A Little Music

We slept in this morning, allowing a little recovery from our long, hot trek to Herculaneum. Once we got everybody up and moving, we headed across town, via the bus in the direction of St. John Lateran, with the intention of visiting the National Museum of Musical Instruments, adjacent to Santa Croce in Gerusalem. As usual, we had to figure out the never-quite-clear Google directions to the right bus and once at the bus stop, figure out how to find the right street to set us on the path to our destination, a matter which was shortcut by asking one of the ubiquitous street vendors for directions. Once we arrived at the church, we encountered a cool little iron gate on which were hung a variety of colored stones, making a beautiful backdrop against which to photograph the girls.  We then meandered into the church, which we were excited to find out is built around the remains of a stadium constructed by the Emperor Egabalus. This basilica church is not on the "beaten path" for tourists and is actually kind of spare and gray inside--except where it isn't.  (Interestingly, it has a hotel built into the side of it, which according to Wikipedia was a source of scandal, as it's opening wasn't considered very monastic when it was opened.)  The first church on this site was built about 320 to house the relics brought back from Jerusalem by Helena, mother of Constantine.  It's name comes from the dirt from Jerusalem which she scattered on the floor.  Here you can still see a piece of the True Cross, housed in a reliquary--a fact attested to by St. Helena laying a lifeless young man upon the wood, only to see him come back to life (Really!) Various other relics are intended to amaze as well, but the real excitement is the gorgeous gold mosaic ceiling in the side chapel dedicated to St. Helena and the massive altar in the apse.  Mom and Dad enjoyed exploring the various nooks and crannies--not so much young ladies.  After a break at the church, we headed for the museum next door.  This was a little disappointing, as half the museum is closed for restoration.  Still we saw some cool instruments dating back to the 15th and 14th Centuries.  Lots of forebearers of the piano, hinged ingeneously to allow them to be portable, trumpets, flutes, horns, clarinets and an early trombone lacking any valves, a glass harmonica, which is is a series of glass disks layed parallel to the ground, and which is played by running one's wet fingers over the spinning rims, emitting sounds similar to running your fingers over the rim of a crystal glass. (Kudos to Meredith and her teacher, Valerie Nixon, for knowing this in advance and explaining it to the rest of us!)  We also saw some strange stringed instruments, including something with a very long neck and pegged at the top and in the center, which was apparently played by plucking each end.  The ingenuity is amazing, and we were sorry we couldn't have heard the sounds these many instruments make.  This museum has a lot of potential.  With the right curatorship, it really would have been something.  Following the museum, we went for gelatto.  Cecily placed the order, and I'll not soon forget the look on the server's face as Cecily placed a complicated order for us in excellent Italian.  She went from the typical tired indulgence for American tourists with money to astonishment as Cecily spoke. The she was enthusiastic as Cecily continued, and piled on the gelatto as well as encouraging tips for better pronunciation.  A little language goes a long way!    We stopped off at COIN Department store and St. John Lateran (which we can't seem to get enough of) before heading off to our favorite pizza joint, where Cecily got more compliments on her Italian and the weather turned blessedly cool as a weather front moved in.  We ended in the evening in the square, where the girls scattered to the four winds as their parents wondered where they were.  How different from the early days when they clung to us for dear life.  How wonderful!