Bill Thayer's diary • September 8, 1997

[image ALT: Much of my site will be useless to you if you've got the images turned off!]

Monday 8 September 1997

About 1:45 P.M. after lunch; a little pause, being careful not to fall asleep: I should be going to Foligno to BCSNet to pick up a connection script to use with FreePPP etc.: I spoke with BCSNet's Macintosh guy Mr. Bellini at 10 this morning.

Then I went out and saw the theatre — nothing much, but nice; there are shows about once a week: even now the tail end of summer, for charity —

Spent the rest of the morning in the little Cappella Tega, a very small room, but interesting and some very good painting. More later but I'm Tega'd out, plus I've got to get ready and go.

Lunch found me surprisingly hungry: 2 tomatoes, lettuce, a few grams of tuna and capers made a good salad; apricot juice, then I finished off the old fregnaccia, soaking it in vin santo; even had a few tozzetti too. Morning started cloudy and quite cool, but it's now returned to hot and cloudless or almost — A slight breeze tho', bringing with it all the way into the apartment the scent of pine trees, if faint.

And of course I went and it was no use; everything connected with the computer has been a failure. I walked the other road, the one west of the railroad; it takes you too far, you then have to bend back a bit. I got to BCS at 3, waited no more than 2 minutes, everyone showed up and opened quickly; and no envelope — apparently there's a second office, on the other side of Foligno lost somewhere near the airport, at "2 or 3 km" — well I wasn't going to get into that: people who don't walk have no idea of distances, and finding something in an industrial suburb of Foligno — so they swore I'd have the envelope at the right office tomorrow by noon-to‑one: since tomorrow is the last day of Spello's open monuments program, and I still haven't seen S. Girolamo (important) nor S. Ventura (also: I took a peek at 6 but mass or something was about to begin), nor S. Giovanni Battista nor have I photographed the inscriptions at S. Claudio (and I'm forgetting S. Severino), I think I'll stay in Spello; BCS's opening hours coincide exactly with the Spello program's —

So, after three glasses of cold fizzy water (₤600 each, certainly an honest price: try getting any drink, even water, at 30¢ a glass in the States!!) and a "cold" (cool) caffé at 1500 at a little bar near the crossing at the Madonna della Fiamenga — I walked back to Spello. It was cooler, although still quite warm. Arriving at the P. Consolare I found S. Anna, a poor church, rather large though,

[image ALT: The interior of small church with a nave roofed by two large Gothic arches, and no side aisles. It is the church of S. Anna in Spello, Umbria (central Italy).]

La chiesa di Sant' Anna di Spello.

with one beautiful painting over the altar, but in awful condition: pieces of canvas as big as my hand had peeled down and hung loosely; yet it's a really lovely luminous sensitive painting — sad — Paola Felicetti, the guide, was of course one of the least busy of the guides and looked desperate for company. She, like almost all the guides, was interesting, knowledgeable, helpful.

[image ALT: A small square stone tablet with an inscription. It is an ancient Roman tombstone in Spello, Umbria (central Italy).]

The tombstone of
Publius Caprilius.

Around the other side to S. Ventura nearby; but as noted niente da fare — ten-second peek — loaded with somewhat over-restored later stuff, but some of it looked quite good: I've got to get back. Of virtue a necessity and under good lighting conditions up to the Torri di Properzio — that central section just has to be 1920, I can't believe it's Romana — and up to the apartment, noticing for the first time a little funerary inscription to the left of the Arco della v. Torri del Belvedere: a man and a woman who'd lost their father, just that, no date nor age. Near it a small fragment of ornamental frieze to something that must've been rather large, possibly a Roman arch where the medieval one is now: there's a good chunk of larger archwork visible, but it doesn't look Roman either, although older than the narrower gate now.

Then home: the 8:30 news over a rather fat-and-protein‑rich plate of bresaola, prosciutto, sausage, a bit of gorgonzola on biscotte, and some excellent lettuce. A glass of the really bad bianco di Spello, but saving some for James just for completeness' sake — A bit of a fairly good film about a family whose lives are changed in 1943 when the King fleeing from Rome requisitions their castle: but I'm not in the mood; also, for some reason, I'm unusually sleepy —

No, I'm not describing the Cappella Tega nor my diminutive blonde guide [. . .] — who doesn't want her name credited on my website! — and her really excellent explanations; but it was particularly interesting, most of the painting is of high quality, and I took quite a few notes in addition to a good half-roll of film, so that'll all show up on the website.

So tomorrow Viviamo Spello; starting with experiments on the sideflash and leave here for S. Girolamo in time to actually be there when they open, then swing back thru S. Severino; then the lunch break, then S. Giovanni Battista which should be quick, than S. Ventura and conclude with S. Claudio.

Wednesday, leave at 8 for Foligno, pick up my supposed solution at BCSNet when they open at 9, then walk to Bevagna: I should get there around 10:30 — and walk back.

One of those two days, I should eat at Il Molino to try it out before James gets here, praised as it comes from Mr. Ursini in Todi. Thursday to Rome with my fresh laundry I hope, go skate, find a hotel — not the Valle — and Friday morning meet James; we'll take the EuroCity at 2:55, or maybe something earlier? (Hard to predict)

Now what will actually happen?

Oh, and I had my weights weighed at the grocer's: 2.995 kg with water, 4.667 with gravel; and I called Melvin and left a message basically asking him to leave his arrival info with James — than I deluged him with backup info in case we should not meet him at the airport. In fact "I" not "we": no reason for James to come along and the expense —