#Capuchin catacombs
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Mummies in the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Italy.
#Mummies#Capuchin#catacombs#Palermo#Capuchin catacombs#Italy#monks#mummifying#brothers#skeletons#skull#skeletonization#memento mori#mummy
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What is Ossuary
An ossuary is a building or chamber used to store human skeletal remains. The word ossuary comes from the Latin word "os", meaning "bone". Ossuaries are often used in places where burial space is scarce, such as in cities or on small islands.
There are many different types of ossuaries, including:
Crypts: These are underground chambers that are often located beneath churches or cathedrals.
Catacombs: These are underground tunnels that are used to store human remains.
Ossuaries attached to churches: These are small buildings or chapels that are attached to churches and are used to store human remains.
Ossuaries in cemeteries: These are small buildings or chapels that are located in cemeteries and are used to store human remains.
Ossuaries have been used for centuries to store human remains. The earliest ossuaries date back to the Roman Empire. Ossuaries were also used during the Middle Ages, when there was a high death rate due to the Black Death. In the 19th century, ossuaries were used in Europe to store the remains of people who had died in poverty or who had been victims of epidemics.
Today, ossuaries are still used in some parts of the world, such as Europe and South America. In some cases, ossuaries are used as a way to conserve space. In other cases, ossuaries are used as a way to honor the dead.
Here are some of the most famous ossuaries in the world:
The Sedlec Ossuary
This ossuary is located in the Czech Republic. It is famous for its elaborately decorated walls, which are made up of thousands of human bones.
The Catacombs of Paris
These catacombs are located beneath Paris, France. They are home to the remains of millions of people who died in Paris during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
These catacombs are located in Palermo, Italy. They are home to the remains of over 8,000 Capuchin friars, who were buried there between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Ossuaries are a fascinating and macabre part of human history. They provide a glimpse into the way that people have dealt with death and dying throughout the centuries.
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#archaeology#archaeological#archeology#antiquity#ancient history#history#ossuary#capuchin catacombs#palermo#catacombs of paris#paris#sedlec ossuary#czech republic#ancient art#ancient civilizations#civilization
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Explore these 8 crypts, catacombs, and bone churches you have see before you become part of the display.
#cult of weird#crypt#catacombs#bone church#paris catacombs#capuchin#death#memento mori#oddities#travel#explore#explore more#dark tourist#dark tourism#ossuary#mummified#rome#italy#milan#portugal#cemetery#curiosities
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Catacombs of the Capuchins
At the end of the 16th century, the friars of the Capuchin Monastery had run out of space in their cemetery. The solution was to start excavating Crypts below the cemetery, where they would inter the mummified bodies of those in their order.
Originally intended only for the dead friars, the catacombs soon became home to luminaries, priests and civilians, many preserved and wearing their finest clothes. Today, visitors can view the more than 8000 human remains lining the walls, or placed on shelves.
In 1599, Brother Silvestra of Gubbio was the first monk to be interred at the Capuchin Catacombs. Upon death he had his organs removed, the body cavity was stuffed with straw, and then taken to be dehydrated, semi preserving the body.
He was dressed in simple clothing: a brown robe and simple headpiece. His body was then transported to the catacombs and placed in a niche. More than 400 years later he is still there.
Since 1599 more than 8000 bodies have been placed in the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily. At first it was just the monks and friars of the Capuchin Monastery that were placed within the underground halls, passages and rooms of the catacombs, their cemetery having reached capacity, but after a time the catacombs were opened up to others as well
The catacombs are organised into sections, Monks, priests, teachers, professionals, men, women, children (held on cots or located high on the walls in small niches), are just some of the different areas designated for different people. There is also a section specifically for adult, virgin, women.
The bodies are on display along the walls, held in niches or placed on shelves, staring back at you from blank sockets. There are also many coffins within the catacombs, but much of the time a side has been removed, allowing the viewing of the body within, or allowing the body within a view of the living.
Not all of the bodies have fared as well as the others. Much of the time the skin is cracked and peeling, showing the bones beneath. Many of the remains look to have their faces locked in a never ending scream, a result of the decay process.
Straw can be seen poking through the parchment like skin of the neck, and poking out of the wrists of some of the bodies.
The original idea of the catacombs was so the members of the Capuchin order could ask their departed predecessors intercessions, a prayer to God on behalf of another, face to face.
