In the spring of last year, my grandmother passed away. I wrote a post about it, and some of the feelings I was having at the time. In the months prior to her passing, almost all of her family was able to come visit her, and we were blessed that her illness did not affect her ability to recognize each of us, and visit with us. We are spread out all over the country, so being able to make it to visit her was awesome, and I hope that she enjoyed her visits as much as we did.
After her memorial service, held later that summer, we met at my aunt's house, where all my grandmother's things were stored in the basement. We were all told to pick what we wanted. It was very weird, and everyone was super polite, not wanting to step on anyone elses toes. For about 30 minutes, we all looked and talked, just remembering where various things had been placed in her apartment, or who had given it to her. It was quite emotional, and at the same time, felt like an additional memorial. Just another step in letting go. I picked a few pieces of jewelry, a cookbook, and a wooden chest that my mother had originally given to her. I also liked a packet of pictures and postcards that she had from her trip to Italy in September of 1986. I remember very well the day that she got the phone call saying that she was going to see the Pope. There is a fine line between panicked hysteria and delighted hysteria and when you are watching it, you cannot tell the difference!
So, the packet. My cousin Devon put together a FANTASTIC book about our grandmother, and her life, and wanted to keep all the pictures until she was done with the book. She wanted to have as much to choose from and include as possible, and her efforts show that. So I put the Italy pictures/ packet out of my mind. Then my Aunt Darlene sent the book, and the packet to my mom, who brought me the packet when she brought us Hurricane Isaac. (Thanks, by the way!) The pics are labeled and numbered with a system that I have yet to decipher, and some have descriptions written on the back. They are all very cool. Except for the one where she has her arm back like she is fixing to knock the crap out of whomever is taking the picture. I will post that as soon as I verify if the statute of limitations has run out.
What follows is her travel diary of her trip to Italy. I am typing it the way it was written, in a tiny spiral notebook from K-Mart, bought for $.68. It was a once in a lifetime trip, and I am certain that she made the most of it. I don't think she took a single minute for granted, and I believe that is what I would want to learn from her.
September 19-20
Left Cleveland at 3:00pm. Arrived New York at about 5:00pm. Left at 8:30 after many delays. Supposed to leave at 7:00 pm. Good flight except for some turbulence over Newfoundland. Landed safely at Rome about 9:10 am their time. Father Bob Sell met us and gave Florence and me a rose. We took a taxi to the Casa Santa Maria. That is the house he lives in. At one time it was a convent but it is now where priests live who go to school. He has 3 more years of study. He also goes to the Angelicu (??)and is learning cannon law. His Bishop sent him here for further study. Getting back to the taxi ride. I had heard that the people in Rome were crazy drivers and it sure is true. You say a prayer to cross the street safely because the drivers don't stop except if there is a red light. Coming from the airport our diver got into a little traffic jam and everybody was laying on their horns and our driver was saying a lot of words in Italina. I asked my sister if they didn't have any speed limits because everybody just flys and they do not stop at intersections. Father Bob lives in a beautiful house. It has a courtyard and very nice rooms. Howard stays there because he is a priest. He stayed in the Bishop's suite because there were no Bishops visiting at the time Florence and I stayed at a small hotel near by. It was not one of the expensive ones but it was very nice and it was clean. After we checked into the hotel we went back to the house and Bob took us on a little tour of it. We went into the chapel and to see their rooms, then we went to lunch. Bob speaks Italian, (one of the subjects he has to take) so it was very nice to have him along so he could tell us what things were so we knew what we were eating. Then after a very slow lunch we went to St Peter's Basilica and it was beautiful. Besides having Bob along to tell us what we were eating we were fortunate enough to have our own tour guide. We took a bus to the Basilica, and that experience was about like the taxi ride. I have pictures of the Basilica. It was beautiful but so hard to try to explain it. Then we went on a tour of the Via Scala which is the ruins under St Peter's Basilica. Constantine built the first church there and in time the Basilica was built on top of it. There are tombs of several of the early popes. Very interesting. We were not allowed to take pictures there. To back up a little bit, Father Bob told Florence she would have to set her alarm clock for 5:15 for Sat. We all exclaimed Why? and he with a sly grin told us that he and Howard were going to co-celebrate a Mass with the Holy Father at Castle Gandolfo- his summer home. While we were getting settled in our rooms, he got a call from Msgr Gahonga in answer to his letter asking if he and his friend from America if it were possible to do this. (??)The answer was to be there at 7:00 am. Of course we all got very excited. After St Peter's we rested in Howard's suite of rooms while Bob led Vespers. Then when he finished we went out to supper and went to our rooms to prepare for the big day on Sat. and get some rest because we did not get too much rest the night before and we also had jet lag. It did not take us very long to go to sleep. Sienna Hotel.
