Getting to Orvieto

Saturday April 16

At the the train station in Perugia, I met an elderly Italian gentleman and we had a conversation in Italian about train connections and binario(platform) locations. I guess I seem to attract Italian men over the age of 70, because he invited me to have coffee. I politely declined and made my way to the binario.

While waiting, I met a very nice Filippino journalist who now lives in Finland and writes for an online China information site, www.radio86.com. She had been in Perugia for the International Journalism Festival. She spoke English and we shared stories about the differences between our cultures. Her name was Geni, and we sat together on the train till I had to change trains at Terontola-Cortona.

While waiting for the train to Chiusi, I met a Romanian girl named Maria, who spoke Russian, Italian and very little, but some English. She was going to visit a friend and we shared a seat and conversed mostly in Italian until we went our separate ways. I never feel alone here, as people are friendly and I like to talk to people. Thank God for my Italian teacher, Lori, who gave me enough encouragement and taught me the skills I would need to be able to communicate in Italian.

Once in Chiusi, I boarded a train bound for Orvieto and arrived a little more than two hours after starting out in Perugia. Since Orvieto sits on top of a hill, there is a funicular to take to the top at a cost of one euro. It seems like a lot of work to get from one place to another in Italy sometimes, but in my next post, I will write about the charm of Orvieto.