RogerDodger and FancyNancy Circle the Globe: Bolsena...lunch, lake and city

Info on St. Christina

I’m sure you’ve heard the term, “going off half cocked”, that’s what we did this morning...threw the schedule out the window (which we do about every other day), and decided we needed to go back to Bolsena for a little Perch, Etruscan Style, we both have been craving it since last we were there. So, into the car, no prep, not thinking about anything but lunch, we figured the day would take care of itself.

The early morning fog lifted as we left Alviano and the day turned nice, about 70 degrees. We enjoyed the drive over, as we do all drives here, made good time, arriving at 12:30...just in time for lunch. Parked and walked to the restaurant, of course you’d never guess the Restaurant was CLOSED! God, don’t these people know we drove all the way here for lunch!! And I could just taste that Perch...we checked and there were no hours are listed anywhere on the building, so there was no way we could have suspected they’d be closed on a Thursday...Drat!

This is very typical in Italy, every Village closes one day a week, in Alviano they are consistent...everyone closes on Wednesday, all day, no exceptions...every Wednesday. It’s a hassle, but not after you know the schedule, my problem here is I didn’t know...Anyway, here we are and every restaurant is closed except La Guido, and there isn’t anyone in the place. We decided to live dangerous and took a table, it’s always weird when your the only one in a restaurant, good service, but still weird. The place is nice inside, I can’t believe they had no other diners, we ordered the Tagelletini with fresh fish, the fried Perch and a salad. We share our meals now days (like old all people). The food ended up being fantastic, the pasta with fish was terrific...this means we now have 2 good restaurants in Bolsena, which is quickly becoming our favorite village to have lunch.

After eating we had no plans (the half cocked part of the day), so we decided to visit the old part of the city. It has a couple old churches, catacombs and a great looking castle. Bolsena is one of the easiest villages to maneuver around in, and we found a parking spot in a snap (and it was a free space). We walked through the shopping district, which was closed for siesta, abut still very charming with lots of cool shops. Got to the base of the hill and climbed the steps to the top...The walk up was like a walk through history. The whole area feels old, old, old...kind of dusty, spooky old, but very neat with great sights. I don’t have any info on the castle, but it was a real castle, 4 turrets with walks around the top, and pretty good sized. The place has been turned into a museum and so you pay to get in...they offer 3 types of tickets, we decided just to see the top, we climbed the stairs and were rewarded with amazing views of the city, countryside and lake. Took lots of pictures.

When we were on top we noticed a beautiful church right across a small courtyard behind the castle, it was our next stop. You’d think with all the churches I’ve been in lately maybe there’d been a conversion...ah no...in Italy if you want to admire the art you have to go to the churches. Somehow the Pope ended up with his share of art and everyone else’s too. When describing churches in Italy the same words apply to always, beautiful, spectacular and they all fill you with sense of awe because of the architecture and age...its kind of interesting that a pagan like me feels this way. Who knows?

Made our way back through the city and saw that the Basilica of St. Christina, along with (we thought) the catacombs, was open...had to check it out. Another amazing church...the catacombs themselves were not open, but the church above them was, with part of the walk connecting them, available. I am enclosing a small write up with the blog...take a look ,it will explain how and when it was built.

We had our customary, fabulous drive home. Now, maybe a little music, some vino, dinner later and relaxation, another excellent day. Ciao.