Christmas Fun

We walked down to the parking area and there were already a couple of people setting up their own section. We met a man and he took us to his workshop to pick out stuff that we might want for the nativity. The workshop was very stuffy and crowded with old, broken and repaired furniture. We didn't find anything that we thought would be suitable so he took us farther down on another street (what we found out later) under the church.There was a big room and then some smaller rooms jutting off of the big one. The first one was covered in random human bones and skeletons that were put in a corner. There was even a preserved body that had the beard of two-meter tall man intact. The man wanted to be dressed like a monk for when he would meet God, and he did, but he wasn't a monk. He was from the 18th century.

Next we walked into a small room with no windows and it was very dark in there. The "tour guide" told us that it used to be a prison. There were two small tables, a chair and a stone bench. Next we walked into another small area where there was a Roman house. Most of it was ruined, but there were some spots where the Roman floor was still put together and there were the remains of some of the walls. In another corner there were some more bones and towards the back there was a whole woman skeleton. It was really neat to see her just lying down on her back on the floor of the house. I think she was about my height.

We found a table, chairs, a bucket from the 16th century, pots, a lantern in the Roman style and many other things that would be perfect for the nativity because they were so old. Most of these things would have been put in a museum right away in the US, but here they're normal. The next room we went into was full of different artifacts from the church and the area. They were sorted into different time periods and materials. There were clay pots and plaster molds for hands and other body parts everywhere. There were boxes and boxes of just the coolest Roman things that would have been used in everyday living. Apparently there are people still working on sorting all of the artifacts out.

We went down a level where there was another human skeleton with a rat skeleton sitting on it. It was quite interesting. They were both very old, but mostly intact.

After hauling the ancient furniture up the street and to our set-up place, we got everything ready and I went home to create some bread dough. When it was time, we all went down to get dressed in our costumes at the church. All the women, men, and children wore long dresses and the women and girls wore veils. When we were done getting dressed, we headed into the piazza where Mary, Joseph, and the donkey were going to start the procession. We all walked up to the steps of San Fortunato and stayed there while the priest read the Gospel and a song was sung. Then a teen playing the bagpipes started and we all headed out with the huge crowd below us. There were hundreds of people watching us.

Some of the people had torches and there were lots of us dressed up. We processed to the main piazza and stayed there for a little while before we moved down to another street. They ones who were going to be part of the show below in the parking lot went down the short way to finish setting up while the rest of the crowd and torch holders went the longer way. The animals and other families were setting up and we got into our places. There were already another hundred of people down there. We got into our places and went into action. We were the family from the time of Jesus so we were each doing an activity from that time period. Jeremy was making a fishnet and Daddy and James were repairing one. Eleanor was sewing, Mummy was knitting, I was making bread, and Florence was  grinding wheat. The whole crowd made its way down to where we were and there were a couple of hours of pictures and eating from the other people. They were handing out bruschetta (bread that had been cooked over a real fire, smothered with olive oil and sprinkled with salt). It started to rain a little, but it held out long enough. The crowd was told that we were packing up and we got ready to go.

I must say I was only expecting a few people to come watch us and a few unsure looks, but it was much more than that. A lot of people came to see us and I was glad to be a part of it. It was strange to walk into the piazza in the costumes and slippers, but once everyone knew what was going on, I didn't feel so uncomfortable. I was totally having fun when a whole crowd of people came out wearing a costume like mine. With the crowds showing up... I must have had my jaw dropped because I wasn't thinking anyone would be interested in the activity because this is the first year it's ever been done. I was exhausted by the end, but it was worth it. I really had my doubts when Mummy told me that I had to be in this live nativity and procession and that it would be so cute and fun.

Yes, that sheep wasn't very happy. We were all cracking up when this
poor man was trying to get this mad sheep into the nativity area. 

There were a wood workshop and a blacksmith's workshop

This was before most of the crowd came...

We had a real baby for Jesus!

Mary, Joseph, and the donkey

Love,
Ashley