Around, Around and Around We Go!

Good morning all!

This morning we woke up to a beautiful sunrise from our cabin as we approached our Rome (Civitavecchia) port which is approximately an hour and half from Rome.  You may be wondering what the mystery was about Rome that I indicated in yesterday's blog.  Well, since we've all been to Rome, we decided we didn't want to brave the crowds and congestion of Rome, so we pre-arranged a tour guide to take us into the countryside where one of the previous Pope's had lived (Castel Grandofo).  

As we departed the port and approached a roundabout, we decided we didn't need to visit that location. After several around, around and around again in the roundabout and discussion with Matteo (our guide), we decided to go to Orvieto, a beautiful hilltop village.

It was a long ride through the beautiful Italian countryside with a few villages along the way.  

At one point we saw a sheep scampering along the highway all by himself.  We hoped he got back to his flock, and we remembered the story Jesus told about the shepherd who leaves his 99 sheep to look for the one lost sheep.

Soon we arrived in Orvieto, and we all decided to take a tour of the underground caves below the city. Orvieto is built on a mountain top consisting entirely of volcanic soil hardened over time and easily carved out with simple tools of the time.  In the fifth century before Christ, the Etruscans settled in the area and carved caves in the mountains in search of water and to make their homes in the rock caves.  There are now 1200 caves in the mountain and about 80% of them are now private residences. 

Underground entrance

We walked all around in the caves and saw how they lived, pressed olives for oil, raised pigeons for food and for sale, and dug cisterns for water.  

Press used to extract olive oil.

It was very interesting and a lot of climbing (Karen's foot is still hurting and it was especially bad today).

Pigeonholes

After our tour we found a small shop to get some sandwiches for lunch.  These sandwich shops do not know how to put lettuce or tomatoes on a sandwich, which is frustrating for Karen.  But Bill's cheese and salami was great! 

After lunch we browsed around the shops and made a few purchases - and do not lie about your purchases!

The last thing on our schedule was the chance to go inside the beautiful 14th Century Roman Cathedral.  The legend is that a traveling priest had been losing his belief and a hosts napkin became bloody, so he took it as a sign from God restoring his faith and declared it a miracle.  That napkin is now a relic on display in the cathedral.  We did not see it when we visited but we did see some beautiful frescos.

14th Century Roman Cathedral. 

We hit the road to get back to the ship by 4pm which was good because we were getting tired.  

Once back to the ship we rested and then enjoyed dinner in the Grand Dining Room as the ship left port on our way to our next stop.  Stay tuned for our next blog.  We love you all. 

Grand Dining Room Dinner