Discovering Italy's Wine Towns

Orvieto’s Duomo is a popular tourist attraction, and the city’s delightful alleyways – interesting buildings, palaces, and shops selling appealing ceramics and other local products – gave us plenty to do the next day. At the Museo Archeologico were many more Etruscan treasures, and we were able to learn fascinating details about that era of the area's history. We climbed a tower in the center of town offering sweeping views of the city. I wandered in and out of the pottery shops in search of the perfect piece with which to return home. Of course, we had to make an occasional stop at a sidewalk cafe for a refreshing glass of Orvieto wine.

We planned to visit more Etruscan towns upon leaving Orvieto, but had no particular destination in mind. It was a gloomy, damp day, and we didn’t see anyplace in our travels that enticed us to stay. It was getting late, and we were beginning to worry that we would have to look for lodging in Rome, an intimidating prospect. I noticed a sign for Frascati, indicating it was only a few kilometers away. In the preceding days, we had been fortunate in our choices of towns for which wines are named, so I suggested we head to Frascati.

Fred declared, “But we don’t like Frascati wine.”

I pointed out that we hadn’t been crazy about the wine from Orvieto either, but sipping it while in the shadows of the lovely Duomo had given us a better appreciation for it. So once again, we headed off to a wine town that we could see on a hilltop not far away. As we arrived, the late afternoon sun suddenly broke through the clouds and shone down on a beautiful square that, to our amazement, was lined with palm trees! Our spirits lifted, and we parked our car in order to take a look around. There were throngs of people in the streets, out for a passagiata, the traditional evening stroll. Moving with the crowd, we soon found ourselves in a smaller square that was ringed with stands selling roasted pork. Oh, the aromas in that square! People were carrying away slabs of pork wrapped in white butcher paper for their evening meal, or simply grabbing a sandwich to snack on during their stroll. The temptation was too great to resist, so we bought sandwiches and sat down at a nearby sidewalk bar to enjoy some Frascati wine with our delicious porchetta. We spotted a small pensione across the square that would be an ideal spot to spend the night. Luck was with us, and we were soon settled into a lovely room with a balcony overlooking the square and views of Rome’s lights twinkling in the distance.

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