Day 2: Orvieto, San Pietro, and More

Phew, what a long day! I actually slept better last night than I have in a long time - take that, jetlag! Woke up with my alarm at 7:10 and got ready quickly because I had an 8:22 Intercity train to Orvieto that I had already booked (at half price by booking in advance). Got breakfast at the cafe my B&B associates with. Nutella croissant never a bad way to start the day. Bought bus tickets (following my Italian victory of asking a newsstand if they sold them - in Italian!) and took the bus to the station. I never realized how massive Termini is. It's basically a shopping mall combined with a train station that has more than 30 tracks. Anyway, after a short delay, the train set off and arrived in Orvieto a little over an hour later.

Orvieto is lovely, but, really, not all that much different from the other hilltop towns I've seen. The duomo is ridiculous, however. And it has this amazing system of over 1200 underground caves. Now they offer a tour so I took the English one at 11:15 for 6 euros. Orvieto was originally settled by the Etruscans, so you have ancient olive oil mills/presses, quarries, and ... pigeon homes. Wandered around a bit more and grabbed a quick focaccia lunch at a bakery, followed by a delicious gelato. One shop had gorgeous olive wood stuff, reminding me of my favorite shop in Siena, however, the owner greeted everyone in English and there was a sign outside saying "$ accepted here" - I refused to buy anything just on principle. Made my way back to the duomo and took the bus to the funiculaire to the station and bought a 2pm ticket back, arriving in Rome a little after 3pm.



Got a RomaPass to validate starting tomorrow at the station and hopped the bus back to my B&B to reapply sunscreen and freshen up. Using the same ticket, I caught the bus to St. Peter's Basilica. The line was massive because you go through a metal detector, but it moved quickly. It's hard to describe how massive this place is. You wait in line with seriously thousands of people but then when you get inside, it feels not that full at all because it's so huge. Spent some time walking around and taking pictures.

Walked back down the main drag to Castel St. Angelo, which was closed today but I didn't want to go inside anyway. Walked over the Tiber on Ponte Sant Angelo - which I had learned yesterday did not contain Bernini's original Angels (they're in another church). Wandered back through to the historical center, stopping for a pizza bianca on the way. It's basically focaccia bread but way chewier, doused with olive oil and salt. Delicious snacking Roman style. Made it to the Pantheon in time for it to still be open, but it was after 6pm and considering the only light source is the oculus (which really is empty - the floor is slanted to drain off any rainwater), it was a bit dark inside, but still very neat to be in basically the oldest intact building left from that time.

Wandered back to my B&B only a few minutes walk away and freshened up again for dinner. Ended up at Locanda Vecchia, which is on a tiny alley very close by. Mostly because they had good sounding meat on the menu and I was craving meat. At a table next to me, I heard a Roman telling presumably out of town guests that this place had been a bar/pub for at least 2000 years. the downstairs was at the level of ancient Rome, and the atmospheric walls were covered in wine bottles. I had a delicious chicken dish covered in prosciutto and melted mozzarella and parmigiano cheese.

Now back in for the evening, full and tired with already sore feet. Photos coming as soon as I can get them up!

Tomorrow, a foodie's wonderland in Testaccio awaits.