Notable Times: Adventures in Italy 4: Rome to Orvieto to Florence

On Wednesday, June 15, 2016, we wended our way from Rome to Florence, with a stop in the hill town of Orvieto.

As we packed up to leave Rome, Erika demonstrated how to fit everything she brought back into her single carry-on.

We bid farewell to the apartment where we stayed (third floor),

Apartment where we stayed (3rd floor).

and took one last look at the Colosseum (which I can now spell) on our way to the bus.

Roman Colosseum.

Speaking of the bus, it was a tad crowded. In fact, we had to put me and Linette on one bus to go get started with the van rental process while everyone else waited for the next one, since there just physically was not room to cram any more bodies onto this one.

Bus full. As in, not physically room to cram on another person. Good-bye, fellow travelers!

We got off at the wrong stop, though, and hopped on the next one, which was where everyone else was, so finally we all ended up together, and went and rented the van.

One carry-on each, on the way to the car rental place

I say there's nothing like driving a manual transmission 9-passenger van in Rome. The kids named the van Francesco.

"Francesco," our 9-passenger Fiat rental van.

Our first stop was just 10 minutes up the road, where we tried to park the van at one parking garage, but were too tall for it. Mr. Guy had to back the van out of the steep driveway for us because I hadn't yet figured out the trick for getting into reverse. Oops.

Catacombs of Priscilla

With the van properly stashed, we visited the Catacombs of Priscilla.

These catacombs were used from the 100s to the 400s A.D., and about 40,000 Christians were buried here, including many martyrs, and, later, a few popes.

Catacombs of Priscilla

Inscriptions in Greek and Latin are found on many of the tiles that cover(ed) the burial chambers.

The tunnels and chambers were dug out of relatively soft volcanic rock. The pick marks are still visible all over the ceilings. The burial chambers were empty because apparently tourists kept sneaking bones as souvenirs, so the bones were moved. However, at one point part of our group was asked to walk down a dark chamber to make room for the others to see something, and I turned on my cell phone flashlight, and saw a pile of small femurs and a piece of a skull, along with a painting of a boat on the ceiling.

Burial chambers in the Catacombs of Priscilla

One of the frescos on the wall, dated from about 200 A.D., may be the earliest discovered painting of Mary and baby Jesus. (This picture came from the Internet, since we weren't really allowed to take pictures in the catacombs).

Mary and Jesus, c. 200 A.D. Catacombs of Priscilla, Rome, Italy.

There are apparently 8 kilometers of passages in there on at least 3 levels.

And here is Linette with some purple flowers in the building above the catacombs.

Rome Temple

On our way out of town, we took a brief detour to take a look at how the Rome Temple is coming. Apparently archeological finds were unearthed on both sides of the temple, but not on the temple site itself, so that was a blessing, since that would have halted construction immediately.

Rome Italy Temple, June 2016.

While driving in Rome and the smaller towns were tricky with their narrow streets, but the freeways were great. And as we drove along, we were impressed with how pretty the countryside was.

Countryside between Rome and Orvieto.

Orvieto

On our way to Florence, we stopped at a small "hill town" called Orvieto. The old part of town is up on a hill with fortress walls around it. The more modern parts are down below.

Orvieto, Italy, with the old town at the top of the hill.

And below is a map of the walled part of the city.

Old map of Orvieto

We had a bit of trouble trying to park the van near the top (and accidentally going through a skinny street or two) before finally parking below and taking a bus up to the town.

Once we were up there, we found a big cathedral, so we went in and had a look.

Orvieto Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
(Duomo di Orvieto; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta)

Inside, the cathedral had layers of light and dark stone (white travertine and blue-grey basalt) that made the whole thing stripey.

Orvieto Cathedral

It was built in the 14th century.

Pieta, sculpted by Ippolito Scalza between 1570-1580, from a single block of marble.

Organ at Orvieto Cathedral

Outside, I found that the town had so many cute things in it!

Linette in Orvieto

We had a pleasant but mediocre lunch in the plaza by the cathedral.

