Monday, December 21, 2009

Orvieto


Waking up with about half a day ahead of us, and after an Italian breakfast (espresso and a piece of nutella cake), we made our way over to Orvieto. Orvieto is in Umbria, the green heart of Italy. It's called that because it's the only province without a coastline. It makes up for it with the richest deposit of truffles in Italy, and possibly the world. The white and black truffles found in the Umbrian countryside, in the hills and valleys surrounding Orvieto, Assisi, and Perugia, us full of these delectable treasures. For lunch, we had a ravioli, stuffed with spinach and rocotta cheese, in a black truffle and cream sauce. Absolutely incredible. Umbria is also famous for the wild boar found in it's forests. The boar eats what it finds in the forests: mostly chestnuts and truffles. On such a diet, it's no wonder anything made with it tastes delicious.
Tyler must have taken a dozen pictures of the Duomo of the city- built during the transition between the Romanesque (in the varied capitals, circular arches, small windows and the left-side of the fascade)and Gothic periods (right side of the fascade, stained glass in the windows, and soaring height).
Day one was quite successful.

2 comments:

  1. This i so wonderful. I am very excited about learning about Italy with youas my teacher. I hope you wil be able to post pictures of the red bearded traveler. Love Aunt Amy

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  2. Mmmm, truffles and chestnuts are delicious! Perhaps I was a wild boar in a previous life, I had nutella and chestnuts for breakfast this morning :) I am excited to follow your blog Alex!!

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