September 21 - Saturday
The big day. Bob does not have a car so he asked one of the men who works at his house to drive us. It is out in the country up on a hill. It is very hot in the city and there are no air conditioners or fans. It is at the end of a street. We had to wait until 7:15 before we could get in and their was a Msgr. with a piece of paper with the names on of the people who were "invited". There were about 8 more priests and about 18 nuns and a group of about 12 lay people. There were probably about 60 people. It is a very small chapel. Pope John was in there already praying on a kneeler. The priests stayed in a room to put their albs on and that left Florence and me with a bunch of Italians. After the priests came in the Msgr. took 3 nuns and FLorence and me out of the chapel and told us in Italian and in hand gestures to follow the nuns. We went into a room and he put three stools for the nuns and then two stools for us. We found ourselves sitting in a room looking through a door right across from the altar and the Holy Father. Bob had brought 2 missalettes for us that was in all the language the Pope speaks. It was in Italian so we were able to follow it in English. The rest is written very shakily, as if she wrote it on a bus or while moving. It is very hard to read. HJ Pope John Paul- Communion, Audience, Shake hands, Give rosary to each. Talk to Msgr. Gahonga for a few min. Took pictures of outside. Took a bus and subway ride back to Rome. Went to train station to go up to (something) and (something) and Venice. Had lunch at a sidewalk cafe close to train station. Very nice. Went to see St Mary (something) Basilica. After that St John Basilica. All very tired so went back to hotel rest and freshen up. Went to dinner at about 7:00 pm. Got back at 10:30. Got ready and went to bed about 12:30.
September 22
Got up about 8:30. Got ready to go to church and finished packing. Had breakfast in hotel dining room. Checked out of hotel at 10:30. Went to Father Bob's Casa where we went to Mass at 11:30. Had lunch of hard rolls, salami-cheese-fruit in Father Bob's room. Went to train station - 3 hour ride to Florence, Italy. Went to Hotel Londra to check in. Hooray- air conditioning. Ate dinner at hotel dining room. Had to take walk when we finished. About 9:30 at night. Was like middle of the day for all the people & cars that were out. Went back to hotel and went to bed. Slept good because of air conditioning.
September 23
Breakfast
1)Something 1400 de Lorenzo Basilica, Private Chapel of the Medici Family Palace, built in 12th century
2)Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore 1292, Medici family had Santa de Lororenzo Church built.
These 2 seem mixed up to me, but they are numbered and listed the way I typed them, and since I haven't been there, I'll take her word for it. HJ
3)Santa de Marco
Lunch
Visited gold and leather shops on a bridge that was built in 11th century. Shops er built over the Arco River called the Ponte Vecio.
Baptistry of St John- 13th century. Tomb of Michalangelo, Machiavelli Granny BUTCHERED the spelling of his name. Thank goodness for Google., and Rosssini. Santa Croce, found by St Francic of Assissi around 1295.
September 24
Santa Lorenzo private chapel where princes and princesses were crowned of the Medici family. Mass at St Lorenzo & recieved communion. Our Lady of Grace Church, lit a candle for Stanley. Uffizzi Gallery - statue of David, the most famous sculpture there. Lunch at the snack bar. Back to the hotel to pick up luggage. Train station and off to Venice at 3:53. Arrived at Venice about 8:30 pm Italy time. After pulling luggage and walking to river, got on a ferry to take us to the hotel. Long ride but nice. Lots of hotels that were lit up. Had to walk pulling luggage over cobble stones. Up and down steps of little bridges. Father Bob carried my bigger bag for me on the steps. Got to hotel - what a let down from the hotel in Florence, no air conditioning- walk up four flights of stairs. Man at desk only had an "apartment" . "Very lovely" he said. We were late getting in on the train so our two seperate rooms were given to someone else. It had 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, and a very long hallway. We were so tired but we had not eaten since lunchtime. We bought sandwiches and drinks and fruit and we ate in the "apartment". Then we went to bed.