Lunch in front of the Orvieto Cathedral

Orvieto is known for its colorful ceramics.

Ceramics in Orvieto

We loved the cute narrow streets of the town.

Street in Orvieto

Roger and I had fun talking to the locals.

I especially like this one that Sharon took.

Dude, I'm just sayin': You gotta start telling the truth.

Finally, we went to the steep walls overlooking the valley below, and enjoyed the spectacular view.

Erika was pretty excited at the view.

Can you see Roger way over there?

I'm not afraid of heights. I'm afraid of my children on heights. This shot was really scary.

Erika in what could have been her final pose. Orvieto, Italy. June 15, 2016.

Then we rode the bus back down to town, where we resumed our journey to Florence (and were thankful nobody messed with the stuff in our van).

Florence (Firenze)

Driving the big van in the narrow, one-way streets in Florence was tricky, but Roger handled it well. We were relieved when we got the van dumped off at the parking garage (where they added it to the "white list" so we wouldn't get a ticket for driving through the limited traffic zone).

Our apartment was on Floor 3, which is the 4th floor. Here's the view out the window, up and down the street.

Erika looks up the street in Florence.

Up the street from our apartment in Florence.

Down the street from our apartment in Florence. This was one of the wider streets in the city.

Once we got settled in, we headed out to explore Florence (called Firenze, (fee-REHN-zeh) in Italian).

Right near our apartment was the Pitti Palace (Palazzo Pitti), where the powerful Medici family lived while they ruled Florence for a few hundred years. It is apparently packed with amazing artwork and has amazing gardens, but our time was a bit too short to pull off a visit inside.

Our three girls crashed out in front of the Pitti Palace.

Across the street from the Palazza Pitti we found my favorite gelato stand in Italy.

Linette and the buildings across from Palazza Pitti

Randy and two scoops of gelato.

Gelato by the Pitti Palace.

Next we walked over to Ponte Vecchio (the "Old Bridge"; ponte=bridge, vecchio=old), where there are shops all along the ground floor, and a passageway along the top that allowed the Medici family to walk between the government buildings on one side over to the Pitti Palace on the other side, without getting assassinated and stuff.

While we were hanging out on the bridge, the sun started to set, and it was spectacular!

Randy and Linette on Ponte Vecchio, Florence, June 16, 2016.

Sunset from Ponte Vecchio, Florence.

Erika looking at Ponte Vecchio, Florence.

We walked over to the next bridge and continued to watch the sunset progress.

Sunset over Florence, from Ponte Santa Trinita.

A guy was even kind enough to go buy in a gondola during all of this so I could catch this shot.

Gondola under Ponte alla Carraia

Ponte Vecchio at dusk, from Ponte Santa Trinita.

After our hectic schedule so far, it was nice to just sit and enjoy the sunset. It was sort of ironic that we came all the way to Florence, the city of amazing art and architecture, and the thing we enjoyed most the first night was a sunset that God provided for us. (Of course, the architecture provided a nice backdrop for it!)

Linette and Erika watch the sunset in Florence.

As the sun went down more, the clouds got all speckled. It reminded me of Van Gogh's "Starry Night". So I called this one "Cloudy night."

Here are the girls hanging out on a pointed ledge that juts out from the bridge.

On the "point" of the "ponte".

We walked over a ways and enjoyed the beautiful narrow streets at night.

We also ran across this church, which is apparently the Basilica di Santo Spirito (Basilica of the Holy Spirit) which overlooked a square where dancing and other frivolity appears to go on every night.

Some college kids on the bridge told us that the best pizza in town was Gusta Pizza. It was indeed reasonably priced and very tasty.

So we ordered pizza, and took it back over to eat on the bridge while we watched the sun go down and the lights come on.

Ponte Vecchio at night.

When we got back to our apartment, a couple of us went looking for groceries, and came across a swing dance competition at the square in front of the above-mentioned church. We could hear music going until 1 a.m. down there.