When we got to the cruise terminal, our driver from Catania Tour was already waiting for us. Therefore, it was not an issue of contacting him the night before. The drive to Civita di Bagnoregio was less than 2 hours. During our conversation, we found out the driver was from Sicily and the conversation was naturally moved to the volcano eruption in Mount Etna. He told us that it is a normal event for all Sicilians which happens almost daily and no one there pay too much attention to it. He also explained to us that Civita and Bagnoregio are two towns which merged as one. The soil condition near Civita has been eroded to a point they lost the road between these two towns. When this happened, people in Civita were worried about their house could be crumbling as the underlying support falls away and started to move out. Now there are only 5 families living in Civita. All others are just workers there and they commute in and out of the town for work opportunities. They since built a bridge to connect these two towns. Therefore, one has to walk along this narrow bridge to reach Civita.
The town was placed on the World Monuments Fund's 2006 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites, because of threats it faces from erosion and unregulated tourism.
The view from the starting point before the suspension bridge and all the way to the entry of the town is just breath-taking. It is impossible to not click the camera away to capture this magical view.
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| Civita di Bagnoregio |
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| On the bridge connecting to Civita di Bagnoregio |
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| Entrance of Civita di Bagnoregio |
The town has quite a few restaurants and B&Bs. One can walk around and has a most stunning panoramic views of the whole Lazio region.
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| On the back side of Civita di Bagnoregio |
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| Beautiful garden in Civita di Bagnoregio |
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| Main square in Civita di Bagnoregio |
Then we drove about half an hour to Orvieto which is one of the most striking, memorable, and enjoyable hill town in central Italy. Orvieto sits majestically high above the valley floor atop a big chunk of tuff (tufo in Italian) volcanic stone, overlooking cypress-dotted Umbrian plains.
Our derive drop us right next to Duomo di Orvieto which is known for its dynamic facade, optical-illusion interior. We got some info from information center on the square in front of it and have about 2 hours to wondering around this delightful, perfectly preserved, and virtually traffic-free town.
The Duomo di Orvieto is the highlight of this town and we spent a lot of time taking photos.
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| Duomo di Orvieto |
Then, we walked along Corso Cavour which is the main street of Orvieto with many shops and restaurants. We had wonderful time there.
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| Piazza della Repubblica, Orvieto, Italy |
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| Art Street in Orvieto, Italy |
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| From the top of Palazzo del Popolo |
In late afternoon, Koningsdam sailed again for our 2nd leg of the cruise “12-day Mediterranean Legends”.
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