San Clemente church was built in the 1200’s and a priest who lived there kept hearing running water at night when it was quiet and he couldn’t sleep.  No one else could hear it and they thought he was crazy.  One day, for whatever reason, he started chipping the plaster off the wall in the back of the sanctuary and found two sealed up archways.  He called a friend who was an archeologist excavating the Coloseum and the friend said, ‘Wow! There is something behind these arches.’  And it wasn’t the gift shop like it is today!!  It was the remains of a 4th century church.  So, they dug out tons of dirt and found frescoes and rooms and passageways and the tomb of two men…one being St. Clement. They knew it was a church but couldn’t find the altar which should have been there somewhere.  They could still hear water running, but couldn’t find it.  So they excavated even more and found the remains of a 2nd century church and the running water which is park of the acquaduct system of Rome which has been there for thousands of years.  And it is still running today…as strong as ever.  Bringing fresh drinking water to the city of Rome.  You can still drink water from any of the hundreds -probably thousands – of drinking fountains in Rome today.  Constant running water.  Well, back to the church.  They the. Found the remains of a Pagan temple along side the  2nd century church.  Found the pagan altar…but where was the Christian altar from the 4th century?  Lo and behold….they discovered that the 4th century altar was upstairs in the 12th century church, where it remain to this day.  As we kept going down to each level of the excavations of the church, you realize that they were at ground level and ground level keeps going down.  They believe there is something below the 2nd century church at San Clemente.  And there is something under almost every street and building in Rome!  Case in point is the new Subway line they are building…for 26 years.  When something is found, digging stops, and the archeologists come in and tell the diggers if they can continue digging or must move the line around whatever they have found.  The two previous subway lines just plowed right through destroying no telling what because the Archeology and Ancient Ruins Department (or whatever it is called) wasn’t established then.  If you can find a copy of James Mitchner’s book, The Source, it tells of the different levels of civilization in Israel.  

After San Clemente, we went to The Bone Church.  It is located on Via Veneto and was the home of Capuchin Friars.  One of the Friars was the brother of a Pope and asked his brother for some of the family land to build a new church for the Friars as theirs was old and drafty and crumbling.  They built the present day church and then dug up the bones of three thousand of their fellow and dearly departed brethren and wheeled them across town to the new church.  Rather than reburied, the bones were used to artistically decorate the walls and ceilings of the small chapels in the crypt.  Walls of skulls with niches for clothed skeletons, star bursts of leg and finger bones, and clavicles etc.  Every evening, the present day Friars walk the corridor and visit their departed brethren and pray in one of the five small chapels.  There are some regular burial plots in the floor and I assume that is where they are now buried when they die.  There is a very new and very nice museum attached to the bone church now, telling the history of the Capuchins which is an off shoot of the Fransiscans, founded by St. Francis.  After this wonderful tour, we met our friend, Kimberly at our favorite Lebanese restaurant for a delicious dinner.  We all liked this one.

As you might have noticed, I found the blog for June 9 that I thought I had lost, so posted the original yesterday.  Don’t know where it went, where it has been and how it showed up!  

Have had a busy week.  After Andy’s friends left, we cleaned house and did laundry to get ready for Evan’s visit.  Evan is my son who lives in New York.  Have I ever mentioned that one load of wash takes two hours and fifteen minutes to cycle?  Gets the clothes clean…but is really hard on the clothes.  The washers are supposed to be energy efficient.  We will see when we get our electric bill.  Evan arrived on Sunday afternoon, and I met him at the Metro stop near our house.  He had been in Barcelona for five days at a music festival and was cross-eyed tired.  We had dinner downstairs and visited awhile and he went to sleep.  On Monday, he and I went to Torre Argentina to see my cat who was again hiding in the ruins.  Then we walked to the Ghetto and had lunch.  From there, we wandered the streets and ended up at the Pantheon.  Facing the Pantheon,  on the right is a street and at the end of the block is a gelato, frozen yogurt place that has pink grapefruit frozen yogurt.  Wow!  Is it good!  We got some and sat on the wall of the Pantheon to eat it.  Got to talking to a lovely couple from England.  Wife asked if we had any idea where the Pantheon was, not realizing they were sitting on the west wall of it.  Turns out, they are from Shrewsbury…a town I have stayed in twice.  Once in 1980 and again in 1981.  They have a B&B there, and I hope to visit one day.  Then, Evan and I walked home.  He and I went to eat at an all you can eat Japanese restaurant.  I liked it…he didn’t.  But, when you eat pizza and pasta enough, anything different is delicious!    

