The Land of Small Portions and Prosciutto

Ok, I finally have had some time to write down my thoughts on the first few days. So, here goes.

The trip started out with a little bit of a nervous twist. Our flight leaving at 8am from KC directly to DC was cancelled. So instead, Paul, Becky, Nicki and I flew out at 7:20am not finding that out until about 6:30. We went from KC to Chicago to Philadelphia, to DC. Luckily we didn’t encounter any problems along the way and made our connecting flight where we met up with the rest of the group from K-State. The flight to Rome was long and boring, as expected. For some reason I decided to watch Paranormal Activity during the first hour of the flight. Bad idea. I was too close to the TV screen and didn’t fare too well.

When we arrived in Rome on Wednesday morning we took the bus to Orvieto. Driving up, the first thing you will notice about Orvieto is that it sits on top of a giant cliff. I knew that the city was at the top of a cliff but seeing its actual size was much more impressive than I expected. We took the bus up the cliff, and I got my first glimpse of the running/ walking trail that runs around the city. I have been planning on making that trail my new running route but it is very steep in places and would be a rather rough run. I’ll have to see how that goes. When we got to the top of the hill we met with a few ladies who worked at the Centro Studi, our study center and they showed us to our apartment.

We lucked out with the apartment. We have a wonderful landlord who doesn’t speak any English. She is a very nice lady who we have seen a few times around town and in Sidi’s, the grocery store, where she works. We have a kitchen with all the appliances minus an oven, a huge living room/dinning room, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and our own private courtyard, which is a fairly large size. It’s an absolutely beautiful place, only a minute’s walk from the Centro Studi. To get to the Centro Studi we walk across Piazza Duomo and pass by the Duomo which you would recognize if you have any knowledge of architectural history. Pretty neat huh?

Orvieto is absolutely amazing. There are 5 thousand people living on top of the hill where we are and another 10 thousand at the bottom of the hill. The town feels very comfortable and very safe. I am already starting to recognize people and seeing the same people every day. The locals seem to embrace us even though at first we are very slow and somewhat confused. I love just wandering around the streets and just taking it all in. There are two main streets in the town, the Corso Cavour and Via Duomo. There are no sidewalks here, just streets so we have to be very careful leaving our apartment or we will get flattened. All the streets are lined with small shops; bars, cafes, butchers, bread bakeries, wine shops, and other shops and apartments.

Fortunately classes really haven’t started yet so we have had plenty of time to get to know the city. A few of us explored part of the trail that goes along the cliff. It is pretty impressive how large these rock walls are. We also went to went to the top of what I believe to be the Torre del Moro which is the tallest tower in the town. The view out was amazing. We could see across the whole valley to the Appenine Mountans and to the south we could see the volcano whose name escapes me. From the tower the entire town of Orvieto can be seen as well as the surrounding farms with their olive trees lining the sides of the hills. One thing that you can definitely notice from the tower is how dense and how small the town really is. It is only a mile long and maybe a quarter to a half mile wide. You can tell that the town is very dense from the ground too because of the lack of sunlight. It is very chilly because almost every building in town blocks out the sunlight from the streets. The only place where the sunlight hits the ground is in the piazzas.

We have been doing meals family style where we have a bunch of people, maybe 8ish, people over to the apartment and we would all have salad, pasta, and wine. Everything is better here. The produce is so fresh that it’s almost not even worth eating anything else. It is very cheap too because everything is grown locally. So far my favorites are the tomatos (pomodoro). I made my recently discovered favorite warm spinach salad yesterday and tonight with fresh tomatos, spinach (spinaci), onion (cipolla), and Orvieto olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Squisito!

I am catching on to the Italian language pretty quickly. I successfully ordered 2 onions, an eggplant, and 1/2 kilo of tomatoes. "Vorrei due cipolla, e un melanzana, e un mezzo chilo pomodoro, per favore." I don't know if it's perfect but it did the job. We are at the Blue Bar right now at 1 in the morning because we can use the internet.

The blue bar is our favorite place so far. We met the nicest people, Anthony and Romania. They own the bar and speak English. Anthony speaks 6 different languages and is very happy to have us around. Earlier today Romania walked Conner and I to the best bread bakery near. Anthony and I have talked about soccer and going to games. He said he may be able to take people to the games on Sundays. He wants to come with us if we go to a game as a group. The big game is tomorrow. AC Milan vs Inter Milan. I hope I can find a place to watch the game but the Blue Bar and other places around town are closed on Sundays.

Well my battery is running low so I should get off and this entry is probably pretty long but I have many thoughts. Until next time. Buona Notte!