Ciao Roma!

Yesterday was great. Possibly the best day so far.

We decided to get out of Rome and headed for the town of Orvieto, about an hour north of the city. It's one of those postcard places clinging to the top of a really steep hill and hanging over the cliffs on the edge.

We took a trolley car thing up to the top and emerged pretty much between a palace and the remains of a castle. From there we walked along the cobbled main street where cars had to almost turn aside if someone was coming the other way. Houses and shops opened right onto the street so pedestrians had to watch out as well. There are 3 or 4 churches, including an ornate (gothic?) cathedral.

We spent most of the time just walking. We could have taken a photo on every street and, at first, I think we did. There were little courtyards, shuttered windows and window boxes. There were narrow winding streets with bridges of the top. And the views out over the modern towns below and the Italian countryside...

Eventually we browsed through some of the touristy shops and looked in some of the churches. The best of the latter was a small one that had avoided the ostentation of the stripped, frescoed, carved cathedral and went for a clean, simple, white look.

There were some catacombs that might have been interesting but we didn't bother in the end. There were also some museums with more pots and coins and whatever but we've seen enough of them in Rome.

We bought some souvenirs, we took a thousand photos and enjoyed the peace and calm (even with a ton of tourists) of the amazing town.

Today is our last day in Rome. We've seen the Fountain De Trevi and the Spanish Steps (from the bottom this time), plus the Piazza Novona and the Pantheon. Lots of walking again, but good none-the-less. Now we just have to waste anohter 5 hours until our train leaves. And it's off to Switzerland...