{"id":54921,"date":"2025-11-22T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/?p=54921"},"modified":"2025-11-22T09:39:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T08:39:58","slug":"i-once-met-a-man-on-the-edge-of-a-volcano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/?p=54921","title":{"rendered":"I Once Met a Man on the Edge of a Volcano"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a delightfully quirky public holiday in Saxony (and Saxony alone) called \u2018Bu\u00df- und Bettag\u2019 \u2014 Repentance and Prayer Day. This Protestant pause of the working week falls on a Wednesday. Always. A lot of people moan about it. Other German states manage to have holidays that fall on a Monday or Friday and give you that lovely long-weekend feeling. The Saxon version gives you that Is it the weekend?<\/i> feeling and then promptly sends you back to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mathematician and I decide a walk\u2019s in order. (In the morning. In the afternoon, we\u2019ll repent our slacking off and pray we can work fast enough to catch up (a perversion that might make Sade raise an eyebrow).) We go for the yoosh: a stroll down to and along the river, a saunter through Clara Zetkin Park, and a cheeky nibble at Ouai. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we stroll the tree-lined avenue by the Elster (which puts The M in mind of a Bruegel painting), I wonder if the coffee bicycle will be by the bridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot that I really fancy a cup,\u201d I say. \u201cIt\u2019s just that it might be nice. You know, psychologically. Plus the cup will be lovely and warm. If it\u2019s there. It might not be. I mean, look at the weather.\u201d We look. It\u2019s greying over. \u201cAlthough it is<\/i> a public holiday, so \u2026. Do you want one?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust me then. If he\u2019s there. Or she. Is that rain?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hold out my hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, I think there\u2019s something coming in. Something cold<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMmm, perfect weather for a hot coffee \u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t see anyone walking along with cups to hand, which makes me a little suspicious. We see several rowers and joggers though, distinctly underdressed amongst (and alongside) the winter-padded walkers. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, look!\u201d I say. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the distance, I spy a little line of glowing lights adorning the canopy of the coffee bike. I rummage in my pockets for change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure you don\u2019t want anything?\u201d I ask as I walk up to the barista.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure. Enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m the first in line \u2014 seems he\u2019s only just arrived. I chinwag a bit as he sets up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast day of the year, today,\u201d he says. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He nods. \u201cThen nothing until spring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, then that makes this cup extra special!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut what about Gl\u00fchwein?\u201d says a woman behind me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man shakes his head. \u201cThere will<\/i> be Gl\u00fchwein, but I\u2019ll be enjoying it from the other<\/i> side of the counter. Besides, I can\u2019t make coffees out here in the winter. The water will freeze.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, I had\u2019t thought about that \u2026,\u201d the woman trails off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I tip the man and we head off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSerendipity,\u201d I say, sipping foam. (I\u2019m not normally a flat white drinker, but the coffee\u2019s too bad to drink black.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We walk around the lake and look at the ducks, who\u2019ve all tucked their heads under their wings. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis weather reminds me of Tusculum,\u201d I say. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere you met that professor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The early March weather had forecast rain, but the sky\u2019d said \u201cFine,\u201d so I\u2019d grabbed my rucksack and headed up the Alban hills, south of Frascati, near Rome. I was open-mouthed when I reached the ancient ruins of Tusculum (on Tuscolo hill) \u2014 not because of the climb, but because of the view. Ancient roads with wheel ruts, a theatre, the bases of columns. And off in the distance, over the caldera of the Alban volcano (!) had been a magnificent gathering storm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An older gentleman with hiking sticks had come to me and started talking. He\u2019d offered to show me around \u2014 he was an amateur historian and walked these hills every day. He\u2019d shown me the dormitory where people had stayed. (\u201cGo in \u2014 I want to see your face when you see it!\u201d). He\u2019d told me the history of the ceremonies there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once every year, in February or March — “At about this time!” he\u2019d laughed — the people of Rome (or maybe the nearby settlements) came to sacrifice an animal to ask the gods (or perhaps a specific one) for good harvests and plentiful children. Now, Tusculum was quite a walk from Rome in those days, so the people stayed in a hotel of sorts. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But not like now — twenty to a room!” <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell, I’m sure that helped with the fertility issue.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d nodded sagely. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d taken me for a walk about the settlement, told me Cicero had once lived here, told me of his own children and grandchildren. In fact, he was supposed to be picking them up from school about now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d driven me back down the hill, to my hotel, and wished me a pleasant stay. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWasn\u2019t he the inventor of something?\u201d says The Mathematician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, he and a few others. The two dimensional soft x-ray imaging device.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m jealous you got that tour,\u201d she says as I finish my coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know, right? What a wonderful chance encounter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, you seem to get a lot of those.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I smile in the icy drizzle. Serendipity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A walk in the icy November drizzle reminds me of a wet hill in Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":54920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[213],"tags":[214,231,209,227,294],"class_list":{"0":"post-54921","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cf","8":"tag-city-fables","9":"tag-coffee","10":"tag-leipzig","11":"tag-travel","12":"tag-tusculum"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54921"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54925,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54921\/revisions\/54925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/urbanmole.is\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}