Orvieto: the Lows or the Pazzo Pozzo (crazy well, my name for it)

Il Pozzo di San Patrizio, or St. Patrick's Well, was built by Pope Clement VII who, after the siege of Rome in the 1500s, feared that Orvieto's (and his) water supply would be compromised.  Here is a view of the well-head from atop the butte.

It looks rather unassuming.

There are 248 steps and the stairwells, there are two, are built as a double helix. Mules could travel down one staircase, have their buckets filled with water, and then travel up the other staircase.

There are 70 windows. Incidentally, these pictures have not been photoshopped. Here is a view looking up.

Bill is taking a rest.

And here is a view looking down.

This is a formidable turnstile!

Let me out!

Orvieto: the Highs

We felt like we were on top of the world!

I was surprised to see this flower in bloom because it was a chilly day.

Cars can drive to the top.

Orvieto: Funicolare

Orvieto is situated on top of a large butte of volcanic rock. Therefore, tourists generally reach the town via the funicolare.

These are actually shots taken as we headed back down to the train station.

Yikes, it looks like were going to crash into car #2!

But then they go right and we go left!

Papal Audience: the best part

The best part for me was watching the Pope personally visit with the disibili and their families. Above the Pope blesses two children. While still in the section reserved for the impaired, the Pope waves back to the crowd in my section.

Next follows a group of pictures that I call the vroom pics. It starts out with the Pope's warm smile.

My guess is that this child is developmentally disablled. He stands up on his chair to meet the Pope face-to-face.

Then the child gives the Pope a big old hug.

And the Pope hugs back.

Still hugging, note the red car in the child's right hand.

This child has caught the attention of a chair-mover.

Remember a few blogs earlier I how I commented on how the handsome Sediaro got a nun to move along. This is that same nun who is right now obscuring the best shot of the day. If you check out the Pope's face, his attention is clearly being drawn to something. At eye level I could see that he was playing cars (vroom) with the child in the blue jacket--actually drawing the car against his palm to make the wheels go round and round. My camera was resting on the fence railing, so all I got was this nun! :(

Soon, everyone's attention is drawn to the child-even the cameraman is grinning.

Eventually, the child's sibling shows the Pope a yellow bus. The Pope visits with the mom in the green top, they exchange an Italian baci (both cheeks) and then the Pope moves on.  The next individual was so impaired that the Pope bent down to give him a kiss.

Simply exchanging pleasantries.

At the end of the last row of the disabili, was a blind man and his guide dog. The Pope visited with both and petted the dog, although I don't have a good picture. The Sediari stayed to visit with the owner and the dog. 

Papal Audience: His Message

After his spin about the piazza, the Pope went up to the platform and took his seat in a chair upholstered in off-white fabric or leather. Now it was a chilly morning and the Pope wore an overcoat for the ride in the Popemobile. However, the platform is heated by infrared strips (the darker horizontal lines on the platform's ceiling). The Pope removed his coat and by the time this picture was snapped, the heaters had been turned off. If you look closely, you can see that there is also a wind gauge affixed to the top of the canopy.

In the above picture, you can see the Pope reading his prepared remarks following a short Gospel reading. He reads them in Italian, and it was pretty simple Italian, so I could understand what he was saying; I was also surprised that my French comprehension was as good as my Italian. At one point, he broke away from his written copy and spoke from his heart and described how it was brutto when brothers didn't love each other. You could see that he actually felt hurt by such hatred, and no doubt, the recent massacre of Coptic Egyptians by ISIS was clearly in his thoughts. What struck me about his comments was that even though it was Ash Wednesday, we did not hear the "thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return" sermon. Instead, it seemed to be a more positive message of love. As a side note, today's homily at Santa Maria delle Grazie, where we attend weekly Mass, also struck us as more optimistic. In Rome during Lent the chalice seems half full instead of half empty. (Later on Ash Wednesday he did say Mass at Santa Sabina, so it's entirely possible he reserved the traditional Lenten message for that homily.)

