I am ready for the "vacation from my vacation" in the Cinque Terre tomorrow, but on our way there, we'll be stopping at the Umbrian hill town of Orvieto.  The Duomo di Orvieto was on my list of places to visit, but it wasn't listed in the original tour itinerary: so this was a big bonus for me.  The outside of the Duomo had scaffolding up, so only part of the facade was visible - unfortunate, because the exterior is as fantastic as the interior (if not more so).  It is covered with mosaics, huge bas reliefs, a couple dozen statues, lots of mosaic details, and even more statues up on the tippy-top of the spires!  Inside is one of the largest organs in Italy, fragments of frescoes, more mosaics, a pieta by Ippolito Scalza that I personally adore, and then there is the Chapel of San Brizio:  the frescoes on the vaults are by Fra Angelico, and the wall frescoes are Signorelli's Last Judgement.  Yeah, guess I was just a little bit excited to get to see all of this!! 

I had enough time left to sit and eat a sandwich before re-joining everyone for the funicular ride back down to the bus.  It was also fun to hear about what everyone else found on their adventures!

 

As we neared the coast, it started raining lightly and we were glad we had Peter back at the wheel as we drove down the narrow road towards Levanto.  Finally, a short train ride, and we were settled at our hotel in Monterosso al Mare.  We had a four course meal at the Ristorante Belvedere, featuring a special seafood stew that was cooked in clay pots - another delicious slow-paced Italian celebration.  Full of fine food and wine,  we strolled back to the hotel in small groups, chatting softly and listening to the Ligurian sea sing it's song to us.