Good-Bye, Roma! Hello, Venezia!

Michelle and I left Calatafimi on Monday to head to Rome. It was a heartfelt goodbye, a quick flight, and a relatively easy travel day. We had free "pizza" (only in quotes because it was similar to that of American chain pizza parlors and not done the Italian way) at our hostel and then strolled to the Coliseum to get our blood flowing again.

The Coliseum at night

statue with the flexed arm

The next morning, we went for a run to explore our area of Rome together. While I don't have a passion for running, this was fun! Later that morning, we took a tour of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel. Wow. My favorite thing about the tour was learning about Michelangelo. Did you know he refused the first time the pope asked him to paint the chapel because he insisted he was a sculptor and not a painter? My favorite story was that, in his day, people found an ancient Greek sculpture in Italy that had a missing arm. Everyone except Michelangelo thought the missing arm would have been positioned as an extended arm, raised over the head, because that was popular during their time. Michelangelo, however, studied the back muscles of the sculpture and determined that the original arm would have been flexed. When the arm was found a few years later, Michelangelo was proved right. I love it when people know their craft well!

The hall from St. Peter's to the
Sistine Chapel

The Gesu was lit for 15 min.

After we ate a delicious lunch near Piazza Navona, it was time to pick up our reserved tickets to see Pope Francis the next day. As soon as we arrived, we were given a brief orientation to the General Audience by PNAC seminarians. Wouldn't you know the guy giving the orientation lives on Martin's floor? And wouldn't you know we saw the guy who opened the door for us there on the street the next day? Small city. The rest of our afternoon was spent finding appropriate Christmas gifts to get blessed by the Pope the next day, and then we checked out some churches. Just after we walked out of the Gesu, a man came outside and told us to go back inside because the lights are only turned on once a day for visitors to see the beautifully decorated interior, and now was that time. What a gem! We split a quick (!) pizza before meeting Martin at The Fridge (Frigidarium) for gelato, which has become quite a habit of ours when in Rome.

Whoop! It's my birthday! That meant a 6:30am departure from the hostel to get to St. Peter's Square early enough to get a good place in line before security guards opened up the gates. Lunch is late in Italy; dinner is late; but Pope Francis is early! Thankfully, Michelle and I followed the advice of our orientation and waited to snag a seat in the front row of the second barricaded section. Starting the 10:30 Audience at 9:35, Pope Francis passed right in front of us in his Pope Mobile. The rest of the Audience was done in about eight different languages, and the blessing was relatively anticlimactic. (I think I was expecting angelic choirs.) But I got a birthday blessing from the Pope, by golly. Michelle and I followed that with cappuccino, a stroll, and pranzo at the seminary. The priest who sat at our table for lunch shared his love of history with us as we got onto the topic of the election. I didn't know that African Americans were elected to public office right after the Civil War. Boom.

The crowd of chefs lined up to see the Papa; Michelle and I ended up next to the seventh graders.

Oh, and my birthday dinner was marvelous, and a bird pooped in my hair for good luck.

Now for the cream: We met the cousins of our hosts in Calatafimi while we still in Sicily. These particular cousins live in Venice and invited us to stay at their home and eat their food for four days. And so we did, and it was absolutely spectacular! 

Angela, me, and Lilia

Lilia, who speaks no English, picked us up at the train station. That's right, folks. We did not have to lug our luggage through puddles in Venice-Mestre or figure out the tram/bus schedule or call a cab. Our gratitude just grew from that point. The apartment is BEAUTIFUL, and an artist friend of theirs decorated it for fun. Our daily breakfast consisted of homemade bread and homemade jam and fruits of our choice. The niece of our hosts in Sicily, Clara, met with us the night we arrived to take us out for aperitivo and then the three of us returned to the apartment for dinner. The next morning, Clara texted us to let us know that the water level in Venice was too high for us to enjoy ourselves and that we should wait for a bit. Then in the early afternoon the three of us went into Venice together on the bus so that Clara could make sure we felt comfortable getting around the city. (Already mentioned it, but the gratitude was growing.) We spent three hours in the l'Academia Museum and really only covered about half of it. Michelle and I had no idea we liked art museums so much! We finished out the evening the Venetian way with aperitivo.

Michelle and Clara

Justin Timberlake in the museum??

In Padua, we started out doing Rick Steve's four-hour tour. Wouldn't you know that as soon as we walked inside St. Anthony's, Mass was starting, and we were moved to participate? Well,  there went our plan! Just think, St. Anthony's tomb on your left, Jesus in front of you; it was a good decision. We still hit everything on his list, though. We just didn't get to the Scrovegni Chapel as far in advance of our scheduled tour as most people do. But we made it, which is the important part. According to Angela, the only "pity" was that we missed seeing the Baptistry, which wasn't on Rick's tour anyways.

For those of you who don't know anything about the Scrovegni Chapel (I didn't before Angus suggested it.), Giotto was commissioned to paint the entire interior, on which he included scenes from the early life of Mary and scenes from the infancy, life, and Passion of Christ. The kicker was the back wall, where Giotto painted the Last Judgment. He depicted Scrovegni junior as one of the blessed on his knees offering the chapel to Christ through Mary in atonement for his own sins and the sins of his father, as they both got rich from exacting interest on loans (usury, according to the information video). Interesting that Scrovegni believed reparation could be made without turning from his sin, but perhaps the information video just didn't mention that part.

Lilia and Angela insisted that we attend the 11am cantata (Gregorian chant, in this case) Mass on San Giorgiano, a Venetian island, on Sunday morning. The vaporettos took longer than usual due to the elevated water levels and boat changing involved to fit under the bridges, but we made it just in time. Although sparsely attended, the Mass was simple but beautiful. It was especially lovely that both our hosts came with us.

Hey there, water!

Lilia is a retired art teacher, and she took us to the Friari church because she wanted to explain to us the works of Titian, Donatello, and Bellini that were found there. Angela translated. What a delight! Art in its intended location speaks to the heart more clearly than in a museum, in my opinion. Michelle and I never felt so bad that we didn't speak Italian as we did when Lilia tried to communicate her knowledge to us. She is clearly a fantastic teacher, as we learned all about the rise of Humanism during the Renaissance and the difference between the Florentine and Venetian schools. And we just looked at three pieces with her. Imagine if we had been to the l'Academia with her!

This is Bellini. The painting runs right into the frame!

While we had a pleasant-enough day visiting Murano, the glass-making island of Venice, and taking Rick Steve's vaporetto tour, Michelle and I reaffirmed that our joy in travel doesn't come from visiting places but in getting to know people. I hope you all take time today to appreciate the people who surround you. You never know when that will change. It's off to Assisi for Michelle and me!