Folk musicians touring the European countryside by bicycle
photo by Roger Viollet
“Italia is a country of passion — Goodness I have felt it. Whether it has been the beauty of the land. The smiles on the hotel clerks as they teased me about my Italian. The music. The food. The wine. The men I’d pass by who’d say ‘Ciao Bella!’ The clothes. The sunshine. The architecture. The coffee…Italy, I love you.”
May 25, 2011, in the air returning from Rome
“We climbed the Spanish Steps and threw coins in the Trevi Fountian. (One coin means you will return to Rome. Two means you will get married. And three means you will get divorced. — I threw in two.)”
May 24, 2011, Rome
“I was completely awestruck by St. Peter’s Cathedral. Not for its size, or its ornate decorations and sculptures, but for the fact that Peter’s bones lay there. The man who walked with Jesus on water. On this Rock, Jesus built his church. Unbelievable.”
May 23, 2011, The Vatican City, Rome
“We paid our bill and ran through the city to catch the sunset. I thought I was going to fall behind but I sucked wind up hills and stairs — until we emerged on a stone wall curving before the Cathedral a little ways off below just as the sun sunk behind the mountains and clouds. We lingered there for hours, our feet dangling off the wall. Kevin read Walt Whitman and my spirit was on fire. Those moments listening to beauty in word, while seeing the world God made will truly be one of the most treasured moments of my life.”
May 22, 2011, Assisi
“I must say The David was inexplicably stunning. More than twice the size of what I expected. As Kevin said, ‘The David is probably the most amazing creation of mankind.’ The detail in the marble was unbelievable. Truly, I couldn’t take my eyes away from him. Absolutely astonishing.”
May 21, 2011, Accademia di Belle Arti, Firenze
(Actual David not pictured here)
“We continued up through the Dome when lightning blew the fuze and the light by Patrick’s head blew out with a loud crack. The thunder that followed was so loud it was as if a bomb had gone off in the sanctuary. I thought one had!
Somehow light returned and we were able to make it out to the roof of the Duomo just as the rain began to fall. We could see all over the city. Even the storm clouds rolling in.”
May 20, 2011, Firenze
“After breakfast we met our tour guides (ours reminded me of an Italian Joni Mitchell), and took a tour of the REAL Venezia.
We went through the many streets and alleyways listening to Italia wake up in the morning. My favorite part by far was our stop outside the children’s school. The nuns were teaching the little girls how to twirl their umbrellas and the little boys were acting out some skit about animals.”
May 19, 2011, Venezia
“Verona was beautiful. I imagined myself flitting about the Romeo and Juliet set, smiling at those dressed in Shakespeare garb, and maybe getting un bacio from un Romeo. It was better.”
May 18, 2011, Verona
