It is 10:30pm Rome time, 4:30pm Toronto time. Jet lag is real. I am wide awake as Emily falls peacefully asleep in the bed next to me. We laughed as we entered our small shared room – “two beds” in Italian apparently translates to “one bed with a small slice down the middle, barely leaving any room for the Holy Spirit”. We have gotten real close real fast!
The plane ride – almost 9 hours – was as good as it could get, (thank you for your prayers for a smooth journey!) We thought we were on solid ground until we grabbed a cab and nearby died in what could have been 5 or 6 potential car accidents. One of which included a gypsy and a public transit bus. Did you know that pedestrians share the cobblestone streets with cars and mopeds? The movies don’t do these scenes justice.
After a nap and a bit of freshening up, Lucinda, Emily and I made our way onto the main streets in search of some local food. All we can say is: best gnocchi and ravioli we’ve tasted! Naturally, cappuccino and gelato followed. “When in Rome”, right?
Notable stops included: the Basilica de Santa Maria, Chiesa del Gesù, and the Pantheon. We carried each of your prayer intentions with us in our hearts as we sat beside each candle, knelt at each altar, and visited each tomb. My personal favourite was seeing St Catherine of Siena’s body. I can’t wait to see her head in Siena!
I’ll keep this short, not only because the last two days have felt like one continuous day, but also we have an early start tomorrow. Our time will be spent preparing for the seminar: collecting flowers, emailing speakers, translating messages, coordinating hotel bookings and making dinner reservations for the group.
Get excited, as you’ll hear from Emily next as the seminar kicks off on April 28th!
Until next time,
LC
Magdala in Rome 