So for our last night in Rome we were determined to find some nightlife...and find it we did. :)
We had seen advertisements for Pub Crawls where they show you around to all the fun places and you get a bunch of free stuff...but when we showed up we were the only ones there, so they cancelled. We ended up going out to dinner with a kid from our hostel (I had some mind-blowing gnochi). Then we took a bus over to an area we had heard had some nightlife (Campo De Fiori). Well, some nightlife was a bit of an understatement. The streets were full of people wandering from bar to bar and because liquor laws are very lax in Europe people could buy a drink and then come outside and hang out in the square while they drank it. So we wandered around and somehow met up with a group of Italians who were nice and showed us the "good" places to go. Long story short...we made it back to the hostel just before sunrise. Oops. :)
The next day was one I like to call "Ridiculous Amounts of Time on a Train Day." But before that could begin we had to get a taste of the bad side of Italy (specifically Roman men). This story occurs as we were waiting in line to validate our eurail pass. After maybe 20 minutes in line we were about 3 groups away from our turn at the window. Suddenly I realized that there was a new, extra guy in front of us in line. Maybe he was with someone who had been there all along, right? Oh no. Next thing we knew 5 of his buddies all loud, egotistical and annoying were in line too. This is a very Italian thing...if you can get around the system and just walk up to the front of the line instead of waiting for 20 minutes...why would you do anything else? The crazy part to us was that no one else seemed bothered by it...We, however, were done with Rome. It had been great but were were tired of being sweaty and tired and handled by the Italians...and this incident was sort of the icing on the cake.
Just over 4 hours from Rome to Milan in an absolutely packed train...there were people standing in the aisles for the whole trip, yuck! (As divine retrtibution the jerks from line were among those without seats...) And then another train about that long from Milan to Zurich, Switzerland. By the end of the trip we were a bit loopy... you know how you get to that point where EVERYTHING is funny...but it really isn't and you're probably bugging everyone else on the whole train with your out of control giggling? Yea...we were FAR beyond that point.
We reached Zurich and were met at the station by Jen. Jen and her boyfriend, Roman, had spent a week at the Yoga Borgo earlier in the summer and she offered to put us up for a few days. My first impression as we took the tram from the train station to her house was that Zurich was much calmer and cleaner than Rome. (An impression that would be reconfirmed throughout our time in Zurich)
Our first morning in Zurich we were up early and doing laundry. Then we headed out to a yoga class. It was a vinyasa class and was really rather expensive...but it was so nice to stretch and work our bodies in that way. We spent most of the rest of the day wandering around the 'old' part of Zurich. It was beautiful, cool weather and we just fell in love with Zurich. It was the perfect respite after Rome, everything was beautiful but in a much simpler way than in Rome and the people seemed very down to earth and soft compared to some of our experiences in Rome. (I must add that, in general, in my interactions with Italians, including Romans, they have been amazingly helpful, warm and kind hearted).
Then it was back to Jen and Romans to a wonderfully home cooked meal of Leek and Lemon Risotto. And early to bed because we had a big day the next day...which you'll hear all about next time. :)
Still to come: day trip to Lucerne, travel day to France, the French countryside, oops! we're in Paris and Brugge/Antwerp Belgium. I keep falling furhter anf further behind... but never fear you'll get the whole story eventually, just stay tuned. :)
Oh yea! We've decided to give each city one describing word (for more on this read Eat,Pray, Love...a fanastic book that you should read anyway.) So far:
Rome: Bold
Zurich: Practical
Hope you are all doing well,
Love and Blessings,
KNL
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
" I Just Said 'Your Mom' in St. Peters Basilica"
New pics are up at www.kelseylumpkin.shutterfly.com
Day 3 in Rome began with a trip to Campo de Fiori were there is usually a big produce market every morning. Since all Italians go on vacation for most of August the market was rather smaller than we had anticipated: But there were a few stands, so we loaded up on veggies; dried fruit and nuts for snacks and picnics.
We had a nice (although a bit longer than anticipated) walk to the area of town with all of the old ruins. First on the list was Marciellos Theater: Sort of a mini Coliseum in a much more ruined state and with fewer people around. Wandered through a magnificent Piazza designed by Michelangelo and over to the Roman forum.
