For those of you interested I will be posting the longer “Roma Dialogue” later this week, in the meantime here are some of the lighter highlights of my Easter trip to Roma and the Vatican City.
Arriving thoughts:
· Nuns everywhere J
· “Real” shops
· A huge bookstore – no I didn’t buy a book, but I could have!
· No ‘odor’ as I got of the plane – Praise the Lord.
Some random thoughts and observations during the four days:
· End everything with an a, i, e, or o and you can at least sound Italian J
· First word that came to mind following the first mouthful of my first (I only had three) gelato = heaven!!!
· If you haven’t worked out the buses just get on the first one that comes along and you will undoubtedly end up stopping at, at least one roman ruin, church or piazza J
· Be prepared to walk until you drop – conquering Rome in three days is not recommended for children, babies, expectant mothers, people in wheelchairs, on crutches, with bad backs or high heels or stiletto’s (the last two are fine if you are Italian!) – the cobbled streets will be the death of you!
· It is pretty amazing to think that so many of the leaders of the Roman Empire have probably walked on the very marble floors or pathways that you are walking on today, particularly in the Roman Forum and the Pantheon.
· The Colloseum really is worth missing, the outside really is just as good to say that you have been there and seen it.
· Dinner at Porto di Ripetta was magnifico!
· Enjoying three days walking non-stop and not breaking a sweat or glistening at all – wonderful.
· Picture this – three elderly nuns (probably in their 70’s) the tallest only about 5’3” in a black habit, the middle one in a grey habit and the littlest one only about 4’6” in a white habit in a row in that order “hot-footing” it across St Peter’s Square clearly on a mission. Before I realized it would have made a fantastic photo they were too far gone and I could hardly start running along behind them!!
· The market at Campo Di Fiore, the fresh salad greens, herbs, fruits, cheeses and best of all the fresh flowers including the glorious scent of gardenias (I will miss mine so much this year) – were just georgeous and so tantalizing – I had to ask myself the question “Why am I living in Accra? And not Italy?”
My own personal favorite quote of the weekend – by me “Now where has that Pantheon gone?” ……. “Nowhere I guess since it has been in the same place for about 2000 years!” Traveling on your own you have to be able to create your own funny moments!!
The highlights:
· St. Peter’s Basilica – hands down beats the Taj Mahal!!!
· The Pantheon
· Mozart’s Requiem K626 by the Rome Philharmonic Orchestra – Saturday evening
· Easter Mass celebrated in St. Peters Square
· Stations of the Cross Exhibition
It was an amazing trip and I can’t wait to share more details……….
I hope everyone reading this had a blessed and very happy Easter weekend too – I certainly did J
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