AAR CSS: Day 4

Etruscans!

Note of the day (from the itinerary): N.B. WEAR STURDY, CLOSED SHOES FOR HIKING, LONG PANTS, AND BRING WATER.

We had an early breakfast at the Centro (where "early" = 7:00am. Breakfast is usually at 7:30. Yes, I have made it to breakfast every day so far.) so we could board the bus to Tarquinia at 7:30. My bread roll looked like a crocodile head (picture forthcoming whenever I manage to get it from the woman in our group who took it).

Helen "Illi" Nagy ("Naj". No relation to Greg Nagy of Homer & Harvard fame - Nagy is a very common Hungarian last name) showed us around some of the tombs at Tarquinia. No photos allowed! Of the frescoes, at least - here are some of the things we were allowed to take photos of:

Unidentified lizard on the modern hut covering entrance to Tomb of the Bulls:

Butterfly on flower outside aforementioned tomb:

From there we went to the Banditaccia Necropolis of Cerveteri, where I managed to take a photo of a fresco before someone inevitably asked about taking pictures (grrr) and we were told not to. Silly people - take photo first, ask later!

This is Charun, related to but not exactly the Greek Charon, from the Tomb of the Anina family in the Monterozzi necropolis, Tarquinia:

We were let loose for a bit to run around the other tombs (the ones open to the public, that is) like chickens with our heads cut off (40 minutes for over 15 tombs, each of which was down a separate flight of stairs - you do the math). Great pictures, though, like this giant slug (3 in.?) on wall down to one of the tombs:

Then we went into the town of Tarquinia (formerly Corneto) to see the museum, where Susann Lusnia took a picture of me with Cerberus in honor of my T-shirt choice:

Lunch at a little place next to the museum called Arcadia. Then onto Cerveteri, which has better preserved tumuli but not very many frescoes. A tumulus in the necropolis of Cerveteri:

One of the rooms inside a tumulus. Dead people would either be laid out or put in a sarcophagus which was then laid out on the couches.

Inside the Tomb of the Reliefs (probably the best preserved of the tombs at Cerveteri, since those are reliefs and not frescoes):

We were given some free time to run around (and into) the tumuli, giant burial mounds carved out of tuff/tufo (not tufa, as it's been called mistakenly for 150 years). Found some creepy crawlies and pretty kitties:

Bus driver's name: Fabio

Guide's name: Signor Tortellini (you can't make this stuff up)

Dinner: Risotto ai funghi | Petto di pollo con cicoria e carciofi | Crostata di marmellata