On Wednesday 15-Oct we checked out of the Agriturismo Il Melograno B&B in Pianello and drove south. Our first destination was Orvieto, a place John fondly remembered for its unique setting and beautiful cathedral. Ultimately we were heading for on Italy’s west coast, site of a UNESCO world heritage necropolis with BC tomb paintings. (Tarquinia is about a two hour, 100 mile drive south of Piombino & Polulonia where we had been working the week before.)
While driving late the night before, we had encountered a small medieval fortress in San Gregorio near to Pianello so we visited there first. The road-side castle, Piazza e porta di San Gregorio, had the look & feel of a whole citadel but the back walls have fallen. With few signs and no one around, we were left to imagine what its history was. It could easily have been a movie set, but it had apartments for rent.
To get to Orvieto from the main North-South motorway we chose to head east on small roads over a steep ridge of maintains and through a national forest instead of veering south then north on the main roads. It was beautiful country & we encountered two large deer with moose-like antlers along the roadside.
We toured Orvieto’s cathedral and museum, had a delicious lunch (John thought it was the best lasagna he’d ever had) and then drove on to Tarquinia. Arriving in Tarquinia in late afternoon, we found ourselves driving within the castle’s walls on a maze of streets barely wide enough to fit the car while looking for a likely B&B.
Jessie fired up her iPad and found a recommended B&B – the Palazzo Rosati – that was near-by and we settled in there for the night.
Piazza e porta di San Gregorio, near Pianello Italy
Orvieto’s main square
Tarquinia, Italy
On the Go with John and Jessie 