Mammoth Madness

Sunday, October 23

Around 20 minutes north of us is a town called Bomarzo. Like many towns around here, it is a hill town held up by tufo and beautifully decorated with the burnt orange roof tiles at varying levels. Beneath the walls, in a wooded area around a mile away is a park called the Sacred Wood or the Park of Monsters.

In the middle of the 16th century, Vicino Orsini had this garden of monsters created in honor of his deceased wife and/or to impress visitors and/or images of his madness. It's the original theme park of monsters, ogres, sphinxes, dragons, lions, dolphins, nymphs and bears. And, that is just the beginning. The statues are attributed to the artist Pirro Ligorio, who must have had quite the time trying to satisfy this Orsini prince's desires. Even though we had a map, we never knew exactly what we would see next in this monstrous and imaginative grove.

Trying to decipher any meaning was challenging, too. Orsini was inspired by literature and ancient mythology mixed with death and promiscuity; there was no real key to this insanity, just shock value.

There are some clues though. This is Orlando Mad, Orlando Furioso; A giant whose heart has just been broken now breaking his opponent in two.

This demon mimics Dante's advice, "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" with the word reason replacing hope. Neil was making demonic sounds when Eleni jumped out of the mouth of hell here.

Cerebrus guarding the Underworld.

The back of a Fury, (maybe in keeping with the tone here - Lyssa the goddess of rage), lions, and looking straight at us is the Mermaid Echina (mother of many demons).

Of course, Persephone, Queen of Hades! Her mother, Ceres, was close by as well.

The juxtaposition of these innocent cherubs...

In the midst of all of this, it was calming to see some fall foliage. We had a picnic of sorts on a hill in the garden and then some coffee in the playground area. It started to rain just as we were leaving the madness of Bomarzo.

The rain didn't last too long though and we were on our way to another deserted archeological site called Ferento. Someone had already cut the fence way before we arrived! No ticket booth, just one moldy sign.

In these hills across from our bandit-type break in, there is a necropolis. Of course, you can mark this territory as Etruscan. Today, this valley is home to sheep and goats complete with their bleating and constant bell clanging. Atmospheric.

Thanks to the 11th century Viterbesi, who were destructive here and constructive there, this 4th century BC Roman town has little left to show for itself but a load of rubble, a theatre and baths complex.

However, the sites that the under eleven-year-old set were most interested in were the porcupine quills and one ten-year-old wanted to take this bug home with him.

That did not happen. But, pizza love did.
We had such a great visit with Neil's sister and family this weekend. Our two October visits have made such a difference in our children's immersion experience here. These glimpses of their old lives have been invaluable. No madness here.

Some real bandits?

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Neil's sister and family arrived last night. It's their half term break and they are visiting us and then spending the week in Rome. To say that Alex and Eleni were happy to see their cousins would be an understatement.

Alex led them on a tour of Viterbo complete with some climbing on the Awakening statue that is installed in the valley of our town.

Beyond the Giant's face there, you can see the hill that we followed around to visit the Papal Palace. And here is just one of the several photos I took of the glamourous Eleni and Sophie.

Alex's tour took us round our favorite pizza place and a visit to my favorite Church here, the Santa Maria Novella. This time, we visited the cloisters and the crypt. Amazingly, these two sections were just discovered recently in the 1960s. They had been filled in with the remains of plague victims and dirt for hundreds of years. The revealing factor: when the new organ was placed in the Church, it sunk.

Here are some remaining plague bones.

While we were here, the Bishop visited as well. Yes, the same man who blessed Alex and Eleni in the Santa Rosa parade.

The cloisters. All of this was covered over and forgotten. You can see how interested Eleni and Sophie are in this. History fatigue was settling in with the kids, but not with the adults.

But, it was getting time for lunch so we went home and made some pasta. Keeping quiet during siesta time seemed too much of a chore, so we set out in search of some more ruins. Neil had a hand drawn map showing us the way to some more Etruscan tombs, but it was uncertain how far to go in this farmland area. Viterbo has miles of farms. Who knew?

