Catacombs, Dante's Inferno, and Total Funk

After rather a push, we did get all packed up Thurs. evening so that we could get an early start the next morning. We didn't get to bed until after midnight. We had semi-Turkish take-away for a quick meal because we had to walk down to the restaurant of the night before and retrieve Emma's backpack. At any rate, we slept, woke, and hit the road again.

By now we are quite proficient with the bus system in Rome and we know the numbers of those that come near our hotel. We have also gotten the system of hefting ourselves up into the bus without mishap. Basil narrowly missed getting shut in the door getting off once, but thankfully his guardian angel was watching. A ticket has to be purchased beforehand from the Tabbachiano or "tabacco store" where they sell all sorts of odds and ends.

So Friday morning we stopped in and got a little typical Italian breakfast at the cafe 2 doors down from our hotel. Filled croissant and a drink. We got a latte and it comes in a little cup which you simply drink at the bar and go on your way. It was very good. Italians don't go in much for breakfast, I understand. At our hotel they provided a breakfast of the same croissants filled with jams and then some panini bread, cured meats, hard cheese, hard little toasts (kind of like large melba toast) and jam/butter. The way they made the coffee was in one of those silver espresso makers that go on the stove. It was served as a shot of espresso with a pitcher of warm milk that you can add in yourself.

We got to San Giovanni square where we made a connection to another bus. That sounds so simple, doesn't it? But actually, this is what it was like. Here comes the number 3; it is very full. Okay, Basil! Get out of your stroller right away and hold grandma's hand. Emma, get ready to hop up quick before they leave without us. Okay, grandma, get Basil, I'm getting the stroller folded up and the bag slung on my shoulder. We all hop up and grab a bar just in time before the bus lurches forward pitching all bodies backwards violently and then forwards. It's rather a miracle that none of us fell the entire time. You'd think a bus, being a large mass, would perhaps drive a little more gingerly in Italy, right? Well, no. It's really crazy. Meanwhile, I have to make my way up to the front to get our ticket punched. It took me quite some time and some help from bystanders to get it into the machine initially, but now I've got it down.

Mom: Now where are we getting off?
Macrina: San Giovanni Square.
Mom: Where is that?
Macrina: I don't know.

Thus commences the process of trying to communicate to those around me until I'm relatively sure I've both been A) properly undrstood and B) the informant has a higher chance of being right than wrong. We did, however, make it without mishap onto the next bus, which took us to the Catacomb of San Callixtus.

I cannot describe the experience of this marvel fully in the brief time I have this morning. It was as profound as I knew it would be. The grounds around the Catacomb are beautiful and peaceful. There are several different excavations around the Appian Way, or the ancient road out of Rome. It is on this road that Christ appeared to St. Peter as he was fleeing his martyrdom. Christ told him, "I will be crucified twice if you flee." and he returned to face it in the square we saw the previous day at St. Peter's Basillica/Vatican. The excellent guide we had described the scene to us: The Emperor had constructed a huge track for games and part of the "halftime entertainment" was the execution of the Christians. There had been a terrible fire in the city and the people had risen against Nero, who had probably planted the fires in order to re-build Rome. He turned to the strange cult of the Christians as a scapegoat - those strangers who were cannibalistic, as they were commonly misunderstood then. So during the games he ordered executions en masse, and sometimes even used bodies of Christians dipped in tar to provide illumination at night. At any rate, St. Peter's turn came there and he was crucified upside-down at his request, feeling he was unworthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.

During these years of the Roman Empire generally from the 3rd to 5th Centuries, the bodies of martyrs and the early popes were buried in the Catacombs, labyrinthine tunnels dug into the ground. Roman law forbid people from being buried within the city walls. They also considered burial ground as sacred space, whether for Jews, Christians, or others. This made it a place where the Christians could gather to worship as well as pay their respects to those who had died.

On our guided tour we climbed down about 1.5 flights of stairs into the underground tunnels. We saw many of the shelves and enclaves where bodies would have been placed horizontally with a marble slab put in place like a cap over the opening. These often bore the names of the dead, carved in Latin or Greek, according to the needs of the families. The gravediggers also sometimes added paintings and some of the earliest Christian frescoes that we know of are here AND WE SAW THEM!!!! We saw the 3 boys in the fiery furnace, fish symbols, the Good Shepherd, and some orans figures (in the position of prayer with arms upraised). This is also the tomb in which the martyr St. Cecilia was buried. She has an amazing story which I won't recount here. A sculpture of her body in the position it had been found when first opened was laying in a crypt with lampadas hung above it. It was an amazing experience. I wish I could have taken pictures, but they are not allowed.

After a 30 minute tour, we walked down about 3/4 mile to the church of Quo Vadis? whereChrist appeared to St. Peter during his flight. We had several minutes to kneel in the quiet church and pray for people. I was really enjoying this and beginning through a long list of people to pray for: Eleni, Peter, Maria, Fr. Brendan, Mat. Magdalen... and then Basil says: I have to go potty. Now he has been potty-trained over the last 2 weeks and when he has to go, it has to be done. So out of the church he and I went, in search of a bathroom.

The church is on an extremely busy street (Appia Antica) of cobblestones with a sliver of sidewalk and cars whizzing past. It's beautiful countryside around, but this is a pretty busy vein of traffic and walls rise on either side of the highway (very old ones). There are not many other buildings in site. I realize with the flash of inspiration, that Basil is a BOY!! And boys have certain conveniences that girls do not. Great!, I think. This will be a snap. There is a convenient corner next to a gate so we troop over. Okay, Basil, here is a defining milestone for you. He seemed somewhat bewildered, but I assured him that yes, he could go potty RIGHT here. How hard could it be? Harder than I thought, having never done this before. We really missed Daddy at this moment. I didn't realize that there is a certain skill of aiming that must be cultivated in the young male. Needless to say, the back of his pants and one shoe were completely saturated, but I think we did manage to get some of it on the ground. Better luck next time.