On Tuesday, we had a quiet morning at home, then went to Piazza Barbarini to meet our tour of the Catacombs, St. Clemente church and the Bone Church.  This tour was excellent, and I would recommend it highly!  First, we bussed to the Appian Way, one of the most ancient roads in Rome where St. Cecelia’s catacombs are located.  The burial grounds in Ancient Rome were built outside the city walls because the Romans were very afraid of ghosts and they believed the dead bodies wandered around at night.  There are hundreds of Catacombs around Rome, but only 5 are open to the public.  The others are either not excavated enough or are dangerous.  We went into a section that housed the remains of pagans and early Christians and the remains of 16 ancients pope’s or Saints.  The have found 9 of the 16 popes.  You would know that someone very important was buried in a spot because the floor would be paved with marble and there would be beautiful frescoes on the walls around the tombs.  The air supply in these chambers would last for only about thirty minutes, so the artists would have to make many trips up and down to paint.  Also, writings have been found that tell of the 16 popes buried here.  The catacombs here were named after a woman named Cecelia whose remains were found here.  A beautiful marble statue has been comissioned by a woman named Cecelia from New York depicting how the original Cecelia’s  body was found.  After we finished this tour, we went to St. Clemente church.  Andy and I had been there a couple of months earlier, but with no guide, we had no idea what we were seeing.  I will continue later with the story of this amazing place.  

Yesterday, Andy’s friends Jane and Rhoades arrived from Maryland.  After a short rest, they went on a Hop-a-Bus tour of Rome and I went to the quilt store.  When I walked in, two of my dear quilting sisters were there and we hugged and double kissed (each cheek as the Italians do) and had a quick visit.  I had lunch and went back to the house.  We had dinner downstairs, compliments of J & R and went to bed.  Today, we headed for Orvieto.  When we arrived by train, we went to the upper town, got maps and found our convent.  It is a huge place with a magnificent garden.  They also have a succulent garden all in individual pots.  We got our rooms and headed out to check out the town.  I went by and saw the pottery lady who made one of my favorite beads…it is black and is an interpretation of an Etruscan bead.  I wear it on a silver chain.  She was very pleased to see me wearing it today.  Then I stopped to say hello to a man who makes olive wood articles.  Evan has a lidded dish that I bought there several years ago.  We had lunch on the ‘main drag’ and then came back to rest up before dinner.  About six we went for cocktails and then went for a seafood dinner.  I ordered stuffed sardines.  I had them in a cooking class in Sicily a year or so ago, and they were better in Sicily.  Andy and I both got mussels with pepper and that was excellent. We got a mixed grill seafood platter to share and then Jane and Rhoades got risotto with seafood and spaghetti with clams.  Way too much food.  But it was good.  We got back to the convent and one of the Sisters took us to show us the breakfast room.  Long ago it was where the priests sang, and there is a 300 year old fresco on the wall.  There is a small church attached, but it is being restored.  This is a beautiful place to stay…would be interesting to know what all the rooms were used for back in the day.  I think Sister Giovanna would give us a tour later in our stay.  The view out our window is beautiful…overlooking the garden, the valley below this hill town and the hills beyond.  There is even an old castle in the distance.  Tomorrow there is a tour of Etruscan Underground sites.  Thursday and Saturday are market days.  Friday we want to do a tour of the Duomo and a walking tour of the town.  Saturday there is an Arts & Crafts fair and then we leave for Bagnorigio.  There is also a Medieval Fair this weekend.  There are huge, beautiful banners hung all around the town and bouquets of flowers along the old walls tied with streaming ribbons.  This should be fun!  Stay tuned.  For those of you who  enjoy books about Italy, this is the  town where Elena DeBlassi lives.  She wrote A Thousand Days in Venice, A Thousand Days in Tuscany…a Summer in Sicily…I think that is the name.  Very enjoyable, informative reads.  

One thing I forgot to mention about Bagnorigio is the number of cats there.  They all seem to be fed and watered, but there is a definite lack of spaying and neutering.  And vetting.  Fewer cats might mean better cared for cats.  I was having a coffee in a little outdoor cafe and saw a cat coming down a path…and a dog on a leash coming up the hill.  When they met, the cat hissed at the dog – and he would have taken flight if not attached to his leash!  Scared the whey out of him…and everyone who saw it laughed out loud!  

