Orvieto is a small town in Umbria between Florence and Rome. It sits on a butte made of volcanic tuffa rock high above surrounding cities. It’s gorgeous, sleek and free from the tourists crowds. It’s known for its easy drinking vino biancho, Orvieto Classico and truffles. Did you hear me? Truffles. Fresh truffles were grated over our steak and pasta at dinner. It was heavenly.

The city sits above 1200 or so caves dug through the malleable tuffa rock. We toured a few that were used for making olive oil, housing pigeons for their dinner and for storing animals during cold or hot seasons. The ones we toured were built in the third century B.C. Crazy! Many of the caves are currently filled with rubble from a landslide in 2011 while many others are used for storing wine. Apparently if you buy a house in Orvieto you get a private cave entrance from your house to store your wine or to relax in on a hot day.

In the thirteenth century Pope Urban IV hid out in Orvieto during rough times. He sat safe high above the city but worried about a water source so he commissioned a huge 90 meter well to be built. We toured the well and admired the engineering.

My favorite church of all was in Orvieto. Unfortunately the photos are inaccessible but use your google machine to check it out.

My expectations were so low for Venice that we actually cancelled a night there and stayed one day less then originally planned. What a mistake! We had heard horror stories about overwhelming heat, tourists and a stinky city.

We stayed in an amazing area of the city away from tourists. The weather was great, in fact it’s never been very hot on this trip. The owner of the B &B is the calmest italian I’ve ever met. The B & B shares quarters with his wife and young daughter. It had beautiful white marble floors and a large balcony for breakfast. He gave us wonderful recommendations for dinner in the city as well.

After dropping off our bags we stopped for a glass of wine and snack along a small canal. Moments later a boat arrived with a band on it. The wine shop owner pulled out rugs and laid them along the canal for his guests to lounge on and listen to music. An hour or so later the band moved on to its next location. It was magical.

The entire visit to Venice consisted of great meals, back canal walks, a visit to St Marks Cathedral and falling in love with Venice.