May 24th
This past Tuesday we had our last program excursion. It was definitely bittersweet. First we went to Bagnio Regio and Cevita. It is an ancient cliff top town that is only accessible through walking on the long bridge across the valley. There are no longer any permanent residents because it is falling apart and unsafe for habitation. It was gorgeous! It had a very medieval feel to the town and was made entirely of the same tufa that Orvieto is built with. The tiny town was full of quaint little nooks and crannies. The other class that is taking place this month is the Renaissance theatre class and they did a mini performance inside the church in the center of town. I’ll try to put up some pictures soon of the day.
After Cevita we went to Bolsena. Lake Bolsena is a huge beautiful lake that sits below the old medieval town of Bolsena. I was hoping to go into the catacombs in Bolsena, but sadly they were closed and also the castle in town was closed. I did go around and take several pictures around the town and enjoyed a book by the lakeside.
After Bolsena we went across the valley from Orvieto to this old vineyard and winery dating back to 500 and 600 BC. The Etruscans, monks, and Italians, now a man named Alessandro have been making wine in those same fields ever since then. He gave us a tour down in the tunnel system beneath the winery, which was very fascinating. The tunnels were dug out by the Etruscans to store and age wine and then the monks lengthened the tunnels several centuries later. We were able to see that point in the tunnels and Alessandro said we were “time traveling.” Ha. The view from the vineyards back towards Orvieto near sunset was breathtaking.
Well, I was trying to upload photos on this one, but it didn't work out so you'll just have to wait a bit for these pictures. :/
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