Today, we got a free water taxi ride to Murano to visit a glass factory.  The factories have this service hoping you will buy their glass after the demonstration of glass blowing.  After the tour, we went to Burano where the lace is made.  The restaurant we planned to go to,was closed, so a shopkeeper told us of another place to go…Bar Sport.  It was excellent for the seafood we had. She said it wasn’t fancy…just good food.  We sat outside under an awning and there was a downpour.  Every other table had to go inside but we stayed dry til it stopped.  Went to a few of the shops and saw lace being made by an 87 year old woman.  One of 7 who will make the one piece.  We have heard it takes 7 women to make a piece and each woman does a different pattern.  Such beautiful work and soon to be a lost art.  The women will come and sew for about 2 hours each day and it takes about a month to make a doily.  After Burano, we went to Torcello…another island close to Burano.  Not much there except two old churches, a couple of shops and a beautiful venue for special events.  Looked like it was set up for a wedding and as we were leaving, people were arriving in party clothes.  Back to Venice.  As we were on the Grand Canal, I saw a yacht that was very large and it was flying a very large British flag with the Prince of Wales feather emblem on it.  Maybe he was here?  And speaking of ships….there were four MONSTER cruise ships docked here when we arrived.  There is a push to ban them from Venice.  They are ridiculously out of place here in this picturesque city.  It started pouring down rain as we were headed back to the convent, so we ducked into a hotel restaurant for a delicious dinner.  I had tagliatelle with chicken bits, mild peppers and a creamy curry sauce.  Even tho it was a pasta, it was very different from the typical pasta and very good.  The rain stopped long enough for us to,dash Bach to the convent and get to bed.  Another great day.

i can’t find my already published blogs to see where I left off, but I think the last one was in Orvieto.  So, I’ll continue with our trip to Bagnorigio.  We found out where the bus would pick us up to go to Bagnorigio, but there was a festival in town, so the market had moved to the bus parking lot and the bus was picking up in the town below where we would,catch the funicular, but it wasn’t running and all the busses going down were PACKED full, so we got a cab.  Got on the big bus to Bagnorigio and it let us out in the middle of the lower town.  We had about a 30 minute hike thru town to get to the start of the bridge to do another 30 minute hike UP HILL!   Finally made it to the top and the group stopped for a beer while I went to sign us into the B&B.  The owner, Franco was there and he is a character.  He has 3-4 young women working for him and he is the greeter and schmoozer.  Pictures all over the walls of him and famous – and not so famous people.  Including Rick Steves.  There are only three rooms in the B&B, but they are very nice and face the square which is in front of the cathedral.  Not much to do in Bagnorigio except look at the beautiful scenery and all the flowers in bloom in this ancient hill town.  Only about 20 people live here and the rest make the up and down hike twice a day.  No cars are allowed in the town.  The only small motorized vehicles must have a special permit to go up to take supplies to restaurants.  We never saw any.  This is a place to go to get away from the cares of the world and decide what you want to be when you grow up.  The dinner we had at Franco’s restaurant,  downstairs from the bedrooms, was excellent.  We slept wonderfully and had a big breakfast the next morning before heading back downhill.  There is no bus to Orvieto on Sunday’s, so one of his staff met us at the bottom and drove us to the train station. We caught the train to Venice.  It stopped at every wide spot in the road between Or into and Venice…and we still weren’t there.  This train stops at the Fenice Mestere station and we still needed to get to the Santa Lucia station in Venice proper.  So,we bought another train ticket for the 15 minute ride across the water.  Bought a three day boat pass and got to St. Mark’s Square and to the convent where we stay.  We had dinner at a seafood restaurant and walked a bit and went to bed.  

Had a quiet morning just wandering around the town.  Last night at dinner, we had noticed lots of photos on the walls of musicians.  I was very surprised to see one that looked like my opera singer friend, Sarah Davis.  She and I met at an Italian Language meet up a couple of years ago.  Well, she wrote me and told me she had stayed in the same convent we were in while going to Italian school.  Two years in a row for two months each time, and she sang in Orvieto.  So yes, that is Sarah’s picture on the wall of the restaurant!  Another small world deal.  I had lunch at a little hole in the wall and had Porchetta that was very lean and good.  I made this choice to be able to pat and play with a little French bulldog named Cesare…pronounced Chess-a-ray.  I believe he owns this little restaurant.  Cesare got to be a bit of a handful barking at other dogs, so he was dispatched upstairs to take a nap.  After lunch, we met for a walking tour of Orvieto.  It was very interesting and we learned of a local architect hundreds of years ago who designed several administrative buildings in town and he carved a beautiful 4 person Pieta in the Duomo from one piece of Carrara marble.  After the walking tour we had a tour of the Duomo.  The Duomo of,Orvieto has one of the most impressive and beautiful facades of any church in Italy.  Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, her life is depicted in colorful and gold mosaics.  For huge panels are carved from white marble and tell the Story of Creation, the Old Testament Prophets, the family tree of King David  to Jesus and the Book of Revelation.  Inside in a chapel, is Signorelli’s depiction of Judgement Day where Michelangelo is thought to have been inspired for his Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.  After our tour we went to a new place for dinner.  I didn’t like it…my favorite in Orvieto…pasta and bild boar sauce…but this was tasteless with tomato source, which I don’t care for.  We did have some really exceptional meals in Orvieto and we look forward to going back this year.

