Wednesday October 26th
Today we were hot on the trail of the Etruscans again with trips to Tusacania and Vulci. We were also destined to follow in yesterday’s footsteps. The good news is that Tuscania has other things to see besides the Etruscan museum. There are a pair of 11th century churches on the outskirts, San Pietro, and Santa Maria Maggiore. The town was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1971, but Roman weekenders are steadily bringing new life to the area.
Then we went to Saturnia, where we got the absolute crap beat out of us... and we liked it! Saturnia is home to a thermal spring, and as you drive on the road to Saturnia the town you will see a sign for Saturnia Terme. If you turn right down this road and park in the parking lot you can buy a ticket for the pools. Here’s a Vespa Diaries inside scoop for you though. If you come to the Saturnia Terme sign and pull a U-turn, then take your first right, you will find the exact same thermal water free of charge. This place was awesome (with the exception of that lovely sulfur smell) and though completely nature made it looked so very unnatural. The waterfall literally pounds you so hard that you have to fight to stay under it and not be pushed down to the next pool. Below that are a series of different size different depth pools that cascade one into the next all the way to the stream waiting below. The white walls and smooth rounded edges are just plain amazing to look at. The water was like a warm bath, I can imagine coming down here when the temperature drops, sitting in the pools and watching the steam rise up. We could have soaked here all day, but Orvieto was waiting. Oh, Saturnia the town almost borders on “swanky.” I didn’t see too many shops, but the square was clean the buildings were all in great condition, and there were numerous cafes waiting to feed you in between spa treatments.
Orvieto isn’t really unknown, but I don’t know that it has quite bridged the gap into being a popular place either. But it should be. As you come down over the hills and get you first glimpse of this hill town your eye is immediately drawn to the massive Duomo that stands out against everything else. It is so big that when you get close to it you can barely fit it all in the picture.
The sun was setting as we walked out of the Duomo, so we’ve decided to return in the morning to further explore Orvieto. For now we headed just outside of town to Corbara and the Agriturismo Tenuta di Corbara www.tenutadicorbara.it These guys do it up right, they have several different houses spread out along a little stretch of road, and the houses vary in price. So you decide what you want to spend and then get a room in the corresponding house. We obviously don’t want to spend too much, and to keep it in line with all of our other accommodations, we’re staying in “Il Ponticello.” It’s getting hard to describe the rooms in different terms than the ones before. Not because each isn’t especially nice, but because they have all been. Each room has had a comfortable bed, plenty of room to put your stuff, and a nice little bathroom. Il Ponticello falls right into that line. There is no TV in the room, but there is a nice “living room” with couches and a TV, just across the hall. The house is surrounded by fields on all sides, and is set back off the road a comfortable distance. When the weather is nice, I’m sure this is a great place to sit outside at night and enjoy a glass of wine with your friends. Down the road they have a typical country restaurant, it was closed for construction for us, but we looked inside and it seems very nice.