snapshots on the journey5...

aahhhhhh, roma! after an incredibly peaceful 10 day journey meandering around the countryside & seaside, was i ready for your bustle, for your traffic, for your myriad of choices? why yes, i believe i was! we frequented our favorite bars (& for those of you who don't know, that's not the same thing as a 'bar' in the US!)...a cappuccino in the morning (bar trevi)...a spritz in the afternoon (bar cento passi)...fueled by fabulous italian food...we were on the move non-stop...new pathways (climb inside St. Peter's dome)...glimpses of mystery...attention to detail...new views (thanks, christopher~~ castel sant'angelo)...moments to reflect...moments to look beyond...sacred moments (Corpus Christi procession with Pope Benedict)...moments where the ordinary and the sacred met (roma's FSSP parish)......a certain slant of light...new sounds...new clarity...& hopefully~~ a return!...roma never disappoints! after 2 weeks of language lessons, a break in the middle to visit florence (that's another 'snapshot' post!), sending Baby Girl home, sending D. & Big Bro home, & greeting our eastern european adventure contingent, we were all-too-soon saying arrivederci, roma! roma, giugno, 2009

home from rome

a week sure does fly by...in the blink of an eye it seems we are back on US soil, home since the wee hours of yesterday morning. what a trip we had! it was a glorious first week of Advent that left not a fraction of a second for blogging. we were too busy living every moment to its fullest! & being followed by rainbows every step of the way it seemed. first there was our "welcome rainbow" at the airport. a few days later there were rainbows at sunset the entire train ride from firenze to roma~ too many to recall (& me with dead camera batteries & the spares still waiting in roma). & another day, this time with a working camera, we saw this beauty from our taxi...when we last left you at the internet cafe, a whole day of roman roaming stretched out before us before the evening's Mass. Little Man & i did the logical things like enjoy an espresso...eat more gelato (come to momma, you sweet little thang!)...drool all over the bakery windows...inhale deeply of the smells of the season...stumble around undiscovered corners that spill beauty...& even occasionally take a rest...before attending the Solemn Pontifical Mass...sung by Cardinal Hoyos at Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri...one of our friends was a server for this Mass...& another who is also a "blog buddy" was an official photographer (see his 1 december post for more details). should you ever have a question about Catholic roma, jp is your guy!monday found us on a train for firenze...one of my very favorite parts of this trip was seeing all the Christmas festivity...& enjoying the early dusk & all the magical lights...there were open-air markets everywhere, filled with delights to charm the child in everyone!...our favorite meal on this trip (not counting gelato) was hands-down chef chris' homemade spaghetti...jp & chris graciously hosted us for a wonderful evening in santa marinella...the next morning came very early, as we made our way to citta' del vaticano for a papal audience. we arrived in a fog (not necessarily from the late night before!) for a wait that was well worth it...big props to whomever can guess what is missing from this photo...we were very blessed to be indoors & close to il Papa...(karina, this is for you) yes, those are the pope's shoes!...after the audience, it was on the train again, this time bound for pisa! now, everyone assumes pisa is all about the tower...but for us on this trip it was all about blog buddies & science too! we had the pleasure of seeing claudia again & meeting andrea for a tour of his gravitational wave experiment. Little Man was in his element. can you believe that none of us had our cameras?!? after a lovely day Little Man lived one of his life's goals...climbing the leaning tower of pisa! let me tell you, as you are climbing those steps, you know you are off balance! no matter, because the view from the top (at dusk no less) is so worth it!!...our last day in roma found us saying goodbye to friends over a wonderful dinner at our (second) favorite ristorante~ il gabriello, but not before making a last passaggio to some favorite places that included santa rita da cascia alle vergini which has the most beautiful grotto for prayer...& la basilica di sant' agostino with a stop at the altar of santa monica. we stumbled in drenched from a downpour just in time for Adoration, the rosary, Benediction & Mass!

now we are home, but the backpack still stands ready...it has been changed out for a change in latitude~ in the early morn thursday we depart for the more tropical climate of costa rica & some time with Baby Girl!!!

arriviamo a roma!

how sweet it is...after sleeping almost the *entire* flight & waking to a sunrise over the french alps...landing at fiumicino to a rainbow (no photo ops for that one...all baggage in the overhead bin & seatbelt securely fastened, you know!), we are settled into the bel paese...happily enjoying that first cappuccino!...ambling around those familiar places we love...attending the first vespers of Advent with Pope Benedict at the Vatican...& capping the evening at a lovely dinner at la pace del palato with some dear friends...today we are in exploration mode until Mass for the first Sunday of Advent with Cardinal Hoyos & dinner with jp & friends.