Trips

 

Thurs., 7/2/15 - Chianciano to Orvieto to Sorrento
            We packed up and prepared to leave Tuscany for the hotter southern Campania Region, south of Rome and south of Naples.  On the bus, Fernando gave us another surprise.  We each got a wooden Pinocchio Christmas tree ornament.  We had seen them in all of the shops but I did not realize why.  In the story Giuseppe made Pinocchio in the town of Collodi in Tuscany.  The doll is cute.
            We stopped on our long drive for a brief visit to Orvieto.  We rode a funicular half-way up the hill and then squeezed into a public minibus to ride to the top of the hill where the old town was built in the crater of an old volcano. 
        

Hilltop town of Orvieto	Best way up!
Funicular car	Funicular track
Coming up	We arrived at the plaza outside the Duomo, which was designed after the cathedral in Siena.  The side walls were made of horizontal black and white stripes but the façade was beautiful.  The colorful designs and pictures are made with ¼ inch pieces of mosaics.  We looked inside but did not pay to go in because we return to Orvieto on our next tour.
Orvieto Cathedral	Orvieto Cathedral
Orvieto Cathedral	Orvieto Cathedral
Orvieto Cathedral	Orvieto Cathedral
Orvieto Cathedral	Orvieto Cathedral
Orvieto Cathedral	Orvieto Cathedral - door
We walked down a main street of shops and got oriented with the town.  It is another 1500’s walled hill-town.
Clock tower	Street scene
Collegiate Church of St. Andrew in the Piazza della Repubblica	We stopped for lunch at 1:30 at a cafe just off the A1 highway.  Marge and I shared a panini, large, cold beer, and chocolate cup cake instead of having a three-course lunch.  It was 99° with no wind by 2:30 as we waited to continue our bus ride.             We arrived at the Grand Hotel Caesar Augusto at 4:35 and got settled into our room.  We have a balcony that overlooks the hotel garden.              At 6 PM we went downstairs to watch the Palio race.  Coverage didn’t start until 7:35.  It took 60 more minutes for the horses to all get to the starting rope and begin the race.  Neither Marge’s nor my horse won.
Sorrento	Looking out to sea
Sorrento	Clear water
Fri., 7/3/15 – Sorrento             The Greeks built Sorrento and then the Romans came.  There are still parts of the original city walls that had four gates – east, west, north and south – very Roman.  The lowest part of the wall is made of the large stones the Greeks used and the smaller blocks above it are Roman. .             We went for a slow walk around town with our whispers and Fernando as our guide.  He lives in Sorrento so we did not need a local guide.             We stopped in the cathedral that used the old Roman watchtower as a steeple for the bells.  Inside the church are scenes made of inlaid wood that look like they are 3-D. At the rear of the church is a large diorama of the nativity.  The details are awesome.  The village characters in the scene are redressed twice a year and baby Jesus is kept by parish families for eleven months of the year.
Butterfly	Lizard
Something modern amongst the ancient	Roman walls
Street scene	Bell tower - Sorrento Cathedral
Sorrento Cathedral	Sorrento Cathedral
Diorama of the Nativity	At the end of Guilliano Street (alley) is a garden of large cacti and palm trees – very unusual.  Turning left and then the first right takes you down to the Marina Grande.  We will walk there some time later.             We walked on to the Church of St. Francis with a modern statue of him outside.  He has a mini-robe on.   Attached to the church is a 13th c. cloister.
Street scene	Interesting clocks
St. Francis of Assisi	Marina Grande
St. Francis Cloisters
Sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro in the Piazza Tasso	We walked back up past the theater (with free bathrooms) at the city hall and up to Piazza Tasso, the main square.  Fernando showed us where all of our cooperating restaurants were as we walked.  Tonight and one other night we have vouchers to use at one of five restaurants.  Grand Circle has a deal with each to provide us a shortened menu with three choices of a starter, an entree, and dessert with bread and water and one beer or glass of wine.  It is a great way to give us some choice and not eat as a group of 40!             Tonight we went to Tasso Restaurant and had a wonderful, plentiful meal.  It was very nice after having cheese and peanut butter with crackers and a banana for lunch.

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