11th May 2016 In Viterbo
Raining early but clearing then overcast -rain threatening for tomorrow…
Matteo, the owner’s son, came to prepare me a good breakfast and he was a smiling-faced 32 year old who had spent 10 years in China (I think his father had been the ambassador at the embassy there), studying Chinese medicine but he can’t practise in Italy as this type of treatment is not recognized… He is now helping his parents with their two B&Bs and it was interesting speaking with him.
Cappuch & little cake stuffed with ricotta in a nice bar.
Went off to post office as my card doesn’t work at all bancomats and that was a “commedia dell’arte” experience…a woman of probably my age was at the bancomat inside a glassed-in area for what seemed about 4 or 5 minutes, talking to her companion behind her, gesticulating to the machine, the spectacles constantly coming on and off, the hair which hadn’t moved constantly being put into place, all the time looking and then tapping on the screen, until finally she finished her transaction. The young woman who was then ahead of me went it and it was almost the same experience…
I went to visit the Prior’s Palace next door which is the main municipal building and decided to take the lift to the first floor (!). It was so slow in coming that when I got in I timed from the door closing to it opening on the first floor – 20 seconds. If I lived in Italy I would certainly need to adapt to a new rhythm of lifestyle (which would probably be quite beneficial for my health).
Back outside parking attendants were booking a couple of cars…
The city which has so much history and looks prosperous with flowers everywhere in the paved streets, outside shops and houses. Quite lively with many young people.
The Priors’ Palace was a lovely, interesting and beautifully-decorated building ( with frescoes and much trompe l’oeil, painted ceilings, paintings, etc) of big gracious rooms with much history. It was free access to wander from room to room. In the council room, there was an actual meeting of the finance committee going on which looked like a still-life painting… In a horseshoe-shaped seating arrangement there were the presiding people at the top bench and others sitting on each side with one man continually explaining in a droning voice the information which was displayed on a big screen. While this was happening, the ones at the top bench were talking together, and the other attendees were either consulting their mobile devices or turning to speak to a neighbour or to people behind them…almost nobody was taking an interest in what the droning man was saying. Quite an interesting experience…and all the time visitors were wandering in and out… Could only be Italy.
Saw at least four groups of school children visiting the city, one I know to be from Naples, and another from Rome. As well a group sitting on the cathedral steps which was being addressed by a person and I was told they were a group doing their catechism in preparation for confirmation. Almost in every church I’ve gone to in the past few days there have been such groups.
I saw a fantastic haberdashery shop in the city centre with “Since 1930” in gold lettering on the glass door and with beautiful stock of all different sorts. I went in and spoke to the mother (the third generation of the family and about my age) and her son who will take over when she retires. She was knitting a beautiful complicated design (says she made it up herself) and said there is less clientele nowadays – “if the mothers don’t teach the children to do handcrafts…”. I asked the son whether he knew the stock well, “yes”, and knew how to knit like his mother, “not really”. Lovely smiling people but quite sad to see a disappearing way of life.
I visited several churches, many of Romanesque style in grey stone and beautifully sober inside. I took a ticket to visit the cathedral, its museum, and the Papal Palace and loggia. Saw the museum first and most interesting things were beautiful ecclesiastical vestments and an incredible Roman statue of the goddess of abundance with symbols of numerous breasts (or bull’s testicles!!) confirming this role.
The cathedral was bombed during the war and was restored afterwards but a much greater restoration than was necessary was undertaken to restore it to the original Romanesque building rather than the Baroque building it had become. I visited locked rooms (which had survived the WWII bombing). One had an incredible trompe l’oeil domed ceiling which was only 9 metres high but appeared to be much more (you’ve guessed that I love trompe l’oeil and I will be going to see a few of my favourites when, and if, I get to Rome).
Also we visited an area behind the altar which had been the end of the church with its Baroque altar when the church had been much longer (it survived the bombing) and a new curved end wall had been built in front of it in the “restored” church. All very interesting to see.
Viterbo is quite important for the church as it was the papal seat for many years around the 13th century. We visited the papal palace (still used by the bishop today) as well as the beautiful gothic loggia.
Look up Wikipedia if interested (see below) as it was in Viterbo that the papal conclave came into being after the death of Clement IV when another pope was not elected for 33 months because of political infighting. After 20 months, the municipality (who was financing this) took drastic measures by locking the cardinals in with a bread and water diet and removing the roof of the big palace hall.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_election,_1268%E2%80%9371
When I returned to the B&B I met two French pilgrims who had walked from Ventimiglia in a month and will be off at 5am as they are going further than me. Never have a day off. Also walked to Compostella but said that the atmosphere is different on the VF and more beautiful scenery but that the arrival in Compostella is stupendous…but I think we’ll have to wait to see what it is like in Rome…
I had a very mediocre dinner in a restaurant close by. Then I had to pack up to be on the road tomorrow for the last 5 solid days of walking – the holidaying & dilettante pilgrimage is over!!!