When the general populous started to use the catacombs, the reason was not so different. They could visit the preserved remains of their past family members, and still bring them into their prayer circles, holding the hands of the deceased to keep them in with prayer on special occasions.
At times, families would redress and rewash the bodies, wiping them down in vinegar or other substances, to help the preservation process. If no family was available, yet such treatment was wanted, a person could mention so in their Will, and leave a donation to the catacombs.
The Capuchin Catacombs stopped taking bodies in 1920. One of the final internments was that of two year old Rosalia Lombardo. Rosaria died of pneumonia and her father, General Lombardo, took her body to noted embalmer Alredo Salafia.
Salafia used a special method of embalming which was so effective that Rosarios body looks to just be sleeping. The only indication of something out of the ordinary is that she has a slightly orange pallor.
The Capuchin Catacombs present a unique time capsule of nearly a half a millennia of fashion. Although monks, friars and priests are generally preserved in their religious wear, the general populace were interred in their finest clothes. A fashion show through the ages if you will.
The catacombs are open to the public. Grills have been installed to help with the problem of some visitors posing with the corpses… or worse still, taking home souvenirs
#Catacombs of the Capuchins#ghost and hauntings#paranormal#ghost and spirits#haunted locations#haunted salem#myhauntedsalem
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Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
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The Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo, Sicily contain the largest collection of mummies in Europe. Tourists are attracted to the macabre nature of the site and now researchers are searching for more about the child mummies.
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Do you have any "must see's" or cool spots in Sicily? I am going next month with my mom and Grandma and was wondering if you have any recommendations. Thanks!
Oh that sounds like an incredible trip!
Speaking personally, I love love love Siracusa! The historical center, Ortigia, is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been - white stone streets and pink buildings and lemon trees, it took my breath away the first time I saw it in sunlight, and its history is incredible. It's a little out of the way (1hr from Catania) but I think it's worth seeing for at least a day or two, especially if the big cities of Palermo and/or Catania become overwhelming. If you do visit:
Bar Midolo makes the best aranicine al ragu I've ever had (and ArancinaGlutenFree makes gf/vegan arancine if you've got dietary restrictions!)
Fresh blood oranges at the market. There's nothing better in the world.
There's an archeological park nearby (Parco Archeologico Neapolis with a Greek theatre, Roman amphitheater, the Ear of Dionysus cave, and some other interesting sites which is well worth seeing!
Get cocktails or coffee/tea at Biblios Cafe - it's a bookstore/bar with the absolute most relaxed vibes, explicitly lgbtq friendly, I miss it very much
The walk along the western side, along the waterfront and up to the spring of Arethusa, is beautiful.
Out of Siracusa, the Valley of Temples in Agrigento is hands down stunning. If you see nothing else, this is the place.
I don't have too much to add for Catania or Palermo, as I haven't spent much time in either, but I do remember in Palermo the Capuchin Catacombs, and Kepalle, another arancine place! Cefalu near Palermo was beautiful as well.
And last is Taormina, which I've never been to but dearly want to - for that reason I can't offer anything specific about it, but it's on my own bucket list!
Safe travels, I hope you have a wonderful time!
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Eugenio Interguglielmi - Catacombs, Convento dei Cappucini, Palermo, c. 1895.
More than eight thousand embalmed corpses line the walls of the capuchin convent in Palermo, Sicily. They are organized by gender, age, and even profession, according to the same class and social hierarchies that shaped their lives. Here a blinding light shines on rows of clergy adorned in their finest vestments, bringing the spectacle of death to life. The crypt was already a popular tourist destination in the nineteenth century, and photographs like this one offered visitors a macabre souvenir of what a contemporaneous guidebook described as "truly disgusting." via Metmuseum
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Hi! Younger artist here, I just saw your post with all those super cool monster designs and I took a quick stroll through your blog, and I was wondering if you had any specific inspirations for those designs or where you get inspo for character designs in general? Or perhaps some tidbits on how you learned how to make wild designs like that?
Sorry if this is a bit of a big ask, I just think it's really cool and I was curious!
Hello! Thank you for your question and apologies for taking so long to answer, I just got really excited and wanted to be thorough!
My biggest piece of advice is research and develop a visual library of reference material! Your visual library is like a mental database of everything you’ve ever seen in your life, and this is what you can pull from to design concepts.
There are a couple ways to start this as a practice:
Notice what you see! It can be a chair, a sunset, a shoe, the light on a tree, but if you see something you think is beautiful or interesting, mentally make a note of it!
