Went to bed, but our neighbors came to their room at midnight and turned on the tv news for half an hour, then I couldn’t back to sleep for ages. Felt a bit rough when I woke up, still dizzy. It comes and goes in waves.
Had breakfast. Super yummy granola. Zane has a croissant every morning with lashings of nutella.
Back to our rooms to pack. Felt super rough. Got packed and headed to the bus stop. There wasn’t anywhere open to buy bus tickets. Jude freaked out a little because we had to break the law and get on the bus without tickets, but we bought them when we arrived at Roma Termini.
Becky and I went and found a pharmacy so that I could get some rehydration packets and then a grocery store to get some food for the train.
They don’t give you very long from the time they announce your platform until the train leaves, but we made it just fine and got our first class seats. A little less than 4 hours to Venice. We aren’t all sitting together on this train, but all in the same coach.
We got a little food tray with biscuits, crackers, chocolate, and a cornmeal muffin, as well as drinks.
Now we are racing thru the Italian wine country on our train at 249 km/hour. I feel like I’m living a dream.
There is so much coming at us, it’s hard to take it all in. I am so thankful to be sharing this experience with dear friends who we can pick up wherever we left off and who we can be ourselves with – the good, the bad and the ugly. Such amazing traveling companions.
I wish there was a way to capture the emotions of this journey.
It was good to go to the big things in Rome – the colosseum, forum, etc, but for me the best parts of the day were when we found unexpected things. The cool interior of the church, accessed from an unassuming courtyard. The shady garden area off of the plaza with the big horse that had amazing views and quiet benches and fresh water nearby. There are a lot of public water fountains which are really cool.
Another thing that I’ve noticed and really like is that people dress so nicely! Tourists, locals – people just make an effort and are not as casual as they are in Bend. So many great outfits = dresses, trousers, shirts, shoes. I really want to get some patterned palazzo pants now in light breezy material. I’ve been pleased with my wardrobe choices so far, but there are a few things that I would change. Linen trousers are not as cool as I was led to believe!
When we visited the church yesterday, it was amazing. We walked out of the sun and heat into this cavernous building that didn’t look like a church on the outside, but was filled with art, gold, frescos, paintings, and the tomb of a Saint. Marble everywhere, especially lots of black marble. We all noticed a difference in our reaction to that church and Sagrada Familia. SF is very Jesus-focused and has a plan and so much intention. The church felt very people focused and like things just got added and added and added. It’s beautiful but not the same. Not inspiring the way SF was and is.
We arrived in Venice and walked out of the train station and right in front of us was the Grand Canal, it was such a wow moment. Unexpected.
Once we got our bearings we headed to the Convent. It was quite a journey. Super hot, up and over numerous bridges and stairs, through alleyways. It took ages and we were all very hot, but we arrived and were welcomed by the delightful Sister Sharon. The convent also houses a school so we had to use a different entrance and exit during school hours. Our room had 4 single beds and a large bathroom, including a bidet. And Air Con! Thank goodness.
After resting for a bit, we headed out to explore. It was just so beautiful. It felt like every view was a staged scene = the bridges, canals, alleys, basilicas and ancient buildings everywhere. It was just so cool. We found a place to get slices of pizza which were yummy. We eventually tired ourselves out and headed back. Had a pretty good sleep.
Lamppostings 