Let me take a moment here to try to explain how hot it was in Rome, without being overdramatic… Imagine a sauna. You have been trapped in the sauna by someone who thinks this will be a funny joke. The jokester keeps shoveling wood onto the fire and trying to sell you 3 euro bottles of water until you think your skin might begin to melt off and you want to throw the sauna bench through the wall just to get out. But the jokester has taken the bench … your last hope for refuge is gone. Yea, the oppressive, sweltering heat in Rome in August is sort of like that. (To be fair: EVERYONE and EVERY guide book in the world told us emphatically not to go to Rome in August…I guess we're just gluttons for punishment)
So back to the Trio of Travelers in the Furnacious Forum. (Get it? Furnacious? Like –of a furnace…) At this point in the day we were getting pretty hungry, hot, tired of walking and a bit dehydrated because we had been resisting the 3 euro bottles of water. So the Roman Forum (which was nothing like I expected…basically a big field of ruins) passed us by in a bit of a blur. We found a somewhat shady spot and settled into our random assorted picnic lunch items. It's amazing what a little fuel and rest will do to your energy level…
So we were raring to go again. And it was on to the Coliseum. Wow. This place is truly a jaw dropper. It is especially amazing to me that when the Coliseum fell out of use, the Romans of the time plundered it for it's building materials (some of which were used to build the Vatican)…I guess they didn't realize what a beautiful and unique gem they had. I can't pinpoint why exactly…but I just really liked the Coliseum…it was…refreshing.
So then it was back onto the bus and a couple of churches and some mind-blowing cannoli from a Sicilian Pastry shop and back to the hostel. And early to bed because tomorrow was…The Vatican Day.
We got up early on The Vatican Day to get ahead in line for the Vatican museum. We arrived 45 minutes before the museum even opened…seems plenty early enough, right? Well, it seems that everyone else in Rome (and indeed, perhaps all of Italy or maybe Europe) had also decided that this would be an excellent time and day to visit the Vatican Museum. This was partly because the museum had been closed for the previous two days…so; really we were asking for it.
3 hours (I am not kidding) and many games of 20 Questions later…we were in!
Side note: My favorite game of 20 Questions went exactly like this:
Allison: Is it a person?
Me: Yes.
Allison: Is it the Pope?
Me: Yes.
I have heard the Vatican Museum compared to a garage sale…they just have SO much stuff that it is sort of shoved in everywhere and among it are some really amazing things but you have to be willing to sort through the crowds and the junk to really appreciate them. I think one of my favorite pieces was a gigantic acorn statue that used to be the centerpiece of the fountain that was in front of the original St. Peters Basilica. First of all, it was mammoth and the idea of something so obviously pagan and 'of the earth' among the gregarious catholic-ness of it all was very satisfying to me.
After about one and a half hours in the museum you finally reach the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is so much not what I expected that when we walked in I actually said out loud "This isn't it!" But it was. The biggest surprise for me was the shape of the room…I always imagined it to be round…it was a rectangle: Secondly, I thought the iconographic image of God about to touch Adams finger was pretty much the whole ceiling…it was a small portion in the middle of many other things on the ceilings and walls. Hmmm…
After the shock of the museum started to wear off…and we had consumed some seriously large slices of pizza, we were off on a very important mission. I had been given directions from the Sada Sats to the "Best Gelato in Rome." And this was something that had to be found…it was found…and it was…so…good. I almost want to get up right now and take a 12 hour train ride just to go back and have another dish…I mean, this stuff was heavenly.
And on that celestial thought we tore ourselves away from the gelateria and headed back to see St. Peters Basilica, the one time biggest church in the Catholic faith. This was when Megan had her insightful comment that inspired the title of this post. And then, we walked inside. Jaw dropping doesn't quite describe it. I mean truly and utterly amazing. Starting with the vastness of the space and the general hugeness of everything down to the painstakingly beautiful details on a fresco or statue. This place is a marvel. What was especially amazing to me was that despite the hoards of tourists there was still a definite sense of prayer and spiritual power in this place…whew!
We stumbled home in complete overload trying to take in and process everything we had seen. It was an amazing day but the accumulation of three days of serious all day sightseeing were starting to drag on us…so we decided to let ourselves sleep in the next ,morning and just really try to relax. Which is exactly what we did…and it was nice.
OK. That’s it for now. Still to come: going out our last night in Rome, travel day to Zurich, Switzerland and a travel day to France.
Love and Blessings,
KNL
Day 3 in Rome began with a trip to Campo de Fiori were there is usually a big produce market every morning. Since all Italians go on vacation for most of August the market was rather smaller than we had anticipated: But there were a few stands, so we loaded up on veggies; dried fruit and nuts for snacks and picnics.