Document what you like! With computers and cameras this is a lot easier to do nowadays, but if you see something interesting to you, document it. You can draw it, or take/save a photo to folder.
Organize it! I highly recommend coming up with a system for referencing back to find things, either through image tags or folders or even a manual filing system.
Pay attention to your personal preferences and experiences. Try to think about what draws you to certain visual elements, identifying them can lead you to more things you like. Also pay attention to what you don’t like and why, it doesn’t necessarily need to be bad or amoral, we all have personal tastes.
Get out of your comfort zone! I recommend trying to see something you’ve never seen before often. Find a new artist, a new genre, research a new type of design movement, go to a new place, etc.
Try to find context for your research! For example, If you really love a specific era of fashion, research that time period and the way historical context informs it. Context can be really important, especially if you are working with references new to you!
Important Note 01: You don’t want to copy or rip-off these things. In my experience the best way to avoid that is to have a lot of reference points for any project and embrace your authentic personal interests, experiences, and identity.
Important Note 02: Like any research, be conscious of primary person vs secondary sources! One is not better than another necessarily, but I find I work my best with a mix of both. I like to start with primary sources and then move to secondary sources, Ie: looking at authentic suits of armor before moving to contemporary armor concept art. You don’t have to do this, it’s just something I find helpful.
Important Note 03: While mostly I’m referring to visual references, audio, music, and writing are also super helpful!
Ok now, how do you curate all that for a project. For those monster illustrations I wanted to explore how color can be horrific. Keywords: Color & Horror. So I start looking through references for things that have the effect I want color wise, vivid and maximalist, and things that I find scary or horrifying. Here are some of the things I knew about or discovered during the research process that had the vibe I wanted.
Notable Influences
Color and Design
Peruvian & Guatemalan Textiles and Traditional Clothing
Spanish Traditional/Folk Clothing
Sammezzano Castle, Italy
Nasir al-Mulk Mosque, Iran
Russian Traditional/Folk Costumes
Fonthill Castle, Pennsylvania
Zhangye National Geopark
Nick Cave - sculpture artist
Lousie Zhang
Magnhild Kennedy - “Damselfrau”
Horror
Catacomb Saints
Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
Japanese Yokai
Greek & Roman Mythology
Mandrills & Monkeys
Charles Fréger’s Photographs of European Pagan Costuming
Avant Garde Fashion
Alexander McQueen
Vedas by Nicolas Alan Cope and Dustin Edward Arnold
Stephen Jones - Hats
Mummies
Reliquaries
Marina González Eme
Lorenzo Nanni
H.R Giger
Intersections of Color & Horror
Microscopic Imagery
Moths, Beetles & Shrimp
Suspiria (1977)
AJ Fosik
Hungry | Johannes J. Jaruraak
Once you’ve gathered these references in one place (like a moodboard, folder, or Pinterest board) It’s time to pay attention to wear aesthetics intersect, what patterns are coming up, what proportions of color, what textures reoccur, what elements of clothing reoccur, etc.. What relationship do different images have with each other, what emotional effect do they create.
Now that you’ve studied up, it’s time to sketch, try and create things that feel similar to the work you are looking at but not copy it, instead try mixing things together. Experiment! Let your personal style and preferences sink in! Interpret what you’ve learned!
From there, it’s more of a design process, how to use proportion, light, anatomy, perspective, form, repetition, etc, to create the desired effect. Then you refine and refine.
For new or different projects you repeat the process, maybe you use similar points of reference, maybe you go a completely different direction.
Anyway that was long, but I hope it was helpful!
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[reads the dedication to yours truly in the atticwife vox fic] I humbly accept the honour of being your Worse shoulder devil >:3 ALL delusions shall be gloriously enabled, muhahaha~
that last NODWFM-related ask got me SCREAMING. the “Vox as Ophelia” agenda only continues to flourish — oh god, but I feel if someone actually DID manage to kill Vox in an alternate route type of deal, Alastor would be on his Heathcliff arc full throttle: that grave is getting robbed in the middle of a stormy night and he will find *some way* to miraculously preserve that corpse, and anyone who gets in his way WILL suffer...
googled heathcliff for the sake of answering this ask, was not disappointed. my god yeah he WOULD- i remember reading a ripleys believe it or not book when i was younger, i cant imagine which one it was now but i saw this picture of rosalia lombardo, who is one of the best preserved bodies in the capuchin catacombs in sicily- a photo of her taken in 1982 looked like she was sleeping despite it having been taken over 60 years after her death. i imagine that alastor would probably go to similar lengths for vox, if the impossible happened and he was killed- half his time and energy would be devoted to preserving what he has left of his beloved muse, and the other half would be dedicated to tracking down his killer.