The bandits knew. Or, that is what we referred to them as when we came upon their "hideout" at the end of a long winding road. Neil asked the five men who were hanging around the dilapidated aluminum roofed old farmhouses, "Where are the tombs?" Another car showed up with four more men. We were happy to turn around and be on our way. We found the tombs near a cypress tree. There was no ticket office left for us here though. Just a few signs and hope for good imaginations.

We had plenty of that; we all had a great time exploring the empty tombs.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), we did not bring a flashlight so we couldn't see very far. When we had stumbled in as far as we thought it safe to go, Thomas taught me flash photography archeology. We could take photos and then see what was in the tomb.

And, we had the place pretty much to ourselves! We scrambled along in and out of caves following the riverbed below. It was easy to imagine real bandits hiding our here, too. Indeed, there were remnants of campfires.

History fatigue set in again (or actual maneuvering over rocks and weeds exhaustion?) so we set off for our next favorite adventure. I did not take any photos as the baths this time, but did learn that they are mentioned in Dante's Inferno as well. In a much different context, you can find the Bulicame baths in Canto XIV.

"In silence we reached a place

Where gushing from the woods a small stream poured

So red that it still makes me shudder. As issues

That stream from Bulicame that is shared

Among the prostitutes, so this brook flowed

Down and across the sand. It was stone-floored;

Stone lined both banks and margins on each side;

And I could see that this would be our route."

Thankfully, no one of ill repute finished off our day, just pizza and wine.

bandits on the road to hell

Sunday October 16, 2011

I'm struggling through Dante's Divine Comedy. I've read excerpts before and its import in history is obvious, but reading through it, line by line (with the help of marginal notes), is slow going. I'm determined though, because there are so many references to this region.

"In the midway of this our mortal life,

I found me in a gloomy wood, astray

Gone from the path direct: and e'en to tell

It were no easy task, how savage wild

That forest, how robust and rough its growth,

Which to remember only, my dismay

Renews, in bitterness not far from death.

Yet to discourse of what there good befell,

All else will I relate discover'd there.

How first I enter'd it I scarce can say,

Such sleepy dullness in that instant weigh'd

My senses down, when the true path I left,

But when a mountain's foot I reach'd, where clos'd

The valley, that had pierc'd my heart with dread..."

The gloomy wood of the Cimini mountains is thought to be the source of this first line. Yes, the road to hell. It's around twenty minutes north east of us. The ancient Romans were scared of this dense wood, too. In Medieval ages and Renaissance, this was an infamous hide out and trail for bandits.

It was a gorgeous Sunday morning and we walked through this wood near the summit of the mountain. It's harvest time for the beech trees and chestnut trees, and we saw people by the roadside collecting both.
The beech nuts were so plentiful here that I rolled on them and lost my balance, but did not fall five times and fell - spectacularly - twice. Alex and Eleni both had some monumental falls, too.

It was the perfect morning; I was reminded of home in the northeast around this time of year often. We had a snack at the top and then headed down/rolled to our car. It's the season for chestnut festivals now, so we decided to check one out. Soriano nel Cimino was a fifteen minute drive away.

The 13th century Orsini Fortress looms over the town. They've been celebrating chestnuts here for two weeks. They use this opportunity to reenact (over 500 years of this) some treacherous Renaissance moments: In 1489, A disguised Paolo Nardini of Vignanello slipped into the Orsini castle and killed Didaco of Carvajal. In the middle of the night, as Paolo was holding up a torch to signal to his mates to join him at the castle and help overthrow it, an elderly woman (she is referred to as a hag) who was working at the slaughterhouse saw the torch. She got a few neighbors together and together they managed to ambush the invaders, throw Paolo off the high tower, and keep the family's power intact.

We found a good Renaissance style tent to eat in. Neil and I shared chestnut soup that was so simple and so delicious. Then we climbed up and into the Orsini Castle. Here was the view from the top. Viterbo is out there somewhere.

We enjoyed the sun and atmosphere for a while and then headed home. Neil was scheduled to play in the school soccer game (and did so rather successfully!).

