Rome 2- Day 2 & 3: Cooking up vestments and victuals

Today I stopped in at Gammarelli to talk about the upcoming pontifical set of vestments in white and I saw a relatively inexpensive rose pianera.  

They will make a matching cope and have it to us by Gaudete Sunday. Hopefully in the next year pontifical sets will follow in rose and in a far better black than we presently have.  I’ll start fundraising for that, don’t worry!

And here is a shot of a new fabric they made, based on some that a priest found.

And another.  I wish they’d have had this green before.  It’s great.  It reminds me of fabrics I saw in Venice.  It has griffons in it.

They are doing some good things and they are expanding. They remain very helpful and available.

Meanwhile, the fabric I chose for the white pontifical set and the trim to go with it.

On the other hand, this was in a window of a nearby shop.  No.  Just… no.

At least they have a scruple spoon.  I like the spoons from Leaflet better.

I dropped into Santa Maria sopra Minerva on the way back to the apartment.

The tomb of Leo X who decreed some good excommunications.

Tomorrow i’ll pick up this reliquary designed for a relic of the True Cross.  it will be wonderful for public veneration of the relic.

I’m so grateful to a donor who made this possible.

Later, past my old seminary and a view of my window from over a quarter of a century ago.

I did some shopping around the Campo at shops I know.  Here was something interesting!

My green grocer lady is still going strong!


In my short let apartment I have for cooking only a pot for water and a frying pan and a micro stove with those horrid heating elements under glass.  It’s so small that you can’t have both the pot and pan on at the same time.  But my various odd living circumstances over the years prepared me for these challenges.

Here is a pan of my own amatriciana.


Tonight I made a blazing arrabiatia followed by a roulade of chicken, prosciutto, rosemary and taleggio.  It’s nice not to have the option to prepare a meal at will without going out.

As I ate I suddenly felt dizzy.  I lasted for some time.  A bit late got texts from a friend here that there was an earthquake sort of between Assisi and Loreto.  That’s what I felt.

May God protect those people affected in that region.

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