We made it! Quite the difference from our September travels. All our flights went off without issues -only slight delays in Philadelphia for some maintenance issue and then a passenger who had to talk to the captain about…well…we don’t know. Something about the engine, we suppose, but nothing that the captain worried about. Phew.
Landed in FCO about 1/2 hour late, but we’re in no rush. We’d prefer to get the rental car later rather than earlier, so we don’t have to rush to Civitavecchia on the return (if we return it longer than 1/2 hour from the hour of booking it costs the equivalent of a whole day). Passport control was a breeze – no lines whatsoever. We have our 2nd stamp in our new passports. Wow. We need to initiate these things!
On to baggage claim where wait, and wait, and wait. Makes us regret not paying the extra $10 each for “priority” boarding and luggage retrieval. But again, we really don’t want to rush. After an interminable wait, and a minor moment or panic – did the bags really make it here? We see our shiny red hard sides come off the luggage belt and we are on our way to our rental car.
As anticipated, we had to maneuver with the agent to not be charged extra for picking up the car early, but we are finally off to the garage to pick up our little Fiat Panda. Cute little thing – but sadly reeking of smoke. We hope it doesn’t infiltrate our clothes – and we keep the windows down and the air on as we drive on what we call the Rome Beltway (the Raccordo Anulare) and then head up the A1 toward Orvieto.
The drive is easy – one we’ve made before, and we’re actually not as tired as usual. For some reason, even though we’ve not slept well, we’ve at least slept. We stop for sustenance – cappuccino – and an Auto Grille rest stop on the Autostrada. We feel right at home as we pay for our coffees, then sidle up to the bar to order them. Works like a charm!
Back on the Autostrada, we make it to the Orvieto exit in no time. then we circumvent the town, driving along the perimeter, rising higher and higher as the road takes us up and around the walls of the town. We make all the right turns and end up in the parking area adjacent to the Ripa Medici – where we are to meet Sabrina, our host for the next 3 days.
We try to park the car… oh Italia! I had researched enough to know we had to leave the car in a certain area, and if we went past it, we were…well…screwed. So – as luck would have it – there is only one little teeny, tiny parallel parking space available. I direct Ed towards it. He puts on his signal light, reverses toward the spot and … bang! I thought he stalled out. No- we’ve hit someone. What? There was no one around -- except for the dummy driving down the road behind us, who I guess decided to ignore our signal light and reverse lights?
Long story short – they didn’t even stop, just drove on. OK – we’re cool. We park in a loading zone while waiting for a space, when finally a guy pulls out. I jump out of the car and stand in the space, then wave Ed back from the loading zone, stopping on coming traffic and securing our space. Phew. Finally! We pay for parking and head to the B&B to check in.
Ripa Medici B&B is easy to locate, at #14, and we climb the steep steps to the front door. Answering the doorbell is Marco, Sabrina’s son, who calls his mom and then expertly guides us to our apartment, Casa Bianca, a block away. Sabrina, who happens to be there organizing the delivery of a new mattress, greets us effusively and takes our luggage as we look around. It is just as cute as the pictures online – no surprises here. Excellent location, right on the ramparts with the stunning view outside our front door. So nice!
While Sabrina finishing preparing the room, we head out with Marco to go park the car in the lot below the town walls. It’s a winding little drive out of the town, but it will be easy to access from our excursions, and a series of stairs and elevators take us back up to the ramparts and Casa Bianca.
Sabrina sits and chats with us for a while, showing us the features of the apartment, along with the snacks and drinks left for us. She also gives us a quick overview of the town and suggestions for restaurants and the grocery store. When asked about the best place for a Porchetta Panino, she directs us to L’oste Del Re – where she goes for sandwiches. Perfect – we’re done here!
And off we go to L’oste Del Re – an adorable little deli-cum-restaurant with a few tables up by the deli counter and another area in the back, we never saw. All over the walls are sheets of tan construction paper with quotes and drawings from past visitors. It has a wonderful relaxed atmosphere, making us very comfortable here. We order our beer and wine (great wine here) and then both of us decide to order the Porchetta Panino. We’ve waited this long for the original, we’re not in the mood to share! But, as usual, we probably should have! The sandwich is gigantic. And made with focaccia bread instead of the crusty Italian that is more traditional. Beyond that little “gaffe” the meat is so tasty and perfect. Ed and I sit in near silence as we bask in the goodness of one of our favorite meals. Sigh….
Fully sated (well, really stuffed), we head out into the afternoon sunshine to the Piazza Duomo for great sunlit photos and to buy our Carta Unica which will get us into a ton of the local sites and museums, including a roundtrip on the bus and funicular. The Duomo is perfectly lit – and we take a bunch of shots (the best of which you see here – our photo reduction software chose this time to totally melt down – so only a few high res photos will be included from now on).
After meandering around the Piazza del Duomo, scoping out an enoteca for tomorrow’s lunch and perusing the stores on Via del Duomo, we head to the supermarket to stock up on supplies, then back to the apartment to organize.
I do something I never do on our first day in Europe – and take a long nap. Ed actually napped for 30 minutes too, which is totally and completely unusual for him. I stay in bed a bit longer (well, ok, a couple hours longer) and wake up feeling totally refreshed and ready for our evening out.
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