The days between the Christmas / New Year holiday and the planting and vine pruning season are when we do our tourism bit. The bars and restaurants are full of Italians and even the well trodden tourist path is fairly deserted (late January – mid February is the best time to see Venice or Florence). Here in central Italy the days are characterised by misty mornings, four hours or so of bright sunshine and cool nights. We headed up into the hills behind Orvieto, in search of long views across a deserted landscape and lunch.
The sight of Orvieto across the valley is almost exactly as the pilgrims would have seen it: the mass of volcanic rock rising high from the plain, and perhaps the most beautiful cathedral facade in the world. Pope Gregory XIII (I am sure I shall be corrected on this) said that if God came down from Heaven the only one of man’s works he would take back with him was Orvieto Cathedral.
We found a roadside trattoria we had earmarked on a previous trip. I find I can no longer eat a full Italian lunch so if we go out I tend to have antipasto and main course (unless there is something interesting on the pasta list, in which case no main course). This time we had starters of raw fennel in a peppery pinzimonio sauce and pressed goose with toast, followed by a pork chop and pieces of fillet steak wrapped in pig’s caul and barbecued, turnip tops blanched and sautéed in oil. This with a very decent bottle of mature Montalcino, coffee and tip cost €50 for two.
We had the roof down on the car while up in the hills but descending at around 4 pm hit a wall of dense, damp fog. A short but fun outing; always something new to see.
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