The Funeral Crashers. 12/15/18

Today we are visiting the Church of St. Andrew and the Church of St. Juvenal in the morning. We have saved St. Juvenal for our last church visit. It is the oldest church in Orvieto and covered in early frescoes.

It is really cold out this morning, in the low 30’s with a stiff wind. It has been years since we have experienced this much cold. Tears are actually streaming down my face. We are relieved as we step inside the Church of St. Andrew. St. Andrew was an apostle and the brother of St. Peter.

The Church was built in the 12th century and has an unusual 10-sided bell tower.

John and Sarah in front of the Church of St. Andrew, Orvieto

Inside you can see the stunning rose window featuring St. Andrew carrying his X-shaped cross or saltire. Traditionally it is said that St. Andrew requested an alternate cross to be martyred on since he was unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus.

Rose window featuring St. Andrew

The church has a statue of St. Andrew and fragments of old frescoes.

St. Andrew with saltire
Damaged fresco of St. Julian explaining to his wife that he had accidentally killed his mother and father.   St. Julian, “See, somebody told me that my dad was sleeping with a harlot. So I rushed in and stabbed them both. My bad, it turns out it was my mom. But, no worries, I will become a Saint anyway!” Wife, “Okay then.”

Before I leave the subject of St. Andrew’s Church, here is one of the best ever pictures of Sarah in a church taken at St. Andrew’s,  April, 2016.  It is very Annunciation-ish.

 

Our final church visit is at Chiesa di San Giovenale or St. Juvenal. He was the first bishop of Narni in Umbria during the 4th century. There are conflicting reports of whether he was a martyr or merely a confessor. His legend suggests that he saved Narni from  invaders by calling down a divine thunderstorm. He was removed from the Catholic Calendar in 1969.

Even though St. Juvenal is no longer a major saint he has a pretty wonderful church in Orivieto.   It is said to have been built in 1004 on an Etruscan temple dedicated to Jupiter and we are eager to see it again.

We barge in through a side door and an entire congregation turns and looks at us. Uh oh we think, there must be a mass going on. We quickly move to some seats. The service continues.  This is when we notice a casket. Oh no! We have crashed a funeral!

We cannot leave or look around at the art or take pictures. So we respectfully sit and stand with the rest of the group. We offer the sign of peace to our neighboring parishioners. Luckily there have been some other late arrivals to take the glares off of us. But we know they are thinking, who are those people? Where did our departed meet them? Boy, is he tall for an Italian!

When people start rustling around for communion we make a break for the back door under the icy stares of the undertakers whose open hearse is waiting right in front of the church.  I wish we had walked around and not used the side entrance.

Hearse at St. Juvenal’s

I can only tell you that the church looked lovely inside. We had not seen it with all the lights on. The 12th and 13th century frescoes were glowing. And to the mourners, we are truly sorry to have crashed your funeral and hope you forgive us.

We hurry away before anyone can accost us, retrieve our car, and make the drive to have lunch in the countryside near Todi at the Roccafiore resort and restaurant. So much of this trip so far has been a walk down memory lane.  In 2016 Sarah discovered this wine that she liked on a trip we took and she wanted to go to the winery.  We discovered that they had a restaurant and we had a great lunch there and now we are going again.  Lunch at the very un-rustic Roccafiore Restaurant –

Bread service and amuse bouche
First courses – Mary, scallop with pumpkin cream and black ink tulles, Sarah- Salumi plate with lardo, John – Cacio e pepe scrambled pasta
Seconds, Mary – Octopus with mashed potatoes and pickled ginger (?), Sarah – underdone paccheri with shrimp, John – beef cheeks

So lunch was good but not as good as we remember the first time. We did get to buy two bottles of their Fiorfiore grecchetto which is pretty yummy. I wonder if there will be any left by the time Ryan and Jon get here next weekend.

We drive the hour back to the Hotel Duomo and it is definitely time for our coma-like siesta. We will meet again for dinner.

Although the idea of bundling up and facing the frigid evening temperatures to go somewhere for a light dinner is challenging we decide to brave the elements and go in search of munchies.  Not too far away is Pippo’s run by the jolly Signor Pippo.  We cannot tell whether we are too early or too late because we are the only patrons. John cavalierly tells Signor Pippo to give us whatever he thinks is best on the antipasto menu.  Here is what a light dinner looked like.

Salumi, porchetta, and cheese platter with bread, tapenade, artichoke, and chopped liver bruschetti, and a jug of Sangiovese

Needless to say, even with our best efforts we had a lot leftover. We pass up dessert.

Tomorrow we are off for five nights in Lucca. I am looking forward to unpacking, doing some laundry, and not budging for almost a week. Along with sightseeing in Lucca we will be visiting Prato, Pistoia, Pisa, and whatever else I come across while planning things to do.

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