#ran rambles#hazbin hotel#fic asks#NODWFM#do you guys hate it when i try to give the little gay demons happy endings or something#because im starting to think youre all sadists
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Mummies in the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Italy. The monks began mummifying their brothers in 1599
#Mummies#Capuchin catacombs#Palermo#Italy#monks#mummifying#1599#photo#photography#random#mummy#skulls#skeletonization#skeleton#memento mori
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Love and Death, 1881, by Calcedonio Reina
Museo Civico al Castello Ursino - Catania, Sicily
The painting shows lovers kissing in the Catacombs of the Capuchins in Palermo, where, in the 16th century, the bodies of Capuchin friars were dehydrated on racks of ceramic pipes before being dressed in their everyday clothing and hung along the walls. The catacombs are still a popular tourist attraction.
Photo by Charles Reeza
#19th century art#macabre#goth aesthetic#burial practices#mummification#Italian artist#melancholy#mortality#Italy#Sicilia#museum of death
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Mayuka Yamamoto's "Ephemeral Existence."
Opening on April 22nd, 2023 at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles. California is artist Mayuka Yamamoto's solo exhibition, "Ephemeral Existence."
Yamamoto, a prominent second-generation contemporary Japanese artist, is renowned for her oil paintings depicting children in animal suits or other protective animalistic attire, exhibiting enigmatic expressions. Her artwork, characterized by reticence and introspection, leaves the emotions of the "animal boys" a mystery to viewers. The otherworldly calm portrayed in her subjects contrasts with their true emotional and psychological states, set against gently-colored, subtle backgrounds.
Discussing her upcoming exhibition, Yamamoto explains her inspiration from visiting catacombs in Italy and France. The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, with mummies of children dressed in beautiful attire, made a lasting impression. Imagining the parents dressing their deceased children, she found the concept of "ephemeral existence" perfectly capturing the essence of her artistic journey, bringing it to a conclusion.
THE SUPERSONIC ART SHOP | FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM
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Rosalia Lombardo died of pneumonia in Palermo, Sicily in December 1920. Her father took her body to renowned embalmer, Alfredo Salafia, so her body would remain preserved.
Salafia’s embalming technique worked so completely, that the body survived the ravages of time. It was so well preserved that even in 1995, when this photo was taken, she looked merely asleep. Another fascinating aspect is Rosalia’s eyes. Some days and nights they will slowly open and close, as if slowly waking from a long sleep…
Rosalia Lombardo holds a special place in the hearts and minds of those who visit the Capuchin Catacombs. ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ of Palermo, as Rosalia came to be known, is remarkably preserved. A special technique, thought long lost, was used, and well into the 1990’s, when this photo was taken, you could barely tell that life had long been absent.
Upon her death Rosalia’s father, General Lombardo, was so grief stricken that he wanted to have his daughter interred in the catacombs, preserved for eternity. He was lucky that they agreed to take her remains, as the catacombs had essentially stopped accepting new bodies, making Rosalia one of the last.
Before she was placed in her spot within the catacombs, Rosalias father sought out renowned embalmer Alfredo Salafia. Salafia was an Italian chemist, who had spent years perfecting his embalming technique. The results of Salafia’s formula were some of the best kept bodies ever preserved.
Salafia perfected his embalming skills on animals, before moving onto humans. His technique greatly differed from traditional embalming. He would simply inject his formula directly into the carotid artery… no other real form of preparation was done, not even draining the blood.
In 1933 Salafia died, taking his secret with him to the grave. Thought long lost, the secret fluid has since been reversed engineered, and the secrets unlocked: Formalin is used to kill bacteria, Salicylic Acid stopped fungal growth, Alcohol dried the body whilst glycerine prevented it from drying out too much (to help prevent the skin becoming brittle and tearing).
However, the big secret was in using zinc salts. These gave Rosalia’s body rigidity, stopping hollows caving in, such as cheeks and the nasal cavity, preserving a life like appearance.
Finally, there is a very interesting aspect to Rosalia Lombardo’s body. For years, many would swear that sometimes upon viewing her, the eyes would be partially opened – when at other times, the eyes were shut.
