inspiration: a divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation

We found this famous restaurant completely by accident while out for an uncharted afternoon stroll. We came back for dinner and Sarah brought her copy of Louis Untermeyer’s The Donkey of God. Guess what we ate for dinner?

From Sarah’s journal:

Yesterday, i became saturated with all that i was seeing, hearing, contemplating, etc.  Joe pointed out to me that not everyone is exhausted by journeying “back in time” to consider the ENORMITY of the shift from a pantheon to Christianity’s monotheism. Contemporary Catholics often are impressed by the 1000+ churches in Rome, but seem unaware that the plethora of Catholic churches is simply because the early Popes encouraged the people to cover up all the “pagan” temples and holy sites! Where one block used to hold 4 temples honoring 4 separate and distinct deities, now there are 4 identical “temples” (AKA Catholic churches!) to the same god! Rinse and repeat!

Over centuries, common people forgot about the ancient, original Pantheon of Gods and were genuinely surprised in the 1800s to discover “ruins” under their sacred spaces.

i was pleasantly surprised to tour the excavation under the Passionists’ Basilica. Maria was excited to share her knowledge with us, as she described the three known periods of use of the site.

After lunch, we plunged into the excavations at Chiesa Basilica di San Clemente al Laterano to see the (now) subterranean statue of Mithras in an ancient dining hall! Wow! Running water! Streets! Frescoes! Stories!

And being the “radical feminist” that i am, i was struck again by the ignorance (fear?) of catholic men who seek to suppress the role of women in the sacred…yet, without her, there would be no Christianity! Constantine’s wife and daughter converted to Christianity and thus the Emperor reluctantly altered the law to allow Christians (and others) to avoid persecution. He eventually converted.

A story in San Clemente’s “basement” (told in fresco): a converted Christian woman invites an early Pope to her home because her husband (non-Christian) has gone deaf, blind, and suffers from dementia. The Pope prays for healing and miraculously the husband is cured. But opening his eyes, he is not grateful for new health. He roars for his guards to seize the Pope and kill him!!! The guards, under the wife’s directions, fool the husband by pretending to “rope the Pope” and struggle with a column on the porch, giving the Pope a chance to escape. Later, the husband converts.

So…two stories of men’s conversions under influence of their (obedient? dutiful?) wives (AKA radical feminists!) Where did the message of love get corrupted? Why are America’s nuns being persecuted for their goodness?

Toward light and away from blame, i must set my course. i do not want to live bitter but rather in joy and light!

An excerpt from the novel by Carol Shields that Sarah is reading this week:

“This is a familiar yet unique scene. The precise pattern will occur only once – us, here, this moment engraved in a layer of memory – a thought that stirs me to wonderment.”

We picnicked by this fountain in the Villa Borghesi park, yesterday. It is beautiful and complex – it seems almost wild or organic as the water wears through the soft volcanic rock and the wild flowers (AKA weeds!) and moss grow and probably change with the seasons and from year to year.

Beautiful…melodic…and beloved by local birds!

Joe spotted a della robbia wreath on the corner of this building. We learned that at one time, there were over 5,000 in Roma.

Not only a symbol of blessing on a home, each one served a practical purpose: mounted near the corners with a candle lit in front (see the iron candle holder?), the white porcelain reflected light at night…like a modern-day streetlamp!

Today, there are less than 500 remaining in the city. Note the electric streetlamp now mounted directly above the ancient della robbia wreath and its candle holder.

Today, we rode Segways with a guide and two other tourists (father/son from Adelaide, AU). It is a strange sensation; one has to control one’s body in unfamiliar postures but consciously relax in order to get the hang of it. Our guide was excellent at keeping us safe as we followed him single file on our “3-hour tour.”

i never noticed before how oblivious many tourists are! Walking around without an awareness of who/what else is moving! Walking backwards across a busy sidewalk with your eye glued to your camera’s viewfinder in order to include more in your photo?! Entering a street from a building’s exit with pausing first to check on the cross-traffic?

