Rome, our first "solo" adventure!

Day three: 9/26
Our first "solo" adventure!

Sunday, we did not get the early start that we should have and missed Mass at the Pantheon. After a breakfast of leftover panini for me & French toast (ala my BIL) for the kids, we "raced" (that's a relative term) out the door to try to make the noon Mass at the Basilica of St Mary Major.

Although we just missed the first bus & got turned around a bit at Termini station, we made it to Mass with five minutes to spare. The Basilica was HUGE and very ornate, but compared to the Basilica in DC, very dirty. I think that is a reflection of it's age more than it's upkeep. The Mass was beautiful, but entirely in Italian, so I have NO idea what was being said. MK & I used the universalis app on my iPhone to follow along with the readings, and we could make a few responses, but that's about it. I'm sure the homily was good as it was very long, but I had to get my homily from the many frescos and paintings. I wish I could say I had some spiritual experience but I was feeling so nauseas I could barely stand (my blood sugar dropped, once it recovered, I was fine).

The very disconcerting thing, the thing that I fear will ultimately bother me more than anything else, is the complete lack of respect for the sacredness of these sites. There were tourists IN Mass, completely oblivious to the miracle going on at the altar. They were whispering, taking pictures, getting up and walking around, etc. We were the only people veiling and in fact, later as we were walking around, an Italian woman even came up and asked me where we were from and why I veiled. She smiled her approval, but seemed to also view me as a bit of a throw-back. Also after Mass, when we went below the altar there were people posing with the statue of the baby Jesus, jostling the few people there praying, talking, etc. People were also posing with the statue of Pope Pius X, I don't know how to describe it, but it would be like me posing next to one of those Roman centurians at the Pantheon, joking & laughing.

When Mass was over, the kids and I took a leisurely stroll around the church. We admired some of the side chapels and the statues that lined the walls. We filled out requests for Masses to be said for a couple of priests and ML requested that he be given a few quiet minutes to pray. The others moved to the giftshop while ML and I prayed, then we followed. We bought a few postcards, one especially of the statue of Mary and the Child Jesus that MK liked, and a statue of the Pieta that ML picked out and then we headed back to Termini to catch a bus back to our (two day favorite) panini & fanta shop in Piazza Farnese (mainly because it was so seedy & grungy around Termini and the Basilica).

Of course, since this was our first unguided trip, I got off the bus too soon and we had a long way to walk. On top of that, we got a bit turned around. Finally I saw the bakery where I'd purchased the amaretti cookies the day before so I knew we were on the right street. We got our paninis (this time I tried it with the Proscuitto crude, not nearly as good as the motz & cheese) and walked toward the Piazza Campo de Fiore. The market was empty & we perched precariously on the edge of a high fountain & ate our paninis & drank our fanta.

Unfortunately, I was already at my limit when the two year old started to act up. Without knowing where we were going, we tried to find a bus to take us to either transfer location we knew, Termini or San Sylvestro, or better yet, back to our villa. You'd think all the streets we wandered down that we could find ONE bus going to at least one of those locations but no. And of course, because we were looking for buses and not known landmarks, we got completely lost.

I'm thankful that Rome is not rife with crime like my BIL says it used to be in the 80's, because we walked down some out-of-the way back alleys. Interestingly, it was the main thoroughfares that seemed the dirtiest & least safe. It was down these lonely alleys that we saw some of the nicest trattorias. Also humourously, although these little lanes were barely wide enough for my little (big) family to walk down arm & arm, we kept having to get out of the way of not only scooters & motorcycles but cars! Sadly, my map was useless. We were on some of those narrow lanes that don't merit a mention in the travel books.

Finally, we stumbled upon an art square that I recognized having entered from the opposite side previously. Making a mental note on how to get back to those interesting looking eateries, we guided ourselves back to our bus terminal, arriving in time to catch a direct hop home.

Lesson learned? Always map your bus route home before venturing out!

The rest of the day was spent recovering & relaxing. I took a brief nap on the couch, my BIL cooked polenta and ribs, and the kids played with cousins & watched a movie. I also figured outhow to head off insomnia: consume some afternoon caffiene and stay up until midnight!





-Jen