On several occasions people would take photos of Rosalia throughout the day, and yes, at times the eyes did seem to be slightly opened. A time lapse camera was set up, which, over a twelve hour period, caught the eyes slowly opening and closing.
Many believe this is a kind of miracle, a strange piece of paranormal phenomena. Others that it is caused by changes in temperature and humidity.
In 2009 it was noticed that the body was finally starting to show signs of decay. Rosalia is now located in a hermetically sealed glass container.
The images you can see of her eyes were taken after she was placed in this container, some discoloration is visible on her cheeks, with the nose starting to pinch in at the nostrils. Still Rosalia is remarkably well preserved, and in her new home she will remain so for a very long time yet.
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The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo
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Italia
Day 9 - Comedy of Errors
Steps walked: 26,411
Flights climbed: 15
Vehicles ridden: 2
Points of interest visited: I don’t even know anymore.
Ancient things spotted: too many
Too much of a good thing. All good things. Pick your favorite aphorism. Today was a bust.
The disappointment started when we woke up before sunrise to pop down to the Ponte Vecchio (just downstairs) to see the sunrise. Yesterday would have been a perfect day. Instead today was totally overcast so we got a Timelapse of a whole bunch o’ nothin’, and a few pictures on the bridge before it swarmed with people.
It pained me to leave Firenze. Especially as the walk to the train station took place before people had woken, when the streets were mostly empty, just how I like it. I didn’t want to tear my eyes away from the past, from Leonardo’s world, the wellspring of the art mouth. But alas.
We made it early to the train station to find our train delayed. It gave Dan enough time to find us vegan croissants for the ride. I’m counting this as a win. Another win: our seats were not next to each other. BUT. We gambled and sat together and no one came to us angrily demanding we move. Another win. The journey into Roma was uneventful. We arrived and made the exhausting journey with luggage in tow to our stay, about a twenty minute walk from the train station.
The apartment wasn’t ready for us, but they let us drop our luggage off, able to return after 3. Our first stop was the crypt of the Capuchin Monks. When Dan first told me about the crypts decorated with the capuchin bones, my mind immediately went to the monkeys and I thought, “Those poor monkeys!” To which Dan responded “I’m sure they had their consent,” referring of course to the monks. The confusion comes from the fact that there are both monkeys AND monks called Capuchin. The monks were named first. We didn’t get to see the catacombs when we were in Paris so I was all for seeing some bones. Welp. Right off the bat they took our money and told me I couldn’t have bare shoulders. I had nothing to cover my shoulders on me because it was a hot and sunny afternoon. They charged me a euro for a paper gown to cover up. This is a loss. And put me in a real sour mood. As you can see.
Especially considering the first thing we saw was a mutilated tortured body on a crucifix. But my shoulders are too inappropriate. They talk about it being a holy place and I can hear anyone arguing in their favor that it’s a way to be respectful blah blah blah. My being respectful is paying admission to learn about your culture without shouting “everything you believe is a lie!” Bare shoulders and bare knees being covered isn’t a sign of respect. It’s a sign of control.
They also make you walk thru a museum before you get to the cool stuff, and give you some audio guide which I bailed on immediately because it was some insufferable two-person-play about who gives a shit. Not me. Which is why I bailed. The museum also wasn’t interesting. It was a lot of religious artefacts that weren’t by any artists I’m interested in. So we sort of walked quickly thru to get to the crypts. Of course they take away the most important part of visiting a cool place: taking pictures. If you have no pictures, did it even happen? If you have no pictures, were you even there?
Yes, we were there.
We left in record time and decided to get lunch to stave off any more potential grumpiness. There was a vegan restaurant super close to the next thing we wanted to visit, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa.
Vegan restaurant had no openings for people sans reservations. Another loss. Followed by a little win! Twenty paces back we had passed by a vegetarian Indian restaurant so we grabbed lunch there after some difficulty in deciphering the Italian/hindi menu. A little spicy but pretty good.
Then we looked up the super nearby Ecstasy, available to view for free at the Santa Maria della Vittoria… closed. Opens at 3:30. Hours away. Another loss. We toyed with killing time since we were so close to the church and so so tired of walking, and we meandered thru a nearby park and sat down but ultimately decided to head back to the room. We tried taking a route past both the Villa Medici and the Keats-Shelley house, two nearby buildings that had housed — you guessed it — the Medicis and the poet Keats (but not either of the Shelleys though I’m sure they all spent plenty of time there, and apparently Mary’s desk is there. You know, the one in which she kept Percy’s calcified heart?) but we didn’t even and instead trudged back to the room. ‘Twas literally a trudge. We were both so tired, our feet and legs hurting. We have logged like three marathons worth of miles in the last week. We are feeling it.
