We safely arrived the next morning and metro-ed to the apartment that we rented out for the week, which was near the Vatican. As we mentioned in the last post, we wanted to spend our time in Rome leisurely. So we found a great apartment with a full kitchen, terrace, living room, dining room, bedroom and bath. It fit us like a glove and we became Romans for 10 days.
During the week, we split our time between reading, writing, walking and site seeing. We had picked up a great book while in France called “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. She had spent 4 months in Rome learning Italian and embracing the culture. This book helped us to understand the Italian way of life as well as understand our own inability as Americans to rest and where that is rooted. We learned the difference between entertainment/amusement versus enjoyment. Beyond that we learned much more about beauty and that it doesn't necessarily take riches to have and enjoy beauty. The Italians successfully achieve both enjoyment and beauty, and they have a phrase for this “Il bel far niente” (the beauty of doing nothing) and “L’arte d’arrangiarsi” (the art of making something out of nothing).
The best times were sitting at a cafe in a piazza drinking cappuccinos and watching the Italians at their best. One of our favorite moments was witnessing two teenagers living up to the stereotype of Roman PDA (public display of affection) as they made out for at least 20 minutes in the middle of a busy piazza. When you're 14 and in Rome it doesn't take much to look like a Casanova!
Food was a main focus during our week. We had a small supermarket near out apartment where we picked up fresh ingredients everyday to make dinner. We enjoyed using the authentic italian ingredients such as mozzarella balls, fresh tomatoes, mushrooms and amazing pastas. Of course we made sure to enjoy some gelato everyday too!
We were able to meet up with a friend of Max and Kate Finberg, Michelle Faccinelli. Michelle, originally from Maryland, moved to Rome seven years ago and is in love with Rome. She helped us to experience the “untouristy” side of Rome. We went with her to a prayer service at her church, which the church dates back to 400 A.D. and was a place where St. Francis visited when he came to Rome. The community there was very vibrant and kept a spirit of St. Francis alive in their concern for the poor, peace, and reconciliation.
Fortunately our trip coincided with Ron's 30th birthday! We celebrated by dining at an outdoor cafe overlooking the Pantheon. Ron felt very loved in the whole experience and was very thankful for all the birthday wishes.
We toured some of the sites but we felt free to leave more to explore on our next trip. We were glad to slow down and really slide into the Italian pace and culture.
Love,
Kathryn and Ron
P.S. Lessons Learned in Rome - The Tourist vs. The Sojourner
By: Ron Ivey
In the last two months of traveling the Old World, there has been this battle between two personalities within me. One is the Tourist. He is fully a citizen of his own country, in this case an American. In his mind swirl the list of places to see, things to buy and pictures to take of himself to ensure that he has done the good job of a tourist. If he can return with the right stories, the best pictures and the confidence that he saw the Louvre in Paris, the Tower in London, and the Colleseum in Rome, he is good, he is righteous and he is ultimately earned his trip and the laudes of his friends and family. He walks the streets of the Old World, comparing every detail to home and thinking of clever ways to report his travels. His guide is the tour book, with all the “best places” to see, each with their ranking and American perspecitive. If the trip nears it's end and the key sites are not checked off the list, this sense of responsibilty grips him. He begins to calculate the hours and the minutes left to see if he can make one last visit or buy one more chotchky. His is an experience of fear of missing the important sites mixed with the anticlimatic feeling of underwhelment once he has seen the sites. For the sites are never quite what the guidebooks say and the culture never quite lives up to his expectations.
The other man, is the Sojourner, the pilgrim. He approaches the trip with a sense of wonder and expectancy. As Bob Dylan would say, he is a citizen “of altered conciousness of reality...some liberated republic” looking for his country. He has no list of sites, but rather desires deep in heart to hear, see, touch, taste and smell what is different and new. He is fully comfortable not knowing every detail of the trip. He knows that the best adventures aren't planned. His favorite elements of the trips are the suprise friendships and conversations with locals and fellow travelers. The sites, if they have history or are places of spiritual significance, are less important as pictures and more important as part of his story. He connects with the saints of Ireland, feels their passion for God's creation and the simplicity of life enjoyed in love. Every artifcact, ruin and landscape has a story with colorful characters. He imagines the battles and the speeches as if he were a participant. Most importantly, he recogines the importance of learning more about his traveling partner and her journey of faith and discovery. Her experience of grace and creativity becomes part of his story and vice versa. They learn to believe as children believe. They remember the fairytales together.
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