We had a nice (although a bit longer than anticipated) walk to the area of town with all of the old ruins. First on the list was Marciellos Theater: Sort of a mini Coliseum in a much more ruined state and with fewer people around. Wandered through a magnificent Piazza designed by Michelangelo and over to the Roman forum.
Let me take a moment here to try to explain how hot it was in Rome, without being overdramatic… Imagine a sauna. You have been trapped in the sauna by someone who thinks this will be a funny joke. The jokester keeps shoveling wood onto the fire and trying to sell you 3 euro bottles of water until you think your skin might begin to melt off and you want to throw the sauna bench through the wall just to get out. But the jokester has taken the bench … your last hope for refuge is gone. Yea, the oppressive, sweltering heat in Rome in August is sort of like that. (To be fair: EVERYONE and EVERY guide book in the world told us emphatically not to go to Rome in August…I guess we're just gluttons for punishment)
So back to the Trio of Travelers in the Furnacious Forum. (Get it? Furnacious? Like –of a furnace…) At this point in the day we were getting pretty hungry, hot, tired of walking and a bit dehydrated because we had been resisting the 3 euro bottles of water. So the Roman Forum (which was nothing like I expected…basically a big field of ruins) passed us by in a bit of a blur. We found a somewhat shady spot and settled into our random assorted picnic lunch items. It's amazing what a little fuel and rest will do to your energy level…
So we were raring to go again. And it was on to the Coliseum. Wow. This place is truly a jaw dropper. It is especially amazing to me that when the Coliseum fell out of use, the Romans of the time plundered it for it's building materials (some of which were used to build the Vatican)…I guess they didn't realize what a beautiful and unique gem they had. I can't pinpoint why exactly…but I just really liked the Coliseum…it was…refreshing.
So then it was back onto the bus and a couple of churches and some mind-blowing cannoli from a Sicilian Pastry shop and back to the hostel. And early to bed because tomorrow was…The Vatican Day.
We got up early on The Vatican Day to get ahead in line for the Vatican museum. We arrived 45 minutes before the museum even opened…seems plenty early enough, right? Well, it seems that everyone else in Rome (and indeed, perhaps all of Italy or maybe Europe) had also decided that this would be an excellent time and day to visit the Vatican Museum. This was partly because the museum had been closed for the previous two days…so; really we were asking for it.
3 hours (I am not kidding) and many games of 20 Questions later…we were in!
Side note: My favorite game of 20 Questions went exactly like this:
Allison: Is it a person?
Me: Yes.
Allison: Is it the Pope?
Me: Yes.
I have heard the Vatican Museum compared to a garage sale…they just have SO much stuff that it is sort of shoved in everywhere and among it are some really amazing things but you have to be willing to sort through the crowds and the junk to really appreciate them. I think one of my favorite pieces was a gigantic acorn statue that used to be the centerpiece of the fountain that was in front of the original St. Peters Basilica. First of all, it was mammoth and the idea of something so obviously pagan and 'of the earth' among the gregarious catholic-ness of it all was very satisfying to me.
After about one and a half hours in the museum you finally reach the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is so much not what I expected that when we walked in I actually said out loud "This isn't it!" But it was. The biggest surprise for me was the shape of the room…I always imagined it to be round…it was a rectangle: Secondly, I thought the iconographic image of God about to touch Adams finger was pretty much the whole ceiling…it was a small portion in the middle of many other things on the ceilings and walls. Hmmm…
After the shock of the museum started to wear off…and we had consumed some seriously large slices of pizza, we were off on a very important mission. I had been given directions from the Sada Sats to the "Best Gelato in Rome." And this was something that had to be found…it was found…and it was…so…good. I almost want to get up right now and take a 12 hour train ride just to go back and have another dish…I mean, this stuff was heavenly.
And on that celestial thought we tore ourselves away from the gelateria and headed back to see St. Peters Basilica, the one time biggest church in the Catholic faith. This was when Megan had her insightful comment that inspired the title of this post. And then, we walked inside. Jaw dropping doesn't quite describe it. I mean truly and utterly amazing. Starting with the vastness of the space and the general hugeness of everything down to the painstakingly beautiful details on a fresco or statue. This place is a marvel. What was especially amazing to me was that despite the hoards of tourists there was still a definite sense of prayer and spiritual power in this place…whew!
We stumbled home in complete overload trying to take in and process everything we had seen. It was an amazing day but the accumulation of three days of serious all day sightseeing were starting to drag on us…so we decided to let ourselves sleep in the next ,morning and just really try to relax. Which is exactly what we did…and it was nice.