It took some doing to find the bus stop back into town. We were at a different location because of our walk and I excitedly announced that we'd be passing the Pyramid (burial chamber for some wealthy Roman -- covered in marble and about 2 stories high in the middle of Rome!) which Emma had really wanted to see, AND we would be taking the METRO!! Grandma's face was less than anticipatory at this thought, but it seemed to me like one of those things one ought to do before leaving. Pyramid was pretty neat. Metro was not. (And who would have expected it to be?) Dirty, dingy, fast, and functional. I was fine with it, the kids were oblivious, and Grandma was pretty mortified. Well, at least it was short and... um.... savory.

We transferred to yet another bus and made it back "home". Our host Dominic gave us our held-over breakfast to have for lunch, called us a cab, and carried our bags down for us. We arrived at the railway in good time.

Inside, a man from Macedonia begged for a penny from me for bread (not sure whether it was for him or for children there) Anyhow, I gave him a Euro (Actually, my friend Dominica gave him a Euro!) and then asked if he could tell us where some seats were. My Mom was quite tired and I didn't want to make her stand for an hour. He escorted us to the Mc Donald's downstairs where we bought 2 drinks and a small ice cream for about $8, but I would have paid $10 for the seats. In good time we made it up to our train and found the right car to get onto. Now, we are supposed to be travelling "light" but this is what we have: I carry a backback that is now probably 20lbs. Basil's stroller (when we can use it) carries a shoulder bag with essentials like my camera and instructions of where we're going that weighs another 3-4lbs. and his small backpack with his essentials. Emma has a roller bag and whatever food bag we are currently toting. Grandma has a roller bag with detatchable backpack that probably weighs 25lbs altogether. And we have an additional backpack of stuff that won't fit in the other bags. This is an awful lot to heft around, sometimes up and down very steep stairs.

At the proper car, we got in the first door, only to find that we had to squeeze down the TINY passageway (like in an airplane) with all our baggage to the last seats right near the door at the back of the car. Duh! This train ride was fine, in an airconditioned car (which means something a little different than what we are used to -- by about 15 degrees). The next train ride, however, was our own personal descent into hell.

Now, Dante is buried in Ravenna. This fact excites me a little, and I do hope we will be able to see his grave today. As you must know, he is famous for writing the great works of Paradise and the Inferno, in which he describes the various levels of hell quite graphically. I am sure on another reading of the Inferno, I would find the local Italian trains listed there somewhere. Maybe around the 4th or 5th level. Although on paper it looked like a short final leg of the journey from Rome to Ravenna, in reality it entailed getting to the other platform for the train -- down a large flight with all those bags and back up another with all those bags, and then getting on a new sauna disguised as a train. Really, it was. I'd say it must have been at least 90-95 degrees in there. No sun, sure, but it was like a sardine can (yes, it was, really, at least in our compartment. It's funny, you pass by these chic Italiano women and there is a faint cloud of pleasant scent. We haven't gotten that part, Mom and I.) My poor Mom was literally dripping.

I was, too; Basil's hair was sopping wet and plastered to his head. There was nothing to do but sit and wait for 1.5 hours for our stop. We sang "Bingo" and the "Monkeys on the Bed". At one point, I'm not sure if Basil was delirious or not, but he started singing his own version of this rhyme: "5 little monkeys, jumping on the bed. One is named Michael and hit his little head. Another little monkey named St. Peter....."

We finally made it off the bus and up yet another taxing flight of stairs (which I still have to take one at a time because of my broken leg, but it's getting better and I can almost do them normally now , a few more days I think). Outside in the Italian heat of the day it felt like a refigerator to us. We got in a lovely airconditioned new cab and he turned on English rock and roll. Yeah. That was alright! He drove us to our hostel and Mom said, "THIS is it??! Oh, uh, it looks interesting." After a drive through this charming, calm town lined with trees, we arrived at a building that was rather dilapidated-looking, a transplant from the worst era of architecture, if you can call it that, of the early 70's. Big boxy windows, tired old cubes of concrete, covered in dinge. I was afraid that either they wouldn't have our reservation or else it would be simply intolerable. Neither proved true, thank God. I did have a small moment of breakdown while telling the "receptionist" (who has a sign saying "If I end up in hell, at least all my friends will be there." on her wall.) that we just couldn't go up another flight of stairs. I got a little weepy. But she said they have a lift (elevator) here, which solved it.

She gave us the largest room with 5 beds so we have plenty of space to spread out. Emma and I went across the street to the grocery store and got a simple collection for dinner: grilled veggies (yes!) and lasagna from the deli, a hunk of parmesan for Emma, some yogurt, weird-looking cookies, limonata drink, some fresh mascarpone.

There is a large complex of common area here on the main floor with lots of things for us to use, a washing machine downstairs, and a huge park right next door that the kids got to go play in late last night for a few minutes.

We had a good night's sleep and will have a pretty relaxing day today. This is a totally funky place, but our jaws dropped when we heard that the total for 2 nights was 101E (about $150) which is an incredibly good deal for what we are getting, for all of us.

I need to sign off now. Grandma is having a hard time deciphering the washing machine, and Emma is itching to go to the park. I am anxious to get out and find the way into town so we can go down and see the mosaics.

Ciao for now!

In peaceful, pretty Ravenna, where we'd like to stay another night.... maybe we will alter our plans, maybe not. Trees and open space... ahhh. Muggy already at 9AM. Macrina