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(A Boar, a Lion and a Bird)

Thursday 17 September

(Still with abnormal sore throat, that woke me up briefly at 4 A.M.)

The day before yesterday, then, Tuesday 15th; more laundry in the middle of the night, added it to the batch still hanging on the terrace that of course didn't dry at all, in that rainstorm: on the other hand, nicely rinsed. . . .

At 0820 Linda and Gianluca and I were in the street, off to experience the lures of Búdino, much vaunted by me the day before. But still, I felt she should see it.

[and if you need it, here's help in using the map, including my own symbols & added information.] Other walks in the area, see Walking in Umbria.

Fiamenga, church of S. Maria di Costantinopoli, detail: the wild pig that identifies the fresco as representing St. Anthony Abbot. Notice the leash.

Pit-stop at Fiamenga first; Gianluca has a good deal more guts than I do, and goes and asks to see things; mind you here we were just standing in the street outside the West, older, church — now I have a name to attach to it, S. M. di Costantinopoli — and a car stopped and the driver asked us if we wanted to look inside. Turns out he was the local archeology buff, Silvano Berna: he later showed us several scrapbooks on the archeology of the area, including some very good photographs of Budino and some maps following the work of a Folignate engineer named Piermarini (this when I expressed an interest in the centuriation and road schemes: altho' I'm not quite as convinced that the numerous towers are Roman or on Roman bases).

Anyway, SM di Costantinopoli has some nice frescoes inside — website fodder — and yes, I was right last year, the stone is Roman. A bit of milling, then we met Don Gianni, the parroco of Fiamenga (and Búdino, Cave and Macerátola); a man of about 32 or so, who gave us the grand tour of the East (newer) church, now attaching a name for me, S. Giovanni (Evangelista). The church was originally oriented, possibly, perpendicular to the Flaminia — a Romanesque wall remains in the sacristy — but was expanded 90° around, along the road. Cupola hit rather bad by the earthquake last year, inagibile. Roman funerary stone, an interesting one, 'round the back, and a small piece of Romanesque lion and rinceau on the façade of the church: I missed it last year; not as observant as I could be.

From there to Búdino — partly cloudy but very pleasant, Linda and Gianluca much amused by my occasional ejaculatory prayers to S. Maria del Bucato: I really need to have clean dry clothes. . . .

From Silvano I learned that 'my' building at Budino was in fact the Benedictine abbey of S. Angelo del Rosario, a dependency of Sassovivo and, as with so many Benedictine & Cistercian foundations, heavily involved in draining and clearing land — in this case, redraining the flood plain of the Topino after the collapse of Rome that'd already drained it the first time. So off to Búdino — not very impressive, and I saw no more this time than last, 'cept now I know that under thatº celent ivy — hedera — there's a Romanesque church apse, the trilobate apse with blind arcading, the whole works: Silvano had pix from 1980 . . .

❦

And the Madonna del Bucato having been favorable, I got back home to find clean dry laundry: Linda and Gianluca left for Ferrara, and I went to bed.

Yesterday Wed. 16 I alarm-clocked at 0650 with a vague idea of going to Narni and walking to Amelia then to Attigliano, where an 1845-or-so train to Orte would eventually get me back home after about 28 km walk and two new comuni: a first contact with Amelia. Well I did get to Narni Scalo at 0900, and I did walk to Amelia: cool day, nice countryside. After that. . . .

[and if you need it, here's help in using the map, including my own symbols & added information.] Other walks in the area, see Walking in Umbria.

At about 1 km from Narni Scalo, Cigliano nothing much, still within Narni; S. Pellegrino at 3 km is the top of the hill, more nothing much — less, actually, 'cept for a quarrying operation, strip-mining much of the hill to the north. Fórnole on the other hand, at 6 km, is rather nice, with a modern church and a little street between it and the S gate, in which I had a ten-minute conversation with a mynah bird (merlo indiano). It whastle, bazz, clack, imitated a TV announcer, called a local dog named Ettore and a woman Gloria, and did a wonderful bell-like imitation of an ambulance siren: all of which I repeated, to which it replied, seeming enjoying it much. Its imitation of wooden shutters being screaked open on their metal hinges was 'way beyond me, so I tried to teach it English, but that didn't work, and it wouldn't meow for me either. . . As for an actual tune, I'm afraid I was condescending: I gave it

and it immediately replied with

and in general I came away with the feeling that it was offended.a Anyhow, that was Fornole.•

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Later Note for the Web:

a Years later, reading Plutarch, I was suddenly made to realize, and was grateful for it, that it was just as well that I didn't come up with something my friend couldn't imitate: Plut., On the Intelligence of Animals, 973C.

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DIARY:	Sep 16	Sep 18	SUMMARY		Umbria	Italy
Home		SEE ALSO:	Fiamenga	Fornole	Umbria	Italy
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