October Trips

With the end of the first quarter comes comments for all of my students followed by comments for my advisees, which is based on the comments written about them.  Did I mention that SYA is going through re-accreditation process and the burden of writing up the report for this falls on the shoulders of the English-speaking teachers??  So needless to say, I was pretty busy in October to update my blog, but not so busy that Mike and I couldn't squeeze a few day trips around the Lazio region (5 trips to be exact)!   So here they are in a nutshell!

Soriano nel Cimino (October 11): Aside from this quaint medieval town being close to Vitbero (about an hour bus ride) our motivation for going was to witness their annual chestnut festival, where merchants roast chestnuts in these gigantic iron pans over an open fire in their main piazza, among other festive events.  The picture at the right is the town of Soriano taken from atop the Orsini Castle, one of Soriano's main attractions.

One of the main events involves the town dividing into four sections, called 'Contradas'.  The names of the contradas are San Giorgio, Rocca, Trinita, and Papcqua.  Each contrada competes in a series of events for which the winner receives a prize.  The more prestigious award they gun for is 'best medieval feast.'  Each contrada sets up their own taverna during the two weeks of the festival, decorating it in colors of their contrada.  The picture below is the entrance to La Contrada Trinita.

Because we were traveling by bus, our itinerary was dependent upon the bus schedule to and from Soriano.  So unfortunately, we didn't get to see much of the 'hype' surrounded by the festival.  Nevertheless, we really enjoyed our afternoon in Soriano.  The town was all dressed up with flags of the four contradas hanging from private homes and store-fronts.  Everyone was in a good mood and so willing to help us get around, even with our broken Italian.

The Orsini Castle of Soriano (see right) is one of their main attractions.  Perhaps everybody in the town was either resting from the night before, or resting to get geared up for the events of that night because Mike and I had the entire castle to ourselves.  The castle was built in the 13th century and was the summer home of Pope Nicholas III, member of the very influential and noble Orsini family of the time. Three popes, 34 cardinals, and several military, religious, and political figureheads have come from this one family over the span of several centuries during the medieval era.

Bagnaia (October 13):  Like Soriano two days before, the weather on our day trip to Bagnaia was unbelievable!  Unlike Soriano, Bagnaia was close enough to Viterbo we were able to take a Viterbese city bus (instead of a Viterbese regional COTRAL bus).  Travel time was a very reasonable 15 minutes.

The big attraction in Bagnaia is the Villa Lante Garden (see above), which is perched on a hill overlooking the town.  The 'Villa' began by the building of two identical square-shaped houses, known as 'casinos'.  The first casino was commissioned by Cardinal Gianfrancesco Gambara in 1566, who served under several popes during his tenure.  One of his highlights was being elected to the papal conclave, which was responsible for elevating Ugo Boncompagni to Pope Gregory XIII.  The second casino was built 30 years later by the next owner, the 17-year old nephew of Pope Sixtus V.

And while the grounds are spectacular with their sculpted maze-like hedges, the main theme of this garden is centered around water.  The garden has several tiers to it, each with unique fountains and means for which water travels.  On the third tier, there is a long stone table (above left) with a central channel of water flowing through the middle.  The purpose for this interesting design was to keep the wine cool when the current occupants of the grounds entertained their guests.

Again, the local folk were so nice to us.  After our 3-hour tour of Villa Lante, Mike and I, rested our feet at a tavern at the base of town.  Our server spotted our 'American-ness' a mile away and began speaking in near-perfect English to us (with a healthy Italian accent).  I kept speaking in my broken Italian while she spoke in English.  Super nice and took very good care of us.

Bagnoreggio (October 19):  This was the most spectacular of our trips, by far!  Bagnoreggio is literally a town on the top of a hill that's decaying into the surrounding valley.  Official population: 12, although once you're there, you realize that number refers to who live there year-round.  There were clearly more people there than 12, as evidenced by the number of stores and restaurants that were in operation when we arrived.  The town is certainly alive on the weekends and while the weather still permits ideal travel to it.  Again, like the other trips, the weather was ideal (see picture left).

In order to get to the 'old Bagnoreggio' you have to walk 2 km from the bus station in 'new Bagnoreggio', with the last .3 km a traverse across a footbridge.  No cars on what can only be described as an elevated water-less island.  You can see how the town's square mileage has dwindled over the centuries; little-by-little it slides down the side becoming part of the surrounding valley's landscape.

Rome (October 25): My aunt Manny, cousin Brian, and his wife Megan, were in Rome visiting Grace (Brian and Megan's oldest daughter), who was 'studying' in Rome for the semester through a program that is supported by her college (Bucknell) back in the States.  And while I didn't get to see Grace (she was out of town with friends from the program), I had a fantastic time catching up with the three of them.  They all looked great and it was really the first time I spent any significant time with Brian and Megan.  Simply put, they're good people and I feel very fortunate that our visit worked out.  Who knows when I'll get the opportunity to connect with my relative on that level again (you see, there are too many relatives and it would be impossible to keep up with them all)?   My only regret is that I forgot to snap a photo of us all before we parted ways.

Rome (October 31):  Halloween in Rome!  It's no New Orleans (or so I've been told...never actually seen it myself), but Mike and I saw several people walking around in full costume, either going to a party or having just left a party and on their way to the pubs around the Coliseum, which is where we where headed.  And while it was fun to be in Rome to celebrate 10 previous days of very hectic lesson-planning, grading, and, most of all comment-writing, the "bitter" part of this bitter-sweet trip signified the end of Mike's five-week stay in Viterbo.  The good news is that I've decided to return to the States in December, so I will see him (and many others) again in Atlanta, as well as family up in Michigan for Christmas.

Let's face it, it's a tough pill to swallow to be in Italy for Thanksgiving but Christmas too?  I thought I'd be able to do it, but as the season draws nearer what was I thinking?  Gotta be with family, enough said.  Thanks in advance, Bob and Heather, for opening your home to me!