I am attaching a link of the Pope's actual prepared remarks in Italian.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/audiences/2015/documents/papa-francesco_20150218_udienza-generale.html

You can see from the above link that the Pope's remarks were followed by native speakers (bishops or cardinals, I couldn't tell) who came to the podium and provided a synopsis of the Pope's comments in a variety of languages. There was an Arabic reader and his prose sounded almost like a chant, even though it was the same Gospel reading and synopsis we had heard in other languages.

At the end of the formal part of the audience, the Pope specifically welcomed the Bishop of Ukraine and a group of students from there. Here the Pope is walking down to personally greet the delegation.

The delegation is on the far left. You can see the blue tops of two of their flags.

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The following is the English synopsis provided by the Vatican website:

Speaker:

Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis on the family, we now reflect on the importance of brothers and sisters. Growing up in a family with other children is a profound human experience which is fulfilled in Christ, who became our brother and made us children of God our Father. The story of Cain and Abel shows that we are indeed our brothers’ keeper (cf Gen 4:9) within the human family. In families, we learn how to be good brothers and sisters; what we learn at home then becomes a source of enrichment for society as a whole. The grace of Christ leads us to see others as our brothers and sisters, reconciles differences and divisions, and offers the promise of a society of true freedom and equality. The experience of fraternal love in families is seen especially in the care shown to our children with special needs. Jesus teaches us that this same love must be shown to all our brothers and sisters, especially those in greatest need. May our often impersonal societies learn to foster a spirit of fraternity, and may families everywhere come to appreciate the great blessing of God found in our young who love, and are loved, as brothers and sisters.

Holy Father:

Saluto i pellegrini di lingua inglese presenti all’odierna Udienza, specialmente quelli provenienti da Inghilterra, Giappone e Stati Uniti d’America. Su voi e sulle vostre famiglie invoco la gioia e la pace nel Signore Gesù. Dio vi benedica!

Speaker:

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Japan and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!

Papal Audience: Giro Jeep

The Papal audiences start out with a spin about the Piazza San Pietro in the Popemobile. The Pope obviously has fun doing this. Here are my favorite pics from the 506 I took that day starting with the Pope's great smile.

He loves to interact with the people. Here is an exchange involving a soccer shirt. A few blogs back I had noticed that a shop was selling clerical beanies, including white. I couldn't figure out why stores would be selling these publicly since I would think the Pope would be supplied with whatever he needed. It turns out that people buy the white beanies, hand them off to the secret service men who run alongside the Popemobile, who in turn give them to the Pope who then quickly dons the beanie before returning it to the owner. Somehow it reminds me of baseball caps!

The Pope has a good arm!

Since he's head-of-state he also kisses (and in his case, blesses) babies. The Popemobile has come to a stop here. One of the gray suits takes the baby and brings him over to the Pope to be blessed.

The man below is giving the parents of the baby just blessed by the Pope the same brochure we got about accessing the Vatican photos so that they can get a picture of the Pope with their baby.

Along the way, the Pope asked a young girl, maybe 9, and then a boy, about 12, to join him on the Popemobile.  At one point the girl touched the back of his coat, followed by the boy. The Pope turned around and smiled at them. What a thrill to ride on the Popemobile, though I'm not sure how the kids ever found their parents in that crowd!

He's nearing the end of the giro. This picture shows how close he came to us. At the south end of St. Peter's Square he got out of the Popemobile and shook the hands of the people along the fence.

If you're not lucky enough to have seats as good as ours, you can watch the Pope on the monitors.

The Pope has finished his giro and is now heading up to the platform. We tend to think of the popes as old men because that's what they always turn into. What struck me about Pope Francis is that he is a very vigorous man, who despite the news reports about missing part or all of a lung, walks very briskly and can still throw a soccer shirt into a crowd with some accuracy.