I had sun today! Orvieto is a popular day drive from Rome and for good reason. The town has a little to offer most everyone. There is an ornate cathedral, several museums, man made caves and some really excellent restaurants.

I had purchased an all inclusive card, the previous day, that let me get into most of the big sites for one fee. So, I did my best to hit as many as I could. The first site I visited was St. Patrick’s well. Built in the 1500’s at the instruction of the Pope to provide water to the city in case of a siege. It has a really neat double helix stairwell so you can move up and down in one continuous line. There is also no elevator to get back up once you walk all the way down.

I am really glad that I did the well first. If I had done it at the end of the day I probably would have cried when I realized I had to walk all the way back up.

My next stop was the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. The stonework reminds me greatly of the cathedral in Sienna but the front of the cathedral is much more ornate.

Afterward, I had a great lunch at a restaurant that was recommended by a local blogger.

Once lunch was done I wanted to go on the Orvieto underground tour but it didn’t open again until 14:45 so I killed some time in the Etruscan Museum.

My final two stops of the day were both underground sections of the city carved out of the tufo, rock made from volcanic ash.