Playing tourist again

Ada in San Giacomo Maggiore. She got over her fear of churches in a hurry.

 It had been too long since Ada and I had ventured out to see something new in the city. We took a walk to a church near by which supposedly houses Saint Caterina de’ Vigri’s incorrupted body. Google maps said the walk was 4 minutes, so I thought it would be fun to let Ada toddle with me to the church, rather than strap her in for a 4 minute ride.

The walk took us 20 minutes.

But she (and I) enjoyed it so much.

We stopped in at the church and Ada was uncharacteristically afraid. She wouldn't let me put her down. Maybe it was the echo, or the dim light. Or the deeps reds and gold?

We shared a pastry at a corner cafe on the way home and Ada flirted with the Napoleon who work there while trying her hardest to score a free Magnum bar.

I did some research during her afternoon nap on some of the ruling families in Bologna before (and after) the Papacy took over. The Bentivolgio's were a major family that ruled from the early 1300's through the 1500's until they were expelled when the Papacy gained control of the state. Their family history is laced with murder, scandal, Catholic indulgences, sinister plots and rebellion. It's a wonder that a movie hasn't been made (but maybe that's just the way all ruling families were during the Renaissance. Nothing new or noteworthy?)

Their seat of power was in church (made ornate by their wealth) called San Giacomo Maggiore. I've walked past it numerous times, but never gone inside. At a certain point in Europe you start to think: A church is a church is a church. I got there a few months after arriving, but after doing some research on the family and the artists who decorated the space, I found the whole experience to be much more enriching in a historical way, rather just a "Whoa. Another gigantic church." Ada got over her initial insecurities and walked every inch of San Giacomo chirping all the way. (Aren't echoes fun?)

After the church we poked our heads into the palace across the street and then stopped by a bakery on the way to the library.

The whole day was so perfect. I was discouraged after being jolted from painting just an hour after I began (note to Ada: if you don't take morning naps anymore, you had better make up for it in the afternoon), but I ended the day feeling like I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

Being surrounded by sights and sounds like these, how could I not be?