Who needs a wardrobe?

7th November 2021

Although the week started with a holiday to mark All Saints’ Day, which the schools and many local businesses extended to include Tuesday and All Souls’ Day, you would not have really been aware of this at LCDDB, other than Stephen being at home for two days.

No one seemed to tell the wind that it could take it easy for the interim, and we were treated to one of those occasions where it suddenly whips up to fierce proportions – this time in the middle of Monday night. The problem with this was not so much that we (i.e. Stephen) had to get up and close all the shutters at 4 a.m. but its slamming around the house agitated Bella and Harry. That is why, after an hour of Bella padding around and Harry whining pathetically, to get a bit of peace we allowed them into our bedroom. Not that either of them settled down, so after another hour of disturbed rest, if I can use that incongruous word, we gave in and got up.

Wednesday marked a milestone in our battle against high blood pressure/high cholesterol/ high anything else the doctor has taken against when the bathroom scales showed that I’d lost 10 kg since the start of our diets. I know it has taken a few months but working on the belief that slow and lasting is better than quick and fleeting I felt more than a little smug with myself. The fact that those trousers that didn’t slip down over my behind when swapping to the winter wardrobe to be earmarked for a better place now need a tight belt to keep them up all added to the self-satisfaction.

Also on Wednesday I had a call which at first confused me as seeing an unknown number displayed I thought it was going to be either TIM or, like last week, someone offering me online English lessons (I politely pointed out that I didn’t think I needed them) but was in fact exactly the opposite. It was from Silvia, a lady who works in Vanna’s company and who wanted to improve her overall standard of English. She was obviously keen as we arranged her first lesson for the next day, and are now set for weekly sessions on a Thursday though, in that inimitable Italian way, the actual time is a moveable feast, depending on if and when she has to take her daughter to volleyball practice. Just as well my USP is flexibility.

Friday morning we did our usual double whammy of haircut (my turn) and shopping (Stephen), though his list was a bit shorter than usual, as we were away this weekend visiting my conversation partner Marco, now fully recovered from the bout of tonsilitis that laid him low in October and keen (for some unknown reason) for us to rescheduled our postponed trip. Whilst the Sigma basket might have been on the light side, we did do some other local shopping, buying two bottles of Bastianelli wine and a gift pack of Mancini pasta, it being fitting, we thought, to take products made within view of our terrazzo.

For the second time in less than a month yesterday morning saw us dropping off Bella and Harry just after 8 at Pet Resort for their own mini-break before heading south-west to Giove, the town near Terni where Marco lives. Despite the unpromising forecast, the weather gradually improved as we travelled so that by the time we arrived just after 11 the sun was high in a blue sky. The good thing about this is that, after unpacking our weekend necessities in the guest room and taking a tour of the house, we spent the next four hours sitting on the patio in the sunshine, talking and enjoying the uninterrupted view, past the swimming pool (recently covered for the winter), of the countryside of southern Umbria while we first had aperitivo with spumante and then lunch with water. We know how to pace ourselves.

The bad thing about this was that we when we eventually ventured out to visit the nearby town of Narni, dusk was falling by the time we got there, as was the rain which had started while we drove. Still, it was not so persistent at to stop us walking through the old centre, admiring first the13th century Comune building and then the 8th century church, Santa Maria Impensole. This last was, as you would expect, small and simply constructed, with only scant remains of the frescos that once would have covered the walls, but despite that, or maybe because of it and the encroaching darkness outside, it was somehow incredibly affecting. From here we went to the cathedral, again of an age being consecrated in 1145, and including within it the original tomb of the city’s first bishop and patron saint, Juvenal, who died in 376.

You can see from all this that Narni is notable for its antiquity, but it is also notable for another reason. Those of you who laughingly said Narni sounded like Narnia and maybe that’s where C. S. Lewis got the name would be quite correct. Apparently, as a child he saw Narnia, the Latin name for the city, in an atlas and liked it and remembered it. Which means, taking into account that Marco lives in a town with the same name as a Roman god and planet, that it isn’t everyone when asked what they got up to at the weekend who can say that they went to Jupiter and then Narnia.

The rain of Saturday evening, which managed to turn to a thunderstorm after we got home, had cleared again by Sunday morning for our trip to Orvieto, where we parked in a car park on the edges of the centre of town before walking up to the cathedral. Unsurprisingly, we were not able to enter the building due it being a day of worship, but we were able to admire the outside and in particular the spectacular façade, held to be one of the great masterpieces of the Late Middle Ages with its bas-reliefs and glittering mosaics.

Not sure what to do next, Marco popped into the tourist information, conveniently situated opposite the cathedral, and a helpful man there suggested a route that took us past the 13th century Del Moro clock tower (the clock being added in the 19th century) and into the mediaeval quarter. Being good tourists, we did this, foregoing however his suggestion that we climb the stairs in the tower to appreciate the 360º view from the top. As I pointed out to Marco when we arrived, I was quite happy to tackle the steps up its 47m height, but that it might be a bit of a waste of time (and energy) as I would be too scared to look at anything.

We passed on to the old quarter, with houses staggered higgledy-piggledy on its winding streets before walking along a section of the old wall and from there making our way back to the car park as it was getting time to eat.

Lunch at the agriturismo Pizzogallo, a place Marco had wanted to try after it being recommended by a fellow member of his church choir. When he called in last week to reserve table the nice lady had told him that they were fully booked, but when he said he was very disappointed as he really wanted to try the restaurant she assured him she would find a table for three. That was why we found ourselves at a small table in the far corner, our party being somewhat at odds with all the others, average size ten, gathered round large round ones in that Italian way. Not that it mattered, as the food was very good and the view from the plate glass windows over the countryside suitably picturesque for a Sunday lunch.

It was then back home for a bit of a rest before reconvening just after five to go to Amelia, about 12 km away, where Marco wanted to attend evening mass while we, he suggested, walked up to the cathedral at the top of the town. He knew what he was doing, for whilst you wouldn’t describe the climb through the deserted side streets as vertiginous, it did take your breath away – and not in a good way seeing as the view was a bit limited given it was 6 o’clock and dark. The cathedral looked impressive enough from the outside, but we can’t comment on the inside given that, again unsurprisingly, there was a service in progress.

At least it was all downhill returning, or would have been if we had not chosen the wrong way from the Piazza Marconi and had to double back (uphill) after coming to a halt atop the city walls (we are running with a theme in these Umbrian towns). We made it back down with time enough to spare to take a pot of tea and a plate of biscuits at the bakery recommended by Marco before meeting up and heading home. We stopped off briefly at the town of Lugnano in Teverina (population 1,464) to admire the church of Santa Maria Assunta, a small porticoed building, in much demand for weddings as it is so charming, before heading home for a light supper, being still full from lunch – and everything else Marco had fed us over the weekend. But who’s complaining?