Yesterday was a quiet but fun day.  First, we toured the garden here at the convent.  Half is mostly dedicated to herbs and small lowers and half is a rose garden.  Fruit trees are sprinkled in both halves, trellises bridge the center path, covered in wisteria and Confederate Jasmine.  Easter lilies line the perimeter.  Tiny violets and strawberries peek out here and there.  Beautiful hydrangeas in full bloom as are the roses.  Small statues litter the garden…most look very old.  On one ancient wall of the garden are plaques of the Stations of the Cross, so this could be used as an outdoor church during Lent.  We fed the two convent cats Nerony and Nerina who live in an enclosed courtyard garden.  Both are jet black with huge yellow eyes.  They are brother and sister and are ‘fixed’.  The Sisters were very emphatic about that.  

Then we went to the Market that is held on Thursdays and Saturdays.  Booths set up to sell almost anything…clothes, shoes, fabric, beads, dried fruits and nuts, cheeses, fresh vegetables, meats, fish, household goods, handbags and scarves and hats and on and on.    The. We went to a ceramic shop and bought a salt and pepper shaker set to send to the Cooking School lady as another apology for standing her up on Wednesday.  Got that to Mailboxes, Etc and on its way.  Wandered around town until I decided I needed a Diet Coke and ice.  Sat at an outdoor cafe and people watched.  Two,American ladies sat next to me and we got to talking.  Turns out we all,quilt and love Italy.  That’s the recipe for a lifelong friendship.  Exchanged emails.  We all met for lunch at the same restaurant we ate at yesterday.  I had the steak with fava bean purée and itmwasmfro tender Imused a fork to cut it.  And it had BACON on it!  How I miss my crispy bacon at home!  I took a long walk after lunch and found an old church with the doors open.  That was the only light and the church was very dark inside,so hard to see.  I could tell,that there were old frescoes painted on the pillars.  Would have been interesting to,see in the light.  Took a nap when I got back and pretty soon it was time for dinner.  Went back to last night’s place again and it was great!  Cod covered with a tomato and zucchini sauce, a meatball,plate with one plain meatball, a second encased in a zucchini and the third in a small bell pepper.  Grilled, thinly sliced beef with prune sauce and one pasta carbonara with fava bean sauce.  All delicious.  Home to bed and a good nights sleep.  Ciao!

yesterday after the Underground Orvieto Tour, we went to eat at the restaurant next door to our convent.  It was voted #1 on Trip Advisor.  And it really is a great restaurant.  Al Pozzo Etrusco….the Etruscan Well.  Andy had a mixed appetizer with meats, cheese, olives, bruschetta and melon.  I had pasta with a pork ragu.  jane had a pasta with fresh truffles and Rhoades had a beautifully cooked filet of beef with fava bean purée.  We can’t wait to go to this place again!  

After lunch, we returned back to our room and I found messages from the Cooking Class lady asking where we were!  I had written the wrong date on my calendar and we missed the cooking class.  I was mortified to think of the preparation this lady had gone thru for our class, plus ruining the experience for the four of us.  The lady was gracious enough to not charge us for the missed class, which she certainly could have done.  Wouldn’t even charge me for the food she bought and car she had sent to pick us up.  So, today, Andy and I are going to send her a gift for another apology and a thank you for her kindness.  Maybe she will give us another chance if we get back to Orvieto for another visit.  

We took a long walk to the edge of town…thru a part of the town I had not been to before.  Very steep down and very steep back up.  We decided to go to the #3 recommended restaurant and their website said they were open…so off we went.  The website LIED!  They don’t open til 8pm….just about bedtime for us!  So we went to #2 in town….Trattoria del Moro Aronne.  That was wonderful, too.  Our server didn’t know any English except to explain what each dish was.  Andy got Caprese salad, Jane got prosciutto and melon, Rhoades got a steak with balsamic vinegar reduction sauce and I got pasta with chingiale…wild boar ragu.  My favorite.  Now before you scrunch up your face and say ‘ewwww’ over the wild boar…It’s Just Pork!  With a bit more flavor….lots more flavor to be exact.  It started thundering and raining  while we were there and the lights went out for about a minute.  Rhoades has an app on his phone of a Zippo Lighter…and he turned it on.  We got a good laugh out of that.  Rain stopped before we left, so back to the convent and to bed.  