September 25
Up about 8:00. Got ready and went to breakfast in the hotel. Took speed boat to the Island of Murano where they make the famous Venetian glass. Very interesting. Then taking into the display rooms and saw some very beautiful things. Howard bought close to $500 worth of things so the man gave Florence a little glass jug for nothing. I found a family of bunnies that I had the money out forand he said it was just "junka" and he would give it to me Kelly now has the "junka" and treasures the little family I believe! I just wanted some little thing from Venice. Came back on the ferry to St. Marco square and had lunch. Bought a few things for people. Went to St. Marco Church and Dozier Palace. Took ferry to St George Basilica which is also a Byzantine Monastary. Beautiful. At St Marco was built in the 1400's, finished in the 1500's. Could see how the floor was sagging because of the water. Remains of St Mark are in there. Went back to hotel room and rested for about 2 1/2 hours. Then Howard and Bob went out to get some food for us to eat and drinks and we went for a walk around St Marco Square. It was very nice and comfortable weather. We sat at am outside cafe that has been in one family since 1869. The band started to play at 9:00. We had been sitting there for about 1 1/2 hours with a bottle of wine so we decided to order a half bottle and the waiter came out and told Bob it would cost more because of the band was starting to play. So he paid it and they played one song and took a 10 min break, 2nd song - 10 min break, 3rd song - "". We left. Went back to the hotel & went to sleep. Very hot and humid.
September 26
Got ready and went down to breakfast about 9:00. Checked out of hotel at 10:00 and left our bags at hotel. Then went and did a little shopping. Went up in a bell tower only because it had an elevator. Beautiful view of the city. Did not take pictures because of grates. Walked around a little in San Marco Square. Went and got our baggage and started pulling it behind us over the cobblestones to the ferry then the long ferry ride back to the train station. Bought sandwiches by the hotel and drinks in the train station and had lunch there because the train did not leave until 2:10. Got to Milan at 5:00 but had to wait at least an hour so Bob could make reservations for Zurmont, Switzerland on the train. Computer broke down so could not do it. Got a taxi to the hotel. Beautiful, air conditioned, and very nice rooms. The priests were in a room down the hall but we had phones so it was ok. Ate in hotel dining room because there was no other place close by to eat. Good dinner. Went for a walk then got a shower and to bed. Very tired.
September 27
Got up. Went to breakfast at hotel. Made reservations for train to Switzerland at travel agency by hotel. Saved us a trip to train station. Took bus then subway to town. Went to Something Basilica dedicated to the birth of Mary. Charles Bormeo buried in altar. 1538-1584. Made Bishop of Milan age of 19. 135 spires, 2,245 statues. Started in 13th century, finished in 15th century. Called Cathedral of Milan. La Scalla Opera House. Had music written? and piano of DaVinci and other memoribilia of some of the other composers. Saw Maria Di Grazie - Our Lady of Grace Monastary for Monks. We were in the dining room where we saw Leonardo DaVinci's famous painting of the last supper. Could not get full impact because of scaffolding for restoration. During second world war monastary was gutted. The only thing that saved the painting -mural- was that they had sand bagged the wall. After the dining hall we went into the church. Did not have the beautiful ceilings they had in the churches in the other cities but had a beautiful crucifix and we heard an organist play Bach and other selections. Very good organist. They are doing a lot of restoration and the walls were not all painted either. They had quite a few side alters and they were all restored already. Got on the subway and bus went back to hotel. It seems all of Italy are restoring their historic buildings. They were doing roadwork right by our hotel. Sure reminded me of Nashville. Ate supper in fella's room. Bread, cheese, meat, and fruit. Florence said we eat like royalty and the next day we eat like peasants. Went for a walk after supper. Beautiful neighborhood. Very expensive high-rise apts. Came back to hotel , got ready for bed because we had to get up early.
