April 15, 2017
Well, we went to a Roman Bath today. LOL!
I emailed our taxi driver Thursday night and asked him if he could take us to Trajan’s Bath, also called Taurene Bath, more than 20 centuries old, built by Emperor Trajan in 107 BC, three miles outside of Civitavecchia. Yes, he said. How much, I asked. 30 euro, he said. What time do you want me to pick you up, he said. 10 a.m. Saturday, I said. Okay, he said.
And we were standing on the corner (watching all the girls go by – it’s a song – and there were 4 ships in today, so lots of people dragging suitcases to the train station, a 15 minute walk from the ship that could only be made by a member of the Justice League of America, in 15 minutes). Anyway our driver, who was not our driver, but a substitute for our driver was on time, and asked some questions in Italian to which I looked effectively blank. He made a motion for a hole in the ground and said “water” and “bath.” I said, “Yes.” And off we went.
Boy were we wrong!
He delivered us safely, we paid our 1.50 euro each entrance fee, and he told us his wife would be back at 11:30 to collect us, and we should pay her. His wife, Katerina, was there, and we were introduced all around (I still don’t know the sub driver’s name).
We set off to visit beautiful historic ruins, and encountered pools of warm, sulphur water filled with people bathing. These are not the historic ruins, but a modern bath (some of the people may have been around in 107 BC). So we watched large and small – mostly large – get in and out of 3 pools. One guy we called “Mr. Sex Pot,” another “The Godfather.” Just from those names, you could pick them out of a crowd.
Another man wore a small, blue Speedo (small and Speedo mean the same thing, sorry). He had the body for it, in contrast with the 37 other men wearing Speedos who shouldn’t have been. If you can’t see the top of your Speedo, you shouldn’t be wearing one. We also saw a collection of women who had lain too long in the sun and were brown and wrinkled – like raisins.
We walked out early, hoping Katerina would be early. She speaks less English than we do Italian, but conveyed that we had a sunny day. I’m not sure what she thought of her American passengers who carried no sign of towels or bathing gear. But she delivered us safely, and with a smile, back to Calamatta’s House.
Holy cow!
Yesterday we went to the Good Friday parade. Someone said that the parade started at 6 o’clock, so we got to our spot at 5 o’clock – based on our experience of two years ago, one needed to claim one’s spot. At 6, the parade hadn’t started. At 7, the parade hadn’t started. At 7:30 I went into a store and asked what time the parade started.
The lady and I figured out each other’s language enough for me to learn that the parade began at 8 hours plus 30 minutes. So we went across the street to a pizza shop, ready to buy only pieces, not a whole kilogram pie. The young lady behind the counter spoke perfect English and sold us 4 pieces of “Marinara Pizza.” Yummy. She did not explain that marinara did not mean just tomato sauce, but tomato sauce with anchovies. I like anchovies, so I ate the two pieces that had them. She ate the two pieces that did not. Then we ran back across the street and reclaimed our spot.
The parade started almost on time – once traffic was blocked from both ends of the busiest street in town. It went on for almost an hour with hundreds and hundreds of people taking part, reenacting the Good Friday events. A most powerful experience.
The last group I videoed for 2 minutes as they rounded the corner and passed us. I stopped the video, but the full length of just that one part would have been close to 10 minutes with several hundred people in it alone. They were dressed in white robes with pointy hats (think KKK, but not KKK). The robes are marks of repentance. And they each had chains secured around their ankles which dragged behind them. The sound was erie. And most of them carried crosses – they looked heavy (how could you carry the cross of Christ and not feel its weight).
The last “float” was of Mary, dressed in black, with a sword through her heart. Bonnie said it would have been nice if the last float had been dealing with the resurrection, but that this was correct for Good Friday. It was worth standing there for 4.5 hours to witness the reenaction.
At the train station today we bought tickets to go to Rome tomorrow for church, and the ticket seller wished us a Happy Easter. I told her, “Easter is the best day of the year.” She said, “Why is that?” I said, “Because it is the day Jesus rose from the grave.” She said, “You are right.”
And since we are 6 hours ahead of you, and I won’t be doing it in the morning, I will close my portion with “Kristos Voskrees!”
TTFN
Well, I see he didn’t tell you I am behind in cards again. I think he has me by 2 games. I haven’t even come close to winning. Oh well, glad I don’t gamble. Because “if it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all” as they used to say on hee haw.
Well on to other things. Yesterday we started out the day walking towards the spot were we had boarded the shuttle bus to go the cruise ship in December. It is where we walked from on Wednesday. We went right at the round about and headed up the hill to a supermarket, we had found it last time we stayed, and passed a gas station on the way. Their gas stations are very different from ours. There are two or three pumps and they are just set up in a small area along a street. Gas is more than $4 a gallon.
