Week 3

* Cold, cold, and more cold *

This week, Orvieto experienced something very rare to the area: SNOW! Plenty of snow too. Each night over the weekend, without fail, a steady wave of snow fell from the sky, coating the ground...and canceling our trip to Assisi! The result: a long weekend spent primarily indoors watercoloring and staying warm.

Really, therefore, there are only two things to talk about. Number one, watercolors, and number two, how absolutely beautiful Orvieto is covered in a layer of snow.

Watercoloring has been much more exciting since Rome! There are many sources of inspiration, including those seen here, the Parthenon, the Triumphal Arch, and the Colloseum. So far, I am caught up to one watercolor per day. I was sick last week, but most days I have indeed been able to get up early in the morning to paint. However, now that it is cold, most of these watercolors occur from pictures while I am indoors.

The next exciting thing is Orvieto in the snow. Samantha, Will, and I spent some time outdoors taking snow pictures until our fingers froze and making an adorable, opera-singing snowman.

Then we found a cafe and unsuccessfully tried to indulge in cake and hot chocolate. We accidentally ordered one extra cake and one extra hot chocolate than we intended, and, unfortunately, the cake was mediocre and hot chocolate in Italy is just a cup of melted chocolate, too rich to really drink; quite the adventure, however!

The next day, Samantha and I took a trip up into the tallest tower in Orvieto. From here, we could see the entire expanse of the city as well as miles and miles of rolling Italian hills. What a breathtaking site! The snow covered the Italian rooftops and the Duomo stood like a giant monument amidst the buildings. Sam and I jumped so high when the bell at the top of the tower (conveniently right next to us) started to loudly toll the hour! After we got down from the tower, we were able to stop at a church and some local shops to supplement our winter tour of the town. The neat thing is, churches are tucked in everywhere! The outsides will seem inconspicuous, but then, as you enter, a whole new world of color and ornate design comes to life. It is like entering a secret garden! It is incredible to think that many of them are older than the United States itself.

Anyway, that pretty much concludes this week. The market was cancelled due to the snow, so we had to spend a little extra money to buy groceries in the supermarche this week, but we eat well here. Lots of pasta and pizza, and then some ratitoulli and vegitable dishes, and Sam makes this killer cooked cabbage salad. Plus, a couple nights we spent at our local favorite restaurant, Zepplin, where the guy in charge, Vito Paolo, is very nice, and always gives lots of free goodies to us (mostly loading my classmates up with Italian wine), probably since we are good business!

Well, hopefully next week is more exciting as we travel to Florence!!

Ciao,

Jess