This is the preparation day when we need (such a hardship!) to go to Assisi. We had breakfast, or the men did and I tanked up on coffee. Murray was in clover because at the. Supermarket the day before we had found some soya milk in small containers, one a day, so he was happily back to cornflakes! We had a beautiful Mass together in the small almost underground chapel, managing to avoid the sacristan who seems to regard any use of the chapel as an infringement of her human rights! As so often, we had a great sharing. They are urging me to write something about Hollington, how it started and a sort of assessment after nearly 16 years. They have always been immensely supportive of the project and are so still, seeing it as having a prophetic insight which is completely in harmony with sll that Pope Francis is saying. I tried to be non-committal but of course the last time they did something like this, it turned into five volumes! That wont happen again but maybe something will and it is obviously very affirming that they grasp so well all that we had in mind or have learnt since.
So by 10.00 we were on the road, Andre' and Murray shared the driving, Andre driving until out of Rome. Being used to New York, he drives like an Italian and is well able to cope with the way they drive as if nobody else was on the road! It is quite a long trip, almost two and a half hours but as always such trips have been a precious time of sharing and pooling ideas. We stopped at the Autogrill, a service station, for a coffee, and, later on the return trip at another one where the toilets were all wall papered in pictures of shelves full of plant pots with plants. For a moment we could not find the door and thought we had wandered into a potting shed until, among the plants, we saw the signs for Uomini and Donne! Once inside the Donne section, the papering was the same except that alternate ones had birds in among the plant pots and, for a moment, I could again not find the doors!
We finally arrived in Assisi, always a powerful moment as you drive in along the flood plain and see it across the alley on the far mountain side, looking so little and yet so packed with significance.
We drove through the town made a longer drive by the one way traffic, tourists everywhere all wandering back to their hotels or restaurants for pranzo. We finally came to the Casa Papa Giovanni and Rita was there to welcome us. Then Francesca come in and Marissa, they had prepared a lovely just right meal for us which included something new to me, which was fried green chillies. They were delicious, soaked in olive oil and not exactly hot, just piquant as the cookery books say and the seeds almost charred. To be recommended. But the best thing of all was a large bowl of figs from Marissa's garden, undoubtedly the way to Andre's heart and by the end of the meal they had all vanished!
After pranzo we sorted out stuff to take to Rome and left in Assisi the stuff we had brought up from Rome. This year the Christmas celebration is ata restaurant in Greccio so there was not the same need to buy Christmas 'candy' type things. We are not staying with the Cabrini sisters because they have had to close their place because of lack and ageing of sisters. So we are back to the friars' hostel Oasi where we used to stay in the beginning until they gave all the rooms to the North American College students' retreat. It seems everything has rolled over again and the students gone elsewhere so we are back instead. It is ideal there because it is within easy walking distance of Greccio sanctuary which is really nice for the pilgrims. Then finally we drove back from Assisi to Rome just in time for cena, supper. I know this travelogue must sound like a journey from one meal to another and so it is in some respects. By cena on Thursday, we had done all the preparatory business and tomorrow is our fun day. After a lot of thought we decided to go to Tarquinia which is anEtruscan excavation with lots of Etruscan wall paintings and frescoes and a very good museum and is by the sea so will have fresh fish too! Watch this space!
No comments:
Post a Comment