So we begin the day at the Duomo again(trying to stay on our feet -lol!) and there is a gorgeous chapel in the duomo. The decoration was begun by Fra Angelico and completed by Signorelli. I was particularly interested in one portion of the frescoes showing the angels praising God. Check out what the top angel is playing!!! If it's good enough for the angels, it's good enough for the church!!! :-)
We hit two museums after that, housed in the Papal palace (the popes lived in Orvieto for a stretch) and I got nearly thrown out once again for taking pictures. But I got a few of the better stuff!
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| The Annunciation- 11th cent. - the angel was demolished |
We were allowed photos in this museum!
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| My boy, John XXIII visiting the prisoners with angels! |
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We met Rob and his friend Avery (both are Ph.D candidates, Rob in theology and Avery in philosophy) for lunch, then we went our separate ways to do whatever we wanted. I found the most wonderful mercato of all local artisans who made jewelry, crafts, soap, woven scarves, even shoes and purses! I bought the most amazing necklace - a copy of an 11th century piece!!!
Then we met another friend of Rob's for coffee - a lovely, humble and hard working priest - a canon of the Duomo - who tried to convince us that Orvieto was really the place of the Eucharistic miracle because the "proof" document came from there. I just smiled and kept silent......I know the truth! :-) As an side, no wonder Italians talk so much, so fast and so loudly - they are always stopping for expresso; there are coffee bars everywhere!!! There is one next door to us and also across the street!
After a bit more exploration of the streets of Orvieto, the four of us set off for Viterbo for dinner, where we had the most amazing pizzas
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| arugula and mozzarella/ spinach and pecorino - YUM!! |
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| Rob and Avery |
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After dinner (it was dark by then) we went to the place of the "con clave" The cardinals could not (or would not) elect a pope so the town locked them in the room, (con clave means with a key) took off the roof and stopped feeding them. With these incentives,they finally elected a pope!! LOL!! It has been called a conclave ever since!
Then we went back to Rome - arrived around 9 - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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