exploring the caves so we took the faniculare down the hill and drove back with Ruth and Joel. They had scoped out a restaurant in the new town of Orvieto (down the hill). The Osteria del Grille was a wonderful find. The only one there who spoke English was the brother of the owner. Daniel had spent time in southern California working for Wolfgang Puck and was our very gracious host.

It was literally a “grille” and all they had was meat and fish. You picked out what you wanted to eat from the cooler and then they cooked it on an open fire. We had the most wonderful baked potatoes and grilled vegetables to accompany our meal. I had pork medallions wrapped in bacon. They were the best I have ever eaten! They gave us small bottles of the restaurant labeled olive oil as a gift. For a change we were the only Americans in the restaurant. It is one of those experiences that was a highlight of our trip!