Without the Segway, i would likely not have climbed Capitoline Hill. Our guide also took us through the Jewish Ghetto, the Forum, the Colosseum, and Circus Maximus. No way could i have hoofed it to all those sites in one day!

Breakfast in Roma (cappucino and pastry) is eaten standing at a counter. On our first morning, the busy waiter behind the counter confuses us at first because he is holding our receipt (one orders and pays on the opposite side of the shop) but keeps demanding a “ticket!” As Sarah questions him (“THAT is OUR ticket!) he realizes we are not stupid turista and quickly has Marcello, the barista, make our orders. The waiter speaks no english and begins rapidly firing italian at us, all smiles and apologies. No hard feelings, we guess!

 (Joe re-fills our water bottle in the street – like a local!)

Canada Day finds us at the centre of Catholicism. Sarah is annoyed at the permanent TV installations and the omni-present wooden barriers that funnel and control the crowds during peak hours. The original artists and architects would be saddened to see their carefully conceived designs so modified.

Inside, there is an obvious opulence that makes it difficult to see past the tour groups and crowd of camera-wielding daytrippers. Where is the sacred in all of this? Sarah observes the cherubs, the roses, the height of the candles. “I wonder where that gold came from.” Searching out the many sculptures of doves, Sarah chooses one to focus on and looks for beauty and grace while sketching. It is an effort to approximate on paper the sculpture’s dimensional proportions. This mathematical approach to the drawing starts to ease the ache in Sarah’s heart. But a guard sternly admonishes her to move along.

After moving counter-clockwise around the basilica with the bustling throngs, Sarah becomes overwhelmed with sadness. All of the waste, war, and abuse in the name of God. Where in the world is the love that Jesus preached and upon which this church was founded? Walking clock-wise against the flow, she is rescued by Joe. He guides her to a quiet prayer chapel tucked in a side corner. Incense envelops Sarah and she allows her tears to dissolve her sadness. Watching the nuns is marvelous; their connection and commitment to pray for us – all of us – every day – all day. In this chapel, real peace is felt. Love…forgiveness…God’s spirit is here.

We leave to find lunch in the nearby market halls but finding nowhere to sit, we wander through the neighbourhood searching for the restaurant with the coldest beer. Sarah finishes her lunch with an espresso to give her some much-needed stamina for the afternoon’s planned museum tour! With our pre-paid tickets, we avoid the long lines and head inside. SO MUCH TO SEE! It is impossible to see it all…

Sarah drags Joe through the Etruscan exhibits and she is startled to come face to face with many statues and curios that she has studied in books! It is remarkable to finally be able to see something with one’s own eyes! Something studied and written about and now right here in front of us!

We conclude our tour with the obligatory tunnel chute through what is probably the best-known chapel in the Western world. While our Italian may not be scholarly, we are pretty sure that “Silencio” means “No talking/No whispering/No noise.” Many people seem to think that this rule does not apply to them. Which means the guards are constantly droning “silencio” over and over. Which of course, breaks the silence.

We buy some photography books to console ourselves in the Gift Shop.

GEO QUIZ: Name the basilica and the museum that we visited today.

GEO QUIZ: Where did we spend Saturday, June 29, 2013?

 (This photo is for our friend, Mortar Man!)

 (CAVE CANEM)

 (an early fast-food restaurant: McDonaldus?)

 (for our MJS friends!)

 (Sarah waited over three decades to visit this place!)

 BONUS GEO-QUIZ POINTS FOR CORRECTLY NAMING THIS STATUE!

Today, we rented a boat and puttered up and down the coast. We packed “mortadella, parma, mozzarella, e pane” and lots of “acqua” and Sarah lived out her Jackie O fantasies!

Unfortunately, the anchor was pee-wee (resembled a 1960’s aluminum can pop tab!) and our stop for a swim had to be aborted due to the boat drifting towards the rocky shore! Poor Capitan Giuseppe!

Back on shore, we re-fortified ourselves with a pastry shaped like an armadillo and cappuccino gelato, before returning to our favorite local restaurant for our third dinner with them.

GEO QUIZ: To which famous coastal town did we point our rental boat?