Sunday morning excursion

Another archeotuscia morning trip -- this time to the necropoli of San Giovenale, near Blera, about 40 minutes from Viterbo.



A happy sunny day, still a bit chilly.



Lots of people on this trip...



... and lots of commotion. The group has become visibly friendlier to foreigners since M joined me on these trips.

Found a lost baby lamb in the field:



Several women felt like petting him (some of the men had more sinister thoughts).

A walk near Bomarzo

Sunday. Another morning walk with the archeotuscia group.



This is a strange "monument" carved into a big rock:




Etruscan? Roman? Who knows.





These trips end by lunch time. We had pasta at La Cantinella, finally a place in Viterbo that we both liked. The only trouble, they give you a menu on 20 pages with 300 kinds of spaghetti (they are in the Guinness Book of Records). Luckily a helpful waitress suggested 3 or 4.

Friday 2/6 -- Musei Capitolini

I haven't been here for many years... The museum has been expanded and improved a lot. La Lupa is still there:



Scholars are still arguing about its provenance: the Etruscans or 13th century? I didn't know the twins were added much later, in the 15th century. Here are a couple of SYA girls posing with La Lupa:



La Lupa was on their list of things to visit and on their Ancient History quiz the following Monday.

The original equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius is now inside in a special hall (a copy stands on Campidoglio):



It has been restored after the 1979 dynamite attack.



There is an open balcony in the Tabularium on the lower floor with a perfect view of the forum:

Friday 2/6 -- La Centrale Montemartini

La Centrale Montemartini is the second stop of the day. The former power plant on via Ostiense, named after the engineer Montemartini, was used in the 90s to house temporarily the surplus from Musei Capitolini and for an experimental exhibit, then became a permanent museum. Here ancient statues (mostly headless) are intermixed with 1930s steam and diesel engines and other heavy machinery. Looks cute and still reeks of machine oil.



Here is a very modern-looking fanciulla seduta -- a Roman copy from a Greek original (from sala caldaie -- "the hall of the heaters") :



Here is a better picture and other photos.

Friday 2/6 -- F & I

The day happily ended at Fabrizio and Isabella's, with a cooking lesson (pasta con vongole, mozzarella buffala con puntarelli e alici):





After supper, a tape of Carlo Verdone's comedy (Un Sacco Verdone, 1982), unfortunately most of it not very easy to follow. Here is an easier one (La telefonata) on YouTube.