On to Montefalco and Villa Zuccari

Thursday, April 28, 2022
Montefalco, Umbria, Italy
After our power walk to the Trevi Fountain, we met up with our group. There are 16 of us: the leader, Cari and her husband Greg and another couple are from Telluride. There are 8 fabric artisans, many of whom have been on Cari’s trips before to Oaxaca, Peru, Santa Fe, Scotland, etc. and two husbands - one a photographer and the other who also enjoys weaving. There is a gal named Rae who grew up in Kailua and now lives in Portland!  My bag is still missing in action but is supposed to arrive in Rome at 10 am - after we leave. They are now having to drive it to our next hotel. Fingers crossed!
We drove north towards Montefalco in Umbria, and began to see castle-topped hill towns, wildflowers (poppies! my favorite!), wheat fields, olive groves and vineyards with the Apenines in the distance. We stopped for lunch in a hill town called Orvieto. It's famous for an underground labyrinth, where an Etruscan civilization flourished since the fifth century BC. We got a tour of the tunnels after lunch - it was fascinating!  The Estruscans were masters of hydraulics and built wells and cisterns to ensure the water supply. About 40 years ago, the restaurant owner bought and started renovating the restaurant. They discovered the underground wells and tunnels and spent the last 20 years excavating and restoring it with help from a museum society . All over town there are churches, homes, and shops with Estruscan tunnels and treasures beneath them. Over the many hundreds of years, the tunnels were used to store wine, oil and food, to escape war, and as a garbage dump in the middle ages for pottery and other waste. We saw evidence of various volcanic eruptions and 200,000 year old mangrove fossils. Many folks in town choose not to excavate under their property as it can be very expensive, so there are as yet undiscovered treasures. Check out more photos below. 
After the labyrinth, we headed for our first hotel - the Villa Zucarri in Montefalco - a large country house dating back to the 1800's. It's surrounded by centuries-old trees and almost 40,000 square meters of beautiful grounds. Our room has a gorgeous patio! We had a nice cocktail hour and dinner together and are so excited for truffle hunting tomorrow!

Comments

Lesley
2022-05-02

OMG! Sounds so fun. Eat extra of everything for me please.

Michael Patton
2022-05-03

Chairman MAO and I enjoying the posts

Diana
2022-05-03

Dinner looks yummy. The etruscans are a fascinating mystery. They have such beautiful art. Remember, I was telling you about the Museo Giulia in Rome which is devoted to all things Etruscan? How wonderful to see somewhere they actually lived.

Sarah D
2022-05-03

Great blog, Maia!!! I love all your photos and descriptions!!

Maile Ostrem
2022-05-03

Mahalo for sharing and taking us on the trip with you two!

Nancy L-S
2022-05-16

I totally agree with Lesley! Especially the cannolis!! So fun to be reading about your adventure.

2025-02-17

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