September 28
Got up at 6:30. Finished packing then went to breakfast at 7:00. Back to the rooms to get our bags and one last check to make sure we had everything and then off to Switzerland. Left Milan at 9:00 am. Now on the train. Off at something for about 1 hour. Leaving for Zermatt, Switzerland where we will be staying. Got into Zermatt 1:50 pm. Did not have to drag our bags. Hotel vehicle took them. Hotel very nice. Washed up, then went shopping for souvenirs and such. Very quaint town. Don't have to worry about autos or motorbikes. Few bicycles around, but not many. The hotels have like little trucks to take the bags but otherwise it is walking. Went to lunch. Superb Swiss deserts. That was the reason for walking so much. We had to get rid of the calories we put on. We went to the church to see about the guys saying a Mass on Sunday in English because they had 3 in German in the morning, and 1 in Italian at 3 in the afternoon. There was a priest and a nun and they said we could use the chapel downstairs at about 9:00. We walked and walked. I think we must have walked about 10 miles every day since we started on this trip but feel very good. Stores closed at 6:00 so we came back to the hotel and rested a little and then we went to dinner about 8:00 pm. Had to take a walk again. Temp very nice. Was warm during day and cool at night. Went back to hotel and got ready for bed. Slept very good because of the mountain air. We are surrounded by mountains. Can see the Matterhorn off our balcony.
September 29
Got up. Went to Mass. Howard said it and Bob celebrated. It was very nice. It was just the 4 of us. After Mass we went back to the hotel and had breakfast. Supposed to be a continental breakfast but there weresoft boiled eggs and ham and cereal and rye bread and another kind of bread. Both very good. Then we went and changed clothes and walked to the cable cars. We went up to a little place called Schultzersp?, at 8,841 feet. It is just a flat spot on the mountain like a little station. We walked up a little farther and there was a little lake and a chapel. The fellas wanted to hike up farther and Florence and I said Go ahead. We went into the chapel and it was very pretty. The fellas finally came back and we walked back up to Schultzer, where we had German potato salad and weiners. Very good. Walked around the restaurant and then we went on the cable car back down. I forgot to mention that we took two cable cars. When we got off the one we walked around a little bit and sat and looked at the mountains. When we were up to 8,841 feet, we could see the Matterhorn very good. There was snow on the mountains and Howard said that was from last year that never melted. We all got sunburned faces though because we were so much closer to the sun. Got the other cable car and went back down to Zerbatt and went to the hotel. The fellas went swimming in the indoor pool and Florence and I rested. Then went up where the pool was and sat for a while. Then we went down to our room and packed as much as we could and got our clothes ready to wear on the train trip back to Rome. Got cleaned up and went up to the hotel dining room to eat. What food and what service. It was so nice. We started at 7:30, finished about 9:30. They don't believe in hurrying in any of the foreign countries. Howard and Florence and I took a little walk and then went back and took a shower and went to bed.
September 30
Got up at 6:15. Got dressed and finished packing then went to breakfast. Went down to our room, got our bags and went down to check out. Hated to leave because it was so clean and safe there. Did not see one policeman. Now on the train and will be on it about another 2 1/2 hours.
We have been on the train since 8:10. Made two changes. One at something with a B - had 20 minutes to get from one train to another. Then in Milan we had 25 min. Then straight over to Rome. Will get into Rome about 7:15.
Train was late. Had reservations at Hotel Sienna where we stayed last week before we left on our trip and they had given it to someone else because we were late. Everybody was tired from the long train trip so tempers got out of hand. The desk clerk called another hotel and we were able to get into it. It is close to the Casa too, so it is no problem for the fellas to get back and forth to our hotel. Florence and I brought the bread and fruit and cheese up to the room and we ate that and got ready for bed. We were exhausted. It was cooler so we slept very well.
