Vaticania
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
So, it’s been quite a no-blogging while; my apologies to you, Dear Readers. All of Italy since my last entry, as I left Roma this morning and am now in the Barcelona airport, awaiting my next flight in a few hours; tonight I will sleep in Menorca! Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands, not far off the coast from here, and I am headed for a Contact Improvisation Dance weekend workshop and an end, hopefully, to my time in Big European Cities. I am ready for sunshine, countryside, smaller places and slower paces!
Venice: a liquid, baroque experience; I loved it. Water everywhere, and the lovely moldy elegance rising, curling up out of it… Architecture that never palls, the wavy dancing ground that carries the spirit along, the ubiquitous presence of Carnival masks and mannequins. Sparkling Murano glass chandeliers and necklaces, marble angels and saints soaring into the sky’s edges, gold-tricked black-lacquered gondolas bobbing about, their red velvet seats beckoning. Oh, goodness, it is lovely!! And busy with tourists, even on grey March days…I can’t imagine the crush of summer being any fun.
Mirano: a quiet little burg, where I landed for a few days to be Klaus’ first couch surfer. And as with almost all these road angels, I fall a little in love, have a great, great time, and move on with a new, deep connection in my life collection. People are mostly amazing, wonderful, generous and fascinating, and this CSing lets us practice being our best. (If you’d like to read about my CS adventure and friends, see me, YogaTina, on www.couchsurfing.com) .
Florence: An odd experience. So famous for art, and yet it felt so closed down to me. High, 5 and 6-story walls, narrow stone streets, huge heavy doors on everything, and all of them shut. But – the Basilica is gorgeous, a festival of pink, green and white marble, so so ornate. And the Loggia, an outdoor shelter holding about a dozen amazing statues from all over; and a copy of Michelangelo’s famous David nearby. (I find his head, hands and feet too large, but what do I know??) My lovely friend Riccardo toured me all around Firenze (Florence), San Gimignano and Volterra, spouting endless streams of historical info, bringing it all to life; his Italian accent will echo around my photos forever! And staying with lovely Carla and her little doxie Kenia was a delight; lemon marmalade memories!
Borgo San Lorenzo: Another small burg, north of Firenze, again a CS-inspired move. Mariangela, an Earth angel; visiting her English class with her, a guitar-and-song fantastic dinner with friends Paolo and Marta, and a trip out to the picture-book old family country house, fodder for fantasies of future yoga retreats amongst the olive trees.
And finally, Roma, The Eternal City: Blessed Riccardo taking time to accompany me there, we spent Sunday on the slow (cheap!) train, and then a whirlwind walking tour of the biggies: Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Forum, Pantheon, the new huge thing I can’t remember the name of, and lots of churches, statues and pillars along the way. Long philosophical talks, grazing on picnic food, and even sunshine — almost felt like Katherine (Audrey??) Hepburn, but my Cary Grant was PlatoNick…
On my own the next day, I left the hostel, having chugged my (included) cappuccino and chocolate croissant, and advanced on the Vatican. Waited in line at the Museum for almost an hour, then immediately got lost inside. Eventually found a herd to join, and was swept along the galleries, the “Sistina C. >“ signs occasionally sparking hope anew. Finally reaching the sanctum, scored a seat, sat and stared around for a good, long time. My god (!), what a lot of work has been devoted to devotion. Churches, painting, sculpture, music, pilgrimages, crusades, quests — maybe even as much as war. Gods and enemies, love and hatred, duality’s endless dance, creation being destruction. And somewhere in our spare time, we have developed these skills that we apply to these two causes – the arts and sciences, some of them truly exquisite. I wonder where we’d be by now if we hadn’t had religion and warfare, if we’d had different values and motivations.
Anyway, time to catch a plane. I have Monument Fatigue, and so Menorca is arriving on my path at the perfect moment. Ciao, Italia, y Bienvenidos, Espana!
The Innards Of Angels
