September 14, 2023

Day Eleven

September 11, 2023
Bomboloni – Madeline G, Layla, Moa

Morning! – Maddy Glaser

The morning of September 11th, we were tired. In order to get to the town of Orvieto, we were asked to meet at the train station at 8:30 AM; no easy task for those of us who stayed up late on the free day. I remember scrambling to get dressed and ready and practically running down the street to Vero to pick up breakfast, during which I met many other classmates who had a similar idea. I retrieved a few pastries for my friends who were still getting ready, and we scarfed them down in the dorm common room before hopping on the metro to the Rome Termini station. My small group arrived at the station with ten minutes to spare. All that was left to do was find the Nike store that Shawn asked us to meet in front of. Sounds easy, right?

It was not. For some reason, this was a monumental task for me and my group. The train station was huge, and we looked around every corner and on every floor for this Nike store. At some point we even ended up on an elevator, but it didn’t take us where we wanted to go. Shawn had told us this store was on the top floor. We asked a man if he knew where the store was. He replied “maybe downstairs?”. With less than five minutes left, we began to grow desperate. After all, Shawn had told us if we weren’t there at 8:30, he would leave without us. I texted the group chat, letting them know we were completely and utterly lost in the train station, and Shawn sent back a picture of their location. By some miracle, we stumbled into the Nike store only a few minutes late, and we were able to board the train to Orvieto with no further issues.

The train ride was beautiful, and a relaxing break from the stress of morning transport. We met our guide Rachel, who had a cheerful disposition and a very American accent (I asked, and she was from North Carolina). Despite her American heritage, she had lived in Italy for many years, and was very knowledgeable about Orvieto and its history. Shortly after meeting her, we split off and did a tour of the old man made caves of Orvieto. One was used for making olive oil, due to the warmth it provided in the winter, and the other was used as a bomb shelter during WWII. The WWII was particularly interesting, as all the walls were covered in small holes, which were apparently used to house pigeons! Our guide explained that pigeons made a good food source for people living in these caves, due to their ability to find their own food and still make it back to the nest at night. Although today doesn’t have a prescribed theme, I think a good one would be order and chaos: the chaos of the morning, contrasted with the peacefulness of the train ride; the symmetrically set pigeon holes and the desperate times they were used in; the beautiful churches and the tumultuous scenes depicted on the walls. In Rome, it feels like something is always about to happen, like any moment could lead to your next adventure. The feeling is scary, but inspiring, and it stuck to us even as we explored the unfamiliar city of Orvieto.

Afternoon! – Layla

The small hill town of Orvieto didn’t fail to impress any of us. After the opportunity to explore the fascinating underground caves, we surfaced to see the vast land full of vineyards and farm land from an amazing viewpoint. Amongst the rolling hills, an old monastery caught our eye as many of us stopped to take pictures and take in the tranquility Orvieto provided in opposition to the bustling city of Rome.

We began our tour of the town of Orvieto as our guide Rachel provided us with amazing information that most of us took by surprise when she began by telling us wild boars roam the region and are one of the few animals that will eat human flesh. This was unsettling considering it was right before lunchtime. On the contrary she mentioned the diverse cuisine Orvieto provides in the Umbria region of Italy that includes the wild boar along with pigeon, olives, truffles, white wine, and their regional pasta umbriachelli. This immediately had me personally very excited to eat (ignoring the comment about the wild boar). As we walked through Orvieto, Rachel gave us great recommendations for food, souvenir shopping, and gave us memorable information about the town itself and its history.

Orvieto was full of gems and the first was when we stumbled upon a ceramic shop and many of the ceramics that were displayed had a beautiful unique color similar to turquoise that was known to the region of Orvieto. In ancient times the color blue was considered a delicacy as only people with lots of money could afford it. The ability to recognize the immediate differences between Rome and Orvieto within structures, colors, cuisine, and even dialect made our experience much more memorable. As we continued exploring the town we passed the tower that had twelve sides of bells that is still original to when the town was first built. Until watches or other clocks were introduced the bell tower and huge clock looking over the town was the only way people in the town could tell the time.

We also got to tour a smaller church called the Church of Sant’Andrea that had frescoes from ancient times and presented the gothic theme similar to the Santa Maria Minerva we explored earlier in the trip. We were then off to find lunch before our last stop in the town. We took Rachel’s recommendation and tried “La Pergola” which we found to be very delicious and was a nice change from everyday carbonara and cacio e pepe in Rome. The food was authentic and very fresh which eventually put most of us in the need for a “pasta nap” as Rachel mentioned. However, we made a point to stop for Gelato to prepare to see the biggest sight of Orvieto.

Evening! – Moa

After chowing down on some much-needed gelato after lunch, the group was onto their last tour in Orvieto: The Duomo di Orvieto. The Duomo di Orvieto is a Gothic cathedral in Orvieto, and it is very hard to miss. Given how relatively small the medieval city of Orvieto is, a large, black and white striped church in the middle of it can almost be used as a directional guide; because you can see it from just about every corner of the town. Not only is the exterior striking, but the inside is ravishing. Walking into the church, we felt like we were the only ones in there. Maybe we were – I don’t truly remember because I was so distracted by the ceiling above me.

Our wonderful tour guide, Rachel, led us through the Cathedral, introducing us to the various sculptures, mosaics, and other artifacts, describing the historical significance they have. Compared to some of our other church visits, I would say what we learned here had the most variety in topics. We learned about color, nudity, illegal autopsies, philosophy, history, art history, religion, Jesus,Virgin Mary, and more. We learned how to determine how and when a church was built based on the colors and materials it involved. We even learned the step-by-step process of making a fresco! My favorite part about that lesson was suddenly realizing how similar Adrian looked to one of Luca Signorelli’s characters – striking, really.

Another favorite of mine was looking at the statue of Virgin Mary and Gabriel and learning about how their expressions in this cathedral are so different from a lot of other interpretations of the scene.

Getting on the train back to Rome was bittersweet, I think we all really loved Orvieto. It was refreshing to see an Italian location other than Rome for a bit, especially one that had its own unique traditions, characteristics, food, and dialects.

The early-morning wake up call caught up to the students on the train home, many naps were had, and take-out dinners ordered upon arrival back in Rome