ORNARO
Ornaro is a beautiful medieval village set in the unspoilt scenery of the Monti Sabini. Click here to visit the Ornaro Web Site.
WATER
The tap water is drinkable, though some people prefer bottled water. However, the locals go to the fountain in the village square each day to fill their water bottles with the local spring water. If you continue down the path below the village square you will see the washing place should you prefer to do your washing in the traditional way and meet the village residents!
THE BAR/ SHOP
This is run by Mauro and his wife Daniella. They sell a small amount of ham, salami, cheese and milk, as well as tinned and bottled foods, also pasta and bread. Bread may be ordered for the next day and it usually arrives at about 9:00 - 9:30 am.
RIETI
This is the nearest large town with supermarket Tigre on your right at the entrance to the town. Rieti is an old fortified town, steeped in history. There are lots of interesting shops and boutiques and the city is also famous for being the centre of Italy, marked by a statue in Piazza S. Rufo.
At the top of via Roma is the main square where you can find (in our opinion) the best ice cream - served at the hotel Quatro Staggione or should you not like ice cream there is a wonderful chocolate shop in Piazza Guglielmo Oberdan called Cioccolateria Napoleone.
CALCATA
1 hr 10 min drive from the house is Calcata, perched on a rocky outcrop overlooking a wooded valley. Re-settled by artists, the small medieval settlement is a low-key attraction which offers a taste of an alternative Italy. An interesting off-the-beaten-track destination for a day trip, or a sight to visit when touring the region of Lazio.
CIVITA DI BAGNOREGIO
1 hr 40 minute car drive away isolated on an eroded spur of volcanic tufa, this improbably perched hamlet is famous as il paese che muore – the dying village. But patronage from the likes of Prince Charles and Unesco have helped shore up what's left of the slowly crumbling borgo, and today this once inaccessible community with a winter population of fewer than 20. Reached via a bracingly modern pedestrian bridge, Civita has little to offer beyond some craft shops and photogenic plant-draped tufa houses (the house where Saint Bonaventure was born has long since fallen into the valley along with dozens of others), but it's still an unmissable sight.
TORICELLA
This village is a little larger than Ornaro. Opposite the car park you will find a small supermarket (Alimentari), run by Gianfranco. The best butcher locally is found here in Toricella; continue into the centre of the village and turn left - the butcher's shop (Macelleria) is half way down the street on the left.
Click here to visit the Torricella Web Site.
ORVIETO
1 hr 30 min drive from the house is Orvieto, one of the most striking, memorable, and enjoyable hill towns in central Italy. Orvieto sits high above the valley floor atop a big chunk of tufo volcanic stone, overlooking cypress-dotted Umbrian plains. A visit here will reward you with a delightful, perfectly preserved, and virtually traffic-free world highlighted by a colorful-inside-and-out cathedral and some of Italy's best wine.
Orvieto's cathedral has a colorful, prickly Gothic facade, divided by four pillars, has been compared to a medieval altarpiece - a gleaming mass of mosaics, stained glass, and sculpture.
OTHER LOCAL PLACES OF INTEREST
Villa d’Este at Tivoli – UNESCO World Heritage Site
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1025
http://www.villadestetivoli.info/storiae.htm
Cascate delle Marmore - Italy’s tallest waterfall and the highest man-made waterfall in Europe
http://www.marmorefalls.it/home.php?lang=eng
Greccio - Sanctuary to St. Francis of Assisi
http://www.visitgreccio.com/en
Viterbi - Papal City
‘Park of the Monsters’ at Bomarzo