Last night after dinner, which, by the way, hasn't included wine for a couple nights now, we hit the local bar in Torano for a drink. What a happenin' town. Or not. But Dario talked business with the local cultural ministry representative while some of us played a few games of Foozball (the arcade game with the rows of little soccor-like guys that spin on moving handles), which I've never played before. It's not my game.

Anyway, we hit the field today at about 8:30 and stayed until 6:00! Actually, Dario and Monica still haven't returned, which I don't understand. We moved a lot of rocks in the morning and trowled some in the afternoon, then a back-hoe arrived and re-moved all the dirt and stone that we had piled, so that it was off to the side. It also excavated some areas for us. That beast can really move the stuff around. Too bad it did not come earlier as we wanted.

Swen left today, so I've no room-mate for tonight. I understand that some Italian guys are coming in the next day or so, and that a couple of American women will arrive on Monday. But plans change drastically around here, that's the one sure thing about this project. According to lunch-time discussions translated by Elena for me, we are supposed to go out to dinner tonight. That could still happen if Monica and Dario come home soon, and I sure hope it does because I'm hungry!

Monica bought lunch today and in addition to the usual cold-cut sandwiches, she brought ice creams and popsicles as well as Coke, both of which made the long day pass faster. Upon return home I did a load of laundry in the sink, and now have it hanging on an up-ended spring cot so that it might dry soonest. With luck it will be wearable the day after tomorrow.

As of this afternoon, Horace's Villa (Licenza) will not be cleaned and ready for pano photography on Monday (although it may be on Tuesday), so again plans have changed. The Capitoline Museum's still on for that afternoon, but as far as getting to and from there, as well as visiting Pompeii, much remains to be decided.

Not much has turned up in the excavations today, although we seem to have gotten down below the modern trash and into solidly packed deposits of stone and ceramic building material. A few sherds of pottery have appeared, but not much else, so it's all about tracing the walls at this point to see where they start down below the present surface.


Addendum, 11:50 pm

Just back from a multi-course meal, true Italian style. Lots of food. Most good, some I would not order again, such as radiccios: some kind of bitter cooked cabbage. For an after-dinner apertif, we had bianceta ("the small white one"), which is a very strong fermented drink of milk, lemon, and sugar. Whoa, Nellie.



Just as we were leaving, I noticed this guy on our door. His biomimicry of a wood chip is amazing!




And this guy was out in the field. He was so cute, I couldn't resist snapping his photo.





About time! (In more ways than one!)




Uh oh, more wall photos. Here's the latest from the east.




And the west. Still not many finds: just a few pottery sherds and pieces of Roman brick and tile.