We went to Rome with another family we have met here in Germany. We all rented a common apartment together. The Rodriguez family has seven children. Two are grown and in the US and the other five are in Europe with them. They always seem to be there to help when needed. I never had to ask, they were just there... It was a blessing in a blessing and a treat for Mike and I. We even had a night to ourselves where we got to walk Rome. And see the sites. We have met so many wonderful new friends here, we are thankful for friendship this year.Where to start? We flew on Ryan Air (Ryanair.com). Cheap and on time. I highly recommend them if you plan to tour Europe and want to go to places a bit further than you want to drive. There are some tricks to flying with them, but that is a different blog entry in itself. We had a great experience. We were on time, the flight was short, and Mike arranged for a van to pick us up and drop us off. From leaving the house we were on break with no clear plan other than to relax and regroup.
Our first day in Rome was like all others, calm. We settled and unpacked and had nap time. After we walked to the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. The weather was beautiful and such a welcome change from the gray and damp of Germany’s late autumn. The Basilica was nothing short of inspirational. Only 3 blocks from our apartment, the Vatican became our main hangout. With naptime dominating the middle of our day, we found it best to stick close and see what we could – when we could. I don’t think there was a day that didn’t start and end with prayers there.
THE POPE-RALLYOn Wednesday, we attended an audience with Pope Benedict. I thought it was going to be the Pope coming out and speaking to us in different languages. I figured I would hear 15 minutes of English and then 2 hours of other languages I couldn’t understand. Boy was I wrong. It was actually quite a hoot! It reminded me of a giant pep-rally…I call it the “Pope-rally” now.
Groups of people on pilgrimage from all over the word gathered in the auditorium to cheer, sing, laugh, and wait. There were over 9000 people attending on the day we visited. On the stage are Cardinal-Bishops from each country that is represented in the crowd. When the Pope arrives, he greets everyone and addresses the crowd in Latin. Then, one at a time, a Cardinal stands and introduces his countrymen. The Pope greets them in their language (fluently), reminisces something about that country or city, and then re-reads his address to them in their language. Many of the crowds first serenade or cheer him or even play instruments. There was a German band from the Pope’s home of Bavaria, which played the most amazing music for him – the crowd went wild with cheer when they finished. It was loud and awesome.
OK. So, you walk into the auditorium and get your seat and wait. As you wait other audience members practice their greetings. There were choirs singing, people playing their instruments, and groups of young people practicing soccer-chant-type greetings. It’s all in different languages, completely uncoordinated, and everyone waits their own turn to practice in silence. They all practiced for when the Pope would arrive. When each practiced, the whole crowd listened quietly and applauded at the end – then another would sing or play. The excitement in the room was great and the practice ‘concerts’ were amazing.To add to all of this you have my husband Mike. Oh, do I love Mike!
At about 30min before the Pope was to come out, everyone finally settled down. All you could just hear was the buzz of a crowd of people talking. We sat in the section that was predominantly from U.S.A. We had wonderful people behind us from Texas, as well as, Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, Virginia, Washington, Colorado, and Pennsylvania. Mike quickly identified a choir from Washington, PA (Pittsburgh) sitting 3 or 4 rows back. So Mike stood on his chair and yelled to them “Go Steelers!!!” This got the Choir cheering and several ‘Terrible Towels” were produced and spun in the air…NO JOKE! Mike went nuts yelling “Go Steelers” with them and “Beat Ravens”. A small group from China, which was far in front of us, were representing themselves with yellow silk scarves. They thought the Steelers towels were a cheer for them. This got them going in full glory and yellow scarves were everywhere. Then, a group further back assumed the Chinese group were also Steelers fans and raised an American and Texas flag and began cheering and chanting “Dallas!” NO JOKE! Seeing the U.S. flag got the opposite side of the auditorium going with flags from all over the word. It was nothing short of an international ‘WAVE’. I sat back and laughed. Mike just stood and watched with a look of mischievous pride that only he (and his son) could wear. It was FUN! It was Cheerful. It was Marvelous and such a great way to spend Thanks Giving. Turkey Day at the Pope Rally!
The Pope talked about the trinity and the relationship between faith and reason. He pointed out that when anyone works toward theological virtues that person also gains stability and maturity along the way. “How much would the world change if in families, in parishes and in any community, relationships were modeled on the three divine Persons, who not only live with each other, but for and through one another.” -Benedict XVI
9000 people in total silence was something to see. Joseph being near perfect, sitting and playing quietly, for 4 hours was really something to see, but I think I was most impressed with the Pope’s ability to speak so many languages, so well.
What else to squeeze in? The food was out of this world. So was the wine and Chocolate. Italian woman L O V E babies!!!! I had to add 30min to our schedule if I walked anywhere because we were stopped so often. THEY LOVE BABIES. It’s amazing. It was odd at first, but later I came to like it. Everyone is so busy and moving so fast, but there was always time to stop and enjoy the gift and miracle of life. There is wisdom in that. I also liked that they are very family oriented, like Germany. There were a couple of times Mike would leave to go get something and Joseph would take the opportunity to give me a hard time while I was dealing with Daniel. A man would come up and shake his finger at Joseph and tell him to behave. Joseph straightened up. I would say, ‘grazie’ and he would smile and be on his way. It was nice to have spontaneous help.
The Sistine Chapel. Joseph sat on Mike’s shoulders and we walked through the rooms and took in as much as we could. Old writing and the art is amazing – statues or paintings. When we got the room of creation Mike took Joseph out to play Choo-choos while I spent a few minutes looking at the amazing pictures (Mike has been to Rome before). What I walked away with was that you could learn something from every painting. I was drawn to the paintings of religious leaders (Moses, John the Baptist, Jesus, etc.) speaking to the crowds. Each painting showed the little children playing on the ground while the adults listened and learned from these leaders. I loved this. I do not believe in ‘quite rooms’ in churches (this is just me). ’Let the children come.’ Seeing this in the paintings at the Sistine Chapel reinforced this for me and gave me peace as we teach Joseph and Daniel.There is also St Peter’s Basilica. You walk in and feel peace. Joseph walks in and sees a guy driving a floor washer and starts instantly seeing train tracks. A couple interesting points I learned while I listened in on a tour.
- Te court yard used to nothing but fields and later be a place for chariot races
- A piece of the cross Jesus was crucified on is in the cross in St Peter’s square.
- The church is build on the apostle Peter’s tomb
- The statues are bigger the father up they are to make the church look smaller than it is and provide symmetry to all the statues.
- The letters around the church are 6 feet high. I could go on and on and on.
We also walked to Trivia fountain and past a few piazzas along the way. We never made it to the Spanish Steps, but Mike did introduce me to the chestnut street vendors (something he always mentions about Rome and roasts at home each year). Mike and I had a date night and went to the Coliseum and the Pantheon. We had a glass of wine outside the Pantheon and people watched and laughed hard.Our Thanksgiving dinner was turkey, meatballs, cannelloni, gnocchi, spinach, eggplant, pizza, wine, and gelato. A little of everything…YUMMY!!!
That’s Rome in a nutshell.
Rome Pictures (There are a few more pictures our friends took for us in Rome. When we get these I will be sure to post them):
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=318988230803%3A2033154836&cm_mmc=site_email-_-new_site_share-_-core-_-View_photos_button
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