As we were leaving, we realized that we had parked our car here - on the Road of the Bandits. Evidently, this place was swarming with them; perhaps they are the Robin Hoods of Italy. Which leads me back to Dante's hell. Where would the bandits be?

Democracy (for us) at its best

Saturday, October 15th

Our friends left earlier in the week. I was bracing myself for the onslaught of "I want to go home!" But, nothing happened. Instead of our visitors from home reviving homesickness, Alex and Eleni (and me) actually may have been cured by their presence. It was surprisingly affirming for Alex and Eleni to walk around Viterbo and show off their favorite pizza and gelato places. And, while they never said it outright, I think they were a bit pleased with themselves. Something like that. Of course, when I write these entries, I have the power to dramatize, minimize, and pseudo analyze things, don't I?! Keep that in mind as I discuss democracy...

We knew we wanted to travel somewhere today, but like any perfect day, we did not have a plan. There were six nominations: 1. the baths, 2. seaside, 3. take a walk, 4. eat gelato, 5. nothing, 6. see random ruins. When we did the approval voting (seriously), the seaside, gelato and random ruins won (the latter only squeezed its way in because adults' votes are worth more...? Somewhat democratic? We're trying our best to get some random ruins in, right? That is partly why we are here...).

So, we got in the car and headed west towards the Mediterranean. But, in order to satisfy the adults' random ruins clause, we stopped at an Archeological Park, Vulci.

The northern wind was blowing so strongly this morning, I thought we might take off. We headed up the small hill which hides the Etruscan ruins. I know I have a bad track record: I thought Tarquinia was the best Etruscan site, then Cerveteri. I was wrong again. Within minutes I was in love with this place.

I think the reason I enjoyed this place the best was the fact that we were able to see where the Etruscans lived and worked, not just where they were buried. I often wonder about that. Will people hundreds of years be more fascinated with our cemeteries than our homes? Here are Alex and Eleni at the Western Wall.

This is the drawing of what it looked like in the 3rd century BC.

Eleni's hair is a good wind directional. It shows how strong the wind was.

Some pieces of pottery?

We walked along the road, through the Arch that goes back to the 1st century BC and then past the Forum.

We spent a lot of time exploring two homes, the House of the Fisherman and the House of the Basins. There were no guards around, and only one other couple, so we really had the place to ourselves. It was such a thrill letting the kids loose on an ancient house. What might these be used for?

What is this cat guarding?

What are these columns holding up the floor here for?

Who is making that growling sound from underneath?

Neil found the secret passage to the underworld. Alex and Eleni quickly followed and then they all gave me a tour of the chambers below complete with cistern and huge food pantry.

Exciting to see this ancient rival to Christianity, the cult of Mithraeum.

We walked past the Temple of Hercules, and then the road opened up to this area near the river, which was the Vulci's harbor area. Here they loaded their boats full of beautiful Etruscan artwork and here they brought back imports from as far away as Greece and Egypt.

Close by was a reconstructed kiln and

several bovines.
We had a little picnic next to the cows and the river. Alex found some cool rocks and artifacts and proclaimed his complete love for this site and for Italy! We headed up over the hill and through the North Gate back to our car and some gelato.

Before we left, we visited this 12th century castle houses the Vulci Etruscan museum. The bridge was the main attraction for the kids though. The legend is that the Devil built it in one night; it's referred to as the Devil's Bridge.

A growing favorite of mine: Buccheri pottery.

So, the random ruins visit was a success. Democracy in the form of a more weighted Electoral college worked out; everyone got what they wanted in the end.

Soon we were on our way to the seaside.We finally got there around 3 PM. Not a thing going on and such riptides, that we didn't even wade. A lovely chance to do nothing.

We spent an hour here, digging our way back to the USA.

We had to complete the list, of course. On our way home to Viterbo, we stopped in at the baths. An oxymoron to end our day. Warmth while you are in the sulphuric baths, and then the 45 degrees plus northern wind chill when you are out!