The same begger was standing with his hat in his hand outside the door that was there the last time we visited this store. It must be his spot. We did not put anything into his hat but we had the last time. We did a little bit of shopping, some scrunges so I could wash dishes, some cheddar cheese and a sweet cake (that is very good).
Then, we proceeded to walk up the street to a roundabout then turned right and walked on until we finally found ourselves in the open market again. David wanted to look in the flea market area. So we started walking up and down the aisles just looking usually being bothered by the venders if you stopped to look at something. They would sell more if they just let me look. I did find some nice pants and I bought to very colorful pairs at 6 euros each. Your Dad tried to get them for 5 euros each but the guy said 6 was best price. So we bought them. The store I bought yarn from 2 years ago is located in a building beside the flea market and I had remembered it was there. I looked but did not buy. It is rather expensive. They sell all kinds of material and sewing supplies as well. Very small shop but stuff from floor to ceiling. After leaving the open market, we headed back down to the main street and to the little more modern grocery store. We purchased some caffeine free cokes for your Dad and water. I also bought one roma tomato for 48cents for our salad. If you ask for a bag to carry your stuff in, it costs 15 cents. Then we went home for a nap before going to the parade. We ate some of our left over pizza for lunch.
We went out after our nap and walked down by the Mediterranean Sea and picked up some interesting rocks at the waters edge. It was windy and very beautiful. In the distance we could see people who were sailing small sailboats or sailboards. It was a great day for that.
The parade was very moving but it did not seem to me as if there were as many people out as last time. It is a yearly thing and I guess they just take it for granted and they are not as caring.
While we were standing and waiting, we watched the traffic. They are crazy drivers. They park anywhere, double park and get out of their cars and go into the shops. Police will drive by and don’t even slow down. The cars weave in and out around the parked cars and people. They will park in the crosswalks which you aren’t supposed to do. The scooters and larger motorcycles run between the two opposing lanes of traffic weaving in and around the cars. It is wild. Outside the pizza store that was across the street from where we were standing an old man and woman had sat a chair in the parking spot right in front of the store. We thought they were setting their chair to view the parade from. Boy were we wrong. After about and hour or so a big fancy car pulled up, they moved the chair so that man and woman could park. Then, kissing the cheeks and they all went into the restaurant. The couple was still sitting in their eating when we went in to get our pizza. The old couple I had seen come out about 20 minutes after the car arrived carrying a pizza. They crossed the street and went into an apartment house to our left.
Now, to today. Got up decided not to shower but just wash off and have breakfast. Toast and juice for me. We met our driver , he was right on time and headed to the “ancient baths”. The only thing ancient about these baths were the bathers. After we bought our tickets and walked into the bath area, all there was were pools with people soaking. One of the pools not as big around as our pool and maybe 3 feet deep had about 30 or so people in the water sitting around the edge. We “toured” the baths then sat at a table for over an hour watching the people. I used the time to study my Italian dictionary that I had brought with me. I learned some stuff and amused David.
Fortunately our driver was early. After getting back to our house, I went up and used the bathroom. Not possible for me to use the one at the baths. Then, we headed to the train station to purchase our tickets for tomorrow. After said purchase, David wanted to visit a church that was famous because it was erected in the memory of Japanese missionaries who had were murdered (actually crucified)in Japan by one of the shoguns. The church was started by a Japanese man who moved here. We found the church but it is only open on the first and third Tuesday of the month from 10:30-11:30. So we will come back on Tuesday next week. We decided to walk on down toward the sea and then started back toward home. We hadn’t walked along this area and there were about 20 or so restaurants all open the sea. It was a nice walk. When we got back behind the train station we went back up and onto the main road. We stopped and had hot dogs, fries and a coke at the little café. Then, headed home. We had one more stop to make at the little grocery store called Pam to pick up our necessity, toilet paper. There was only two part rolls in the apartment. Oh, well.
We came home and he proceeded to nap and about the time he got up, I napped. Then, it was supper time. We had a salad and I used our tomato and I toasted a piece of bread. He had some cheese, too. Now, I am done so I will go and take a shower for our foray out tomorrow. Pray we don’t get lost. “What does it mean exact change?” (For all you Star Trek fans) Hope we have enough when we get on the bus from the train station to the church. We spayed the lock with some more WD-40 and I have still been able to get the door unlocked. Yeah!!
Happy Easter to all. Hope everybody enjoys their Easter “baskets”.
Love Mom, Granny and Bonnie
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