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Month: May 2016

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Bobo’s Trattoria: Good Energy!

It’s funny to me how travelers are disinclined to walk just 5 minutes away from the tourist zone to find a restaurant filled with locals (not tourists) that offers double the joy, taste, and memories. (At Antica Trattoria da Tito in Florence you pay about $10 per plate, and I splurged about $40 for a corposo bottle of Brunello di Montalcino — from the Altesino Winery, which we filmed last week.)  When researching, I spend my days working on sight listings and my evenings sussing out the restaurant scene for my guidebook. And at the end of the evening, my treat: I eat at my favorite place. But before I sit down, I always take a moment to walk through the restaurant just to feel the vibe, assess the clientele, and look at the food being served. During my little spin here, I bumped into Bobo, the chef and owner. He took the words right out of my mouth: “Good energy!” Tip: To dine in a high-energy place like this, come early for more sanity…late for less sanity.

This is Day 22 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.

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Orvieto’s Sistine-like Chapel of San Brizio

Orvieto Cathedral’s Chapel of San Brizio is one of the most jaw-dropping pieces of art you’ll see in Italy. Painted by Luca Signorelli (who inspired Michelangelo), it’s a twisted and vivid look at the psyche of the late 1400s. It’s so fun to be updating my guidebook to Italy with a good local guide (David Tordi helped me in Orvieto). I slipped in a busy day of research in Orvieto after saying good-bye to our film crew in Assisi and before reporting for guidebook duty in Florence. And I’m glad I did. I love Orvieto.

 

This is Day 21 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.

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Deep in the Heart of Orvieto

While it gets plenty of tourists, Orvieto (two hours north of Rome) is a town whose historic and artistic importance is underappreciated. Orvieto was a thriving Etruscan city centuries before Christ. The Romans had it under siege for two years before defeating it. Since Romans didn’t need to bother with hill-town defenses, the city lay in ruins for 700 years until Rome fell. Due to the chaos that came with the power vacuum left by the fall of Rome (rampaging barbarians chasing the meek out of the valleys), hill towns were once again in vogue. So medieval Orvieto was born on the ruins of the Etruscan city that once capped its hilltop. Today, the entire bluff is honeycombed with Etruscan caves and exploring them is fascinating. Here’s a quick look at a very old and very deep well — one of many such 2,500-year-old sights in Orvieto.

 

This is Day 20 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.