The Royal Baths

Bagnoregio is a suburb of Civita -- a city near Todi that's documented as early as the 600s, and was probably in existence well before then.  The name of the town derives from the thermal springs located there (although I haven't been able to figure out if one can visit the springs now...), which (one guesses) were visited by royalty?

Bagnoregio aside (although it's darling), our main goal was Civita.  However, Civita is -- to say the least -- not reachable by car.  In fact, it is largely a ghost town, as a result of major earthquake in the late 1600s -- the population varies from 12 in the winter to around 100 in the summer.

Given its fragility, you have to park in Bagnoregio and then walk to the ancient town via a bridge which handily looks flat in the photos (suckering you into going) and then turns out to be a nice steep walk.  It's a good thing we've been getting our workouts in Todi!  The remarkable thing about this town is its position -- apparently floating in midair.  It's on a pedestal of very friable rock, high above the surrounding valley.  Based on photos, it's particularly amazing on those misty days, when it looks as though it's on an island.

Jim & Sharon and I actually had set off for Orvieto, to go to the gelato festival.  In the car, though, I recalled that this place had been described to me as very photogenic.  Jim likes taking photos. I'd never been.  Sounds like a good outing, no? We changed tracks, and made it to Bagnoregio without incident.

I've been to a number of small towns in the area, and many of them have limited to no parking in the town itself.  Combine this with a "shuttle stop" for Civita, and you will readily understand that I parked in the first available spot -- doing a tidy job with my parallel parking, I must say.

Turned out to have been a bad call in this case -- well, at least somewhat.  We ended up having a lovely walk through town, but it added about 2 1/2 miles to our walk, which would not have been a cakewalk in any case. However, we eventually made it to the sign (in a parking lot) for "Staircase to Civita" -- and were caught up short by the view of this town.  Quite magnificent.  Wow.

On the way, we got to examine a grotto favored by St. Bonaventure, who was born in Civita in 1217 or thereabouts. Down the stairs, down the hill (we'd come up a hill to get to this point), to the bridge (I'm thinking Bears in the Night, for those of you who have kids & can relate to children's literature), down the bridge, up the bridge, through the arch, and...tada! We were there!  And boy were we ready for some lunch!

We had a delightful lunch outside, then wandered around the town.  Charming!

Back home via Orvieto, the sunroof open, the wind in our hair, and a gelato (lemon!) in our future.

Our first glimpse

The landscape was really more like a moonscape.

St. Bonaventure's cave

Irises growing wild 

Eeyore!

Still a way off!

These trees grow wild...some type of locust?

View from the carpark just next to the bridge

Yes, it IS going up!

Hi, cuties!

The cliffs are riddled with caves (read: holes!)

A cave dating to Etruscan times

The main piazza

Love,

Alexandra

Market

For the past couple of days there has been a market in the main square, namely, the Piazza del Popolo. There are maybe 16 stalls, but I'm no good at estimates, particularly from memory. They are out there selling anything from rusty keys to old linens to brightly coloured toys to bracelets to leather hand bags to antique furniture. You get the picture. Lots of stalls, lots of variety. Yesterday, I saw some gloves. I really liked these gloves. These gloves were cream. And lacy. And my style. And for summer. And they fit. Mummy bought these incredible gloves for me. I suspect that they are not new, in fact, I'm almost certain that when they were made they were in style but I am positive they are hand made. They are beautiful. Here are some pictures:

I am really pleased about them. 

Ciao,

Florence

When life gives you lemons...

...make lemon gelato?

Or at least that's what I think should happen.  I'm a lemon gelato fan.  I go to the gelateria and I am determined to try something different...but then I can't.  It's so cooling.  So refreshing. So clean.  There's nothing quite like it!

We went into one of the newer gelaterias today (yes, they already know my penchant for lemon), and they were out of lemon. Impossible! And worse, inconceivable! I tried and I tried, and after considerable reflection (and tasting the equivalent of a single cone's worth of gelato), was almost reconciled to a combination of tiramisu and caffe.

Just then, Miriam (the daughter) walked in and overheard the problem.  She cheerfully indicated that it was no problem, the gelato only needed to be frozen, 5 minutes and I could have my fix.

Five minutes? Of course I'll wait five minutes for lemon gelato.

Her dad, Massimo, had to run out to get the (prepared liquid?  Wasn't clear)...whatever. He winked as he left and said that it might be closer to thirty minutes before it was in our mouths, but I said no problem.

