In a local adventure, we ventured to the nearby town of Bolsena, located on Lago di Bolsena in the Lazio region of Italy. Bolsena is known for a miracle that was said to have occurred in the Basilica of Santa Cristina in 1263, when a visiting Bohemian priest from Prague on his pilgrimage to Rome, in doubt about the doctrine of “transubstantiation”, reported bleeding from the host he had consecrated at Mass. It was certified a Miracle by Pope Urban IV the same year.
The basilica is also the burial site for the martyr, St. Cristina of Bolsena….boy, what a truly tortured life she had for believing in Christ. Her pagan father had her tortured with all sorts of gruesome means to get her to give up her faith. When he died, another family member took over the torture until Cristina was beheaded, but never repenting her faith.
We walked up a very steep hill having difficulty finding the direct path to the castle a top the hillside village. Our first choice for lunch was closed so we walked back down through the town to the shore of Lake Bolsena to have a wonderful lunch on the water. We had a nice local wine, bruschetta and pasta (Bob had his first lasagna and Maryellen had risotto with “fruits of the sea”) before returning home.
The wine is called “Est! Est! Est!” and is a blend of Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes. The myth behind the name is that in the 12th century, a bishop who was on a pilgrimage from Rome (did he run into the Boho priest from Prague??), sent his servant ahead of him to write the word “est” (Latin for “it is”) on the door of any inn in which the wine was good. In Montefiascone, next door to Bolsano, the wine was so good that the servant wrote “Est Est Est” on the door of an inn. Once the bishop arrived, he forgot his pilgrimage and stayed there enjoying the wine until his death!!!
Lake Bolsena (Lago di Bolsena) is a lake of volcanic and tectonic origin. It is the largest volcanic lake in Europe. Roman historic records indicate activity of the Vulsini volcano occurred as recently as 104 BC; it has been dormant since then. The two islands in the southern part of the lake were formed by underwater eruptions following the collapse that created the depression.
Early this morning, we confirmed our appointment to get our Covid tests within 72 hours of flying home, on Friday afternoon at our final stop in Monte Argentario. Another interesting factoid, Mary‘s blog post rolled over 500 views this afternoon, putting her far in the lead from Bob in the terms of the number of their respective blog posts visited by others.
We are in central Italy, in the heart of an agricultural area. There are as many wineries as there are fields recently tilled in preparation for next season. There are no strip malls, a few stoplights, and no congestion. It seems life is slow, local, and very simple. Undoubtably these people live a longer life that we do in the states as their quality of life seems to be slower paced and rewarding. And that constant “riposo” time from 1:30 – 4 helps! Siesta makes for a nice slow life!!