October 1
Got up. Ate breakfast. Fellas came for us about 9:30. Went to the Vatican to pick out the pictures that we wanted that were taken with the Pope. Then went to religious store and bought some things, then had lunch, and went back to the hotel. We just rested because the stores here close between 12:30 and 4:30 for lunch so we did the same. Fellas came at 4:30 - did some more shopping and then went back to Bob's casa and left the packages and went to eat then went back and got the packages and they walked us back to the hotel. Got ready for bed and went to sleep. Have to get up at 6:30 tomorrow morning.
October 2
On our way to Assissi on the train. Bob just announced the train we are on is late. Hope it is not too late to make connections with the one for Assissi. Hope there is someplace to get film because I only have 7 pictures left on my last roll.
Beautiful- first thing we saw, the Basilica dedicated to St Francis. Body of St Francis buried in altar. Pictures on walls tell the story of how St Francis started his new order. He was told by Jesus on a crucifix to rebuild his church. He built a church in the woods but that is not what the Lord meant. There was so much corruption in the world He wanted to restore Christianity. So then he decided to form the Franciscan order and when he went Pope Innocence, he knelt down and kissed his feet. When Francis asked the Pope for all his cardinals, said no but Innocence knelt down and kissed the feet of Francis and said we do not remember the innocent and he granted Francis's request.
We then went to the Church of St Claire, who was Francis's protege and the first one to be taken in to the order of nuns who are the Poor Claire's. They were an order of cloisters who......this thought does not appear to be finished because the next entry is for the following day
October 3
Went to Sistine Chapel. Saw Michelangelo's famous ceiling. Saw a picture of Pope Leo XIII declaring the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Above him it shows the Immaculate Virgin. It was beautiful. Also saw the book that he had signed declaring it. Went back to the religious store so Florence could get some medals for her twins, great nephews and a tote bag to carry the stuff in. Went to St Peter's Basilica for a last look. Then went to lunch. After that we went to see the ruins and the Coliseum. Then we went to St Paul's Church outside the wall of Rome. Very big. In the courtyard of the church a very large statue of St Paul done by Michelangelo. Bob said that is the only statue that does not have a replica any place in Rome. The church like all of them in Rome is very beautiful, also is being restored. Then went back to hotel and rested before we went to dinner. After dinner we went to the Treve Fountain and Bob took pictures of each of us throwing 3 coins in the fountain with our back toward the fountain and throwing the cins over our left shoulder. The story goes that if you do, you will return to Rome. Then we went back to the hotel and got ready for bed.
At the ruins Bob told us about the vestal virgins during the time of Ceasar. They were to keep the eternal fires going and if one of the girls let it go out they all were beheaded. Even the head one. Then they would get a new group in. There are statues of the head ladies and when the Christians came back into Rome, the ones that would not follow Christianity were beheaded. The statue heads were off too. There were only two out of about 15 that turned to Christianity. We saw the place where supposedly Caesar was killed.
October 4
Got up at 6:45. Dressed and Florence and I went to breakfast. Went back to the room and checked to see that we did not forget anything. Then went down to lobby and met Howard and Bob and checked out. Got into taxi and flew to airport. Stood in line at airport. About the time we got to the window they closed it. So we went into another line which was shorter. Also at that time they told us the plane would be an hour late in leaving which would make us miss our flight in Cleveland. So we were booked on a 6:15 flight instead of a 4:30. Will call somebody in Cleveland when we get off the plane from Rome in New York.
Plane circled New York then we were told we were going back to Hartford Conn. to refuel because the pilot did not know how long we would have to circle. Finally landed at 7:15 pm which meant we missed another flight. Went to the United Air windows where they were trying to make arrangements for all of us who missed our flights. They had a flight on another airline leaving at 8:30 from LaGuardia, 18 miles from JFK. so they gave us a voucher for a taxi. Got a taxi right away, but traffic was terrible. Got to airport about 8:15. Howard tok our tickets and went on ahead so we could make that flight. When we got up to him, he told us that flight was late so he had time to call Darlene.
That is the last entry, so I guess the rest of her flights were not that exciting. Reading her writing has taken me so much longer than I thought, and I have had to Google a ton of things when an Italian location was misspelled. I corrected proper names and locations when I could figure it out, but left her grammar the way she wrote it. I think a lot of it was just a type of shorthand. And I personally love how she calls her two escorts "fellas". So Granny.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!
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