He walked back in within a few minutes carrying...a bag of lemons.  Yes, you guessed it.  I was about to have lemon gelato made just for me.

Fifteen minutes (and one cappuccino) later, she came out bearing a stainless steel container of ambrosia.

Love,

Alexandra
(I did suggest to Jim that I tell her I'd changed my mind & I'd just as soon have strawberry -- but he said they might not think it as funny as I did, even if I told them I was only joking)

Now THAT'S Custom-Made!

One of the things I love about being in the land of artisans is the wonderful opportunity to order customized items.  If you go in a shop and love an item, but would prefer x to be y, you ask and it can generally be done. Well, today it was taken one step further.

Michael's napkin ring

Mine is the one by itself at the bottom

My in-laws have arrived (welcome, Jim & Sharon!), so Sharon and I went to Deruta today...I had to pick up my (custom) olive oil jar made by Cristina.  At the same time, I was taking my beloved mug (a present from Bonnie and Bob -- thank you!) back to my little old lady who made it because obviously I needed a teapot to match (my older one has developed a crack; overuse injury, possibly?).

The way the ceramics work in Deruta is that the forms (blanks? Called biscotti here -- they are bisque-fired objects in clay) are purchased from a factory's catalog by the artist, who then uses glazes and an immense amount of talent and artistic vision to create designs and beauty.  The best objects are those whose forms really work with the pattern on top.  Given that we are starting with a particular pattern in mind to match my mug, it was important that we find a form that would work well.

She and I pulled out the catalog and discussed the merits of the various forms available. It didn't take her long to say, "This is silly...with the size you want, we'll just get my son-in-law to make it."  As in, he would hand-build the teapot itself just for me!  How cool is that? He happened to enter at that moment, so she pulled him over, he made a sketch or two, and -- no problem!

While I was there, I couldn't possibly go home empty handed (Michael would be so disappointed if I didn't have more stuff to put in the house).  So from my sweet old lady, I picked up the napkin rings I'd asked her to make for us previously that she had promised me for today, and a fruit bowl from one of the (I think) most talented and meticulous artists in the town.  To my immense surprise, I learned today that she doesn't use a marking pencil or stencil when doing her designs (most do, if only to make sure the spacing is correct and so on!).  Incredible, as I think you'll agree on looking at the pictures.

Love,

Alexandra

All done by eye -- no pencil sketches!

Isn't the amount of detailed work stunning?

Hard to resist a footed bowl, in my opinion

Going Back Hundreds of Years in Narnia

Happy Labor Day! May 1 is Italy's annual Labor Day holiday, so the kids were off school. Ann, Jeremy, and I went to Narni yesterday to visit the town during its annual medieval festival.

We drove rather directly, stopping on the way periodically to take pictures of roadside flowers, with the intention of returning via a different route.  Narni is a lovely medieval town (after which C.S. Lewis supposedly named Narnia -- I thought he'd visited the town, but it turns out that I misunderstood -- he'd seen the name in an atlas when he was younger & just loved the name; rather prescient as it turns out...look at the pictures and I think you'll get what I mean.  The landscape is SO "Narnian"!) set in a beautiful landscape.

We first went into the church of San Francesco, and as we emerged heard a rousing drum beat. Assuming that something very exciting was about to happen, off we set to find out the source!  Rounding a corner, we saw these pint-sized little drummers all gussied up.  They start 'em young here!  They were absolutely precious, so we willingly joined the procession with them!

In Narni

Narni's Duomo

We visited La Rocca, the fortress that dates to the 1300s.  Fascinating location (and a delightful walk!). On the way home, we visited several little towns, screeched to a halt to take pics of beautiful flowers, and dodged a 12" lizard crossing the road.

Cheers!

Alexandra

Don't you love the streets?

A few people in costumes!

Aren't they adorable?

We were quite taken with the space-saving solution provided by this staircase!

The landscape is so Narnian!

We loved the undulating hills.

A game: you try to hit the nut with a mallet as it rolls across the lower platform!

Narni in the distance.  The fortress was designed
 partly to protect the town,
and partly to remind the townspeople
 that, yes, the pope WAS watching.

The frescoed ceiling of the fortress's chapel

In the chapel

Corner detail

Leaving Narni, we saw this on the hill.

I couldn't resist a trip to Torregentile ("Kind Tower")...
turned out to be rather an enigma actually --
but the irises against the steps took my fancy.