After breakfast and a quick dip in the pool, we drove 90 minutes to Orvieto. Orvieto is a medieval city perched on top of tufa rock from the Etruscan period.

We stopped along the way to fill up the car with gas. 3/4 of a tank cost 97 Euro…ugh. The good part was the 1 Euro espressos, chips and gummy candies for the kids. D loves the potato chips and pecorino cheese has been exclaiming things like “this is excellent” or “these chips are awesome!” He’s also been very proud of his table manners putting his napkin on his lap without being asked, and both kids are responding with “grazie” to the waiters.

Back to Orvieto: Since it is a ZTL area (zoned for limited traffic, and we do not have a permit) we parked the car and walked up hill towards the duomo. The exterior had a beautifully ornate front and the sides were the dark green and white marble. We could not take pictures inside so I recommend looking at these images to get a better sense.

On the drive back to the villa we passed an outlet mall, so of course I voted for a pit stop. 90 minutes later, with bags from Frette and several other stores in tow, Grandma and I grabbed Paul, Papa and the kids from the outdoor play space. Wish i had bought more at Frette, and I am incredibly jealous of the towels that I picked up for my friend Maria (called her the moment we reached the outlet mall and she was on standby to consult on purchases.) Good thing I like her so much otherwise I’d keep the towels for myself. (Ciao Maria!!!!)

A quick trip to the Conad supermarket for dinner provisions (pic below of their deli counter), and then back at Villa Rosa for a quick dip in the pool as the sun began to set.

Side note: Thanks to the ships clock lessons from Grandpa Eddie, we’ve also had fun figuring out the time based on the church bells. From previous trips, I don’t recall the different tones used for 15, 30, and 45 minutes past the hour.

Food report:
Breakfast with the ants (albeit less of them) in La Casetta. We don’t have an electric coffee pot, and our experimenting with the stove top pot resulted in espresso (which only Paul and I like.) Today Mary Ann successfully used the other pot (like Diane’s!) where you pour the hot water into the filter filled with the coffee grinds.
Lunch in Orvieto at il Gusto where the kids had pasta with butter, Papa had pizza margherita, and the rest of us enjoyed the best antipasto of the trip. See pic below. Three balls of burrata cheese, buffalo mozzarella, goat cheese, a fourth cheese, whole bright red tomatoes, cucumbers, corn niblets, carrots, and a small amount of a cooked smoked ham, all on a bed of arugula.
Orvieto gelato flavors included plum, cappuccino, mint, chocolate, lemon.
For dinner, it was a medley of stuff. The kids had German hot dogs from the market which they weren’t fans of, cherry tomatoes and sandwiches of cream cheese or nutella. Paul bought some lardo to spread on the day old bread that he toasted over the outdoor grill. We ate chingale sausage, pecorino cheese, salumi, cherries, olives and the leftover omelette from yesterday’s lunch. And, Paul had bought a porchetta sandwich in Orvieto to snack on too!