This is an attempt to repeat what I wrote for almost an hour last night that just disappeared when I tried to publish!

Jane and Rhoades arrived from Maryland on Monday.  They went on a Hop On – Hop Off bus ride with Andy and I headed to the quilt store.  When I got there two of my Dear Quilting Sisters were there and we hugged and double cheek kissed!  had a short visit and then I went for Chinese lunch and home.  Jane brought us two jars of chunky peanut butter in her checked luggage. Rhoades had a 2 pound jar in carryon.  TSA took it from him.  Read that TSA missed 95% of fake bombs – but by gum…they got the peanut butter!  We rested up, had dinner and left today for Orvieto by train.  Checked into our convent.  A huge place with a beautiful garden and a container garden of many succulents. The view out our window is of the garden, the valley beyond and a castle in the distance.   Sister Giovanna said in its peak, the convent had close to 30 sisters in residence.  We had lunch on the main drag, walked around a bit.  I visited with the lady who made a wonderful bead I bought several years ago…it is a black bead in the style of the Etruscans.  She was very pleased I was wearing it and she remembered me.  Also stopped by to say hello to the man who made an olive wood box for Evan.  Stopped to see Maria Grazie, the lady I buy booties from.  She had made several pair for me to give babies their ‘first pair of Italian shoes’!  We rested up and went for cocktails about 6pm waiting for our restaurant to open at 7.  Went to one recommended as the best seafood in Orvieto.  Our mussels were great, grilled tuna, spaghetti with clams, risotto with seafood, grilled swordfish and calamari were all good.  I also ordered stuffed sardines…they were not as good as I made in a cooking class in Sicilyn last year.  When we got back to the convent, Sister Giovanna took us in hand and showed us where the breakfast room was located.  Said it was the choir room for priests years ago and showed us the 300 year old fresco on the wall…probably painted by one of the priests.  I hope she will give us a full tour of the convent…it is so big.  One chapel off the breakfast room is being renovated, but the church attached to the convent is very nice.  

Tomorrow, we have plans for an underground tour to see Etruscan ruins.  Thursday and Saturday are market days and that should be fun.  There is usually a little bit of everything.  Friday starts a weekend Medieval Festival. There are huge banners hanging all over town and bouquets of flowers on the walls tied by long, steaming ribbons.  Quite festive looking.  Also on Friday, we are doing a walking tour of Orvieto and a tour of the Duomo with a guide.  Saturday there is also supposed to be an Arts & Crafts Fair.  We will hit all of,this before heading to Bagnorigio for a night.  Google,this town and see the bridge we must walk up to get to the town in the clouds.  Only about 20 people live there full time and no cars allowed.  We are staying one night in a B&B before heading back to Orvieto on Sunday to catch the train to Venice.   Orvieto is a beautiful Hill Town with a magnificent Duomo that has the most beautiful mosaic facade in Italy.  If you like novels set in Italy, read the true books by Elena diBlassi …1000 Days in Venice, 1000 Days in Tuscany etc.  She lives here in Orvieto.  Will continue this later…

Food Alert!     In this carb infested country it is hard to find a menu without 98% carbs from appetizers to entrees and on to desserts.  Well, tonight we found a place that is almost Carb-Free!  A little hole in the wall, like most places here.  Quirky decor….flattened cardboard boxes nailed to the walls like wallpaper.  Mis-matched furniture, lamps and Art.  A beautiful Collie named Duke “owns” the place with his nasty, curmudgeon owner.  American Jazz music – some of the old, wonderful stuff.  The owner has made his own mix.  He may be a grouch, but he knows good music and good food.  The food is very innovative…we had an appetizer of goat cheese melted over toast and drizzled with local honey.  I wish I had a menu here to list some of the different choices…they all sounded so good…it was hard to choose.  For dinner, Andy had steak tartare with Gorgonzola and a bit of something spicy.  I had salmon tartare with avocado, ginger and a balsamic reduction.  Lots of salmon, tuna and steak tartare on the menu…I don’t think anything was cooked, or swimming in olive oil!  As good as it was, we were surprised to be the only diners…until we realized it was not even 6pm…the chef told us it would be SRO later tonight when the Italians eat…and tonight is the final soccer match…like a super bowl of soccer.  SO SORRY I won’t be up to see that!  LOL. We will be taking guests here often this summer…as long as they like tartare…or really neat appetizers.