Friday Oct 11

Day 8 in Rome

Got a bit of laundry done, not as expensive as I thought. Might take fewer clothes next time.

I wandered a bit, trying to get to know the neighborhood around the Vatican. That is a job in itself. I’d like to get into the Vatican museum without a tour group.

Slipped into the Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia. As I did the office of readings, a group came in and sat down. Then I noticed they were setting up for Mass.

Mass begin – Surprise, in Polish. My Polish in worse than my Italian, which is terrible, but I got the readings from my smart phone (Remember how sad life was before smart phones?). There are slight variations in when to kneel and when to stand, but otherwyse it is familiar territory, language or no. How wonderful to wander into a Mass and be at home.

Can’t pronounce Gnocchi (nyo – kee). They are so patient with the violence I do to their language.

The Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia has Mass in English or 10 am on Sunday. Should I go there or back to St. Peter’s? Decisions

There are many tour groups going around. There are many merchants with trinkets. There are many people trying to sell African collapsible wooden bowls. Clever idea; too bad I don’t need one.

I am so happy that I decided on two weeks instead of one. One week would have not been enough, and I would have been frustrated. Two weeks is, of course, not enough to do everything, but it is enough to say I have done a lot and had room to spend the afternoon sitting outdoors at the restaurant Borgo Nuovo writing, thinking and eating slowly. Sometimes life moves hard and fast and it takes a while to stop, to come to a full stop.