Rome!!

Doug and I discussed the fact that we both felt a bit of sadness at not getting one last long train ride yesterday (from Zurich to Rome. It's been a good run with our Eurail Pass this past month. We find it to be a peaceful liminal space between activity-filled days. 


So Rome! There's a lot to be said about this place and the people. It bombards the senses, in mostly good ways. There is so much chaos and so much joy. The antiquities are ubiquitous, juxtaposed with modern/post-modern structures. There's grime and noise and bedlam, but with such kindness thrown into the mix. (How many times did a young person relinquish their seat for me.) There is beauty and age that makes one feel intense emotions. The sacred and profane appears to coexist peacefully.

When I was in Italy in 1980 with my cousin Lorraine, I found the personalities and cadences and chaos jarring. With the benefit of age, I now see joy and charm and deeply-rooted tradition. I wonder how living amidst evidence of the millennia would alter my own personality, affect how I view the world. It's fun to consider the alternatives, while appreciating my own heritage and reality even more.

We did the city center today: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli to see Michaelangelo's Moses (he brought me to tears), and fought the throngs at the Trevi Fountain. The sculptures at the Capitoline Museums were amazing, how they showed every muscle and vein in hands and feet, the strands of hair and movement. Best of the bunch, amid busts of emperors and muckety mucks, was a little boy pulling a splinter out of his foot. I could have stared at him for hours.

(These walls have stood for several centuries! They were built between 271 and 297 A.D.)

(The Colosseum is the largest ancient amphitheatre in the world. Construction began in 69 A.D.)

(Michaelangelo's Moses, commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1505.)

(This dear boy is intent on getting that splinter out of his foot. What a delightfully ordinary moment in a life. What focus and determination is in the boy's expression!)

(Trevi Fountain)

(I love the variety and ubiquity of water fountains in Rome. A never-ending supply to refill my water bottle.)

(Outside the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs -- "Jesus in the hood".)

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