We tried three times to pick up a few groceries — namely bread — for breakfast and long story short we were unsuccessful. The slightly longer version involves bread that was behind an unmanned counter that I fetched [against the rules] and subsequently tried to pay for being snatched out of my hand and angrily thrown away while a woman yelled at me in Italian.
Empty handed, we collapsed on the bed at our apartment and took an angry nap while I obsessed over the unpleasant interaction with that woman, even in sleep. (I have a condition. In which I obsess. I was born this way.)
Dan made me a cup of tea and he had a cup of coffee as we braced ourselves to try to salvage the day. We had reservations for a vegan restaurant that has cats, the Romeow Cat Bistrot. It was high on my list in Roma but regrettably far from our accommodations. (An hour walk!) So we found a few points of interest semi-along the way and headed out, our legs and feet only mildly rested.
First stop: the Mouth of Truth. Closed for the night.
Second stop: Circus Maximus. Closed. For an event next weekend.
Third stop: Aventine Hill. Dark. The sun has set. Shitty views of the city. There’s a keyhole that you can look thru for a great view. The line was about a hundred people deep and moving slowly. But because everything else we had planned to see was closed, we got in line to kill time and maybe get a good view after all, even if it was dark. Dan grabbed a beer while we waited, I waved away a bunch of cigarette smoke from the people in line ahead of us, we moved up about 50 spaces in half an hour, and then decided to bail. We had enough time to get to the cat bistrot in time for the reservations we had to make two weeks ago, and there was no chance of getting to the keyhole in time. Another bust.
A quick aside here to address the things we’ve encountered during our numerous walks thru Roma:
- These drivers are the craziest drivers in all of Italia. We haven’t gotten hit, but it is a true battle of wills. Who wants to go more? You? Or the driver? Or that other driver? Let’s find out and godspeed.
- Firenze felt like an old city. This feels like a modern city filled with old shit. Everywhere you look: ruins. What the hell is that ruin? Don’t know. It’s clearly not that important. It’s not even on Google maps.
- Seriously with the ruins tho. Our host in Venezia excitedly told us about an old wall, “the first wall” I dunno what he said, right next to the train station. Sure enough there it was. No signs, nothing. Barely even worth looking at. Dan felt mildly obligated because our Venetian host was so nice but I was too tired to take the few steps in that direction. No regrets. We’ve walked by like a hundred other 2,000 year old things that are just by the side of the road. Or two hundred buildings that are 1,000 years old with AC window units, clearly apartments now. Anyway it’s like… enough.
We made it to Romeow before they opened at 8, which was also the time for our reservation, and joined the small, growing crowd of people waiting to be let in. There’s been a lot of joking about how Roma is ruined after the day we’ve had, much to Dan’s particular chagrin as he not only has such fond memories of visiting this city in the past, but I had no initial interest in coming here so the pressure is on. So it was easy to joke about walking home without dinner and call the whole day a wash when they were ten minutes late to let us in. But we could see some sleepy cats in the window. They let us in two at a time thru a two-door system to prevent any critters from escaping, and we were seated upstairs. Only one cat joined us on the second level; a little black rascal who played a little bit but otherwise stretched out luxuriously on one of the many cat lounge areas set up. They have a strict “no flash” policy and seem to care a lot about the welfare of the cats. Lots of toys, perches, and escapes from unwanted attention. Booklets on every table reminding patrons not to pick up the cats or wake them and to let the cats set the tone of any interactions.
The cats all seemed super chill. I wish they’d come over to us, tho. We got to pet two of them. A black one and a white one. Both friendly but mostly uninterested. The food was good.
I managed to convince Dan to take the metro home because it was such a straightforward journey. We even managed to snag a baguette on the way! But we did get yelled at about a tomato and she wouldn’t let us buy it because we hadn’t weighed it. What the hell, Roma? It shouldn’t be this hard to buy groceries. Anyway, the metro was easy and fast — once we got the tickets, which was as complicated and frustrating as Italia’s track record might suggest. But it worked out. We made it home after breaking our daily step count record and I even killed a mosquito before bed.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings.
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