Rain, wine, and nuns in Orvieto

Orvieto is a small hill town in the Umbrian region of Italy and was the relaxing end to a week long train tour around Italy. The hills around Orvieto are covered in olives groves and vineyards so wine and olive oil are must tries. At this time of year it gets so dark so early. By six it is already dark and November is also the start of the rainy season in Italy.
From the Orvieto train station one goes to the Funicular (a bus type box that scales the mountain at a vertical angle) and then a bus takes you into town. Tired from several long hours on a train from Almalfi, a town on the southern coast, we arrived windblown and wet at the door of the Insituto S.S. Salvatore. A little nun came to the door wearing a blue checkered apron and let us in. We followed her into an office that had pictures of Jesus and the Pope on the wall, a statue of Mother Mary in the corner, and a Mac Apple computer on the desk. Oh, the 21st century. She spoke about three words of English so we put our combined vocabulary to work. Our Italian professors would be so proud. Somehow we managed to secure a room for two nights and were so happy just to be warm. The room was perfect and reminded me of my grandmother’s house. We came in from dinner and the same little nun let us and told us “buona notte” and when a nun tell you good night, it’s like a sedative. At 10:00 we were under the fluffy pink comforters in our beds. A 10:30 curfew is to be respected unless you want to sleep outside. Actually, it was nice to have an excuse to go to sleep early for a change.
Orvieto itself has several “enotece” or wine libraries. These wine bars offer huge selections of wines for very reasonable prices and pair the wine with the complementary bruschette, brioche, cheeses, and fruits. Other than eating which is wonderful way to pass time, we saw the cathedral which is both a beautiful and a ridiculous site. Half way though construction they changed from Romanesque to Gothic style and what is left is the clashing of two radically different styles. Even so, it is an incredible artistic feat. Umbria is a beautiful region and only about 3 hours by train from Florence and defiantly worth the trip.