OK. That’s it for now. Still to come: going out our last night in Rome, travel day to Zurich, Switzerland and a travel day to France.
Love and Blessings,
KNL
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The Big Adventure Begins
Allison arrived about 2 weeks ago...so this update is a bit behind. But here it goes…
The last few days at the borgo were full of people, which was nice. But the big arrival was Allison. (My college roommate and one of the girls I’ll be traveling with for the next 6 weeks). She and I had a few days to explore the area; we went to the market, made chocolate chip cookies for her birthday, etc. It was a great wrap up to my time there…for now.
Thursday arrived. AE and I made our way down to Rome (after a bit of a mad dash for the bus and overcoming the ticket confusion at the train station). My first impression of Rome was that it is a place where everyone is trying to fit in and look cooler than they are…and there is this underlying tension or stress. It is so different than the Borgo…
We made it to the hostel and…there was Megan! Yea! (Another college friend who completes the trio of touring ladies). The Rome hostel was actually quite nice and we shared it with 3 people from Finland who were very nice. The only downside was that it was close to the main train station…which is sort of far from everything else, but that ended up being ok, public transport was workable.
We decided to just sort of wander around for our first afternoon in town. Here is what I love about Rome: just wandering around we found some great gelato, a fantastic fountain, two outstanding (and huge) churches and another awesome fountain that looked, to us, like Tritan or Zeus. Awesome.
Day 2 in Rome. Got on one of the hop on/hop off bus tours that go to all of the major sights in Rome. Our first stop was the Pantheon. Wow. I didn’t really know what to expect from the Pantheon but it was really quite amazing. It was a bright sunny day and the light coming through the whole in the roof was spectacular. (New pictures are up at www.kelseylumpkin.blogspot.com). I also liked the big booming voice that announced “Silence” every once in awhile… and then the general murmuring would die down for a few seconds and then swell again.
Made our way over to one of the piazzas where we found a bunch of street vendors selling knock off wears…everyone was willing to give us “beautiful ladies” the “best price” the “very lowest price” on the Prada bags we were eyeing. We got back on our bus tour and got off at Piazza Del Popolo..., which was really quite spectacular. But we were so hungry at this point that we could hardly appreciate it. We found some snacks and a shady bench and pigged out on bread cheese, veggies and granola bars.
Then on to the Spanish Steps. I was a bit disappointed with the Spanish steps, actually. I mean…they were steps. Oh well, not everything can live up to its reputation…
Back to the hostel, showered and headed out to the Traverstre neighborhood, which we had heard, was good area to hang out at night. There were plenty of cafes, bars, restaurants and street vendors selling jewelry, bags and just about everything else you can imagine. We had a great dinner; all bought a knock off bag and saw some tango dancing. So I’d say it was a successful evening. ☺ Topped off by an amazingly fast taxi ride back to the hostel…whew!
OK. I think that’s all for this post. I will try to catch up soon. Still to come: Day 3, 4 and 5 in Rome, traveling day and Zurich! Yea traveling!
Hope all is well with you all back home…
Love and Blessings,
KNL
The last few days at the borgo were full of people, which was nice. But the big arrival was Allison. (My college roommate and one of the girls I’ll be traveling with for the next 6 weeks). She and I had a few days to explore the area; we went to the market, made chocolate chip cookies for her birthday, etc. It was a great wrap up to my time there…for now.
Thursday arrived. AE and I made our way down to Rome (after a bit of a mad dash for the bus and overcoming the ticket confusion at the train station). My first impression of Rome was that it is a place where everyone is trying to fit in and look cooler than they are…and there is this underlying tension or stress. It is so different than the Borgo…
We made it to the hostel and…there was Megan! Yea! (Another college friend who completes the trio of touring ladies). The Rome hostel was actually quite nice and we shared it with 3 people from Finland who were very nice. The only downside was that it was close to the main train station…which is sort of far from everything else, but that ended up being ok, public transport was workable.
We decided to just sort of wander around for our first afternoon in town. Here is what I love about Rome: just wandering around we found some great gelato, a fantastic fountain, two outstanding (and huge) churches and another awesome fountain that looked, to us, like Tritan or Zeus. Awesome.
Day 2 in Rome. Got on one of the hop on/hop off bus tours that go to all of the major sights in Rome. Our first stop was the Pantheon. Wow. I didn’t really know what to expect from the Pantheon but it was really quite amazing. It was a bright sunny day and the light coming through the whole in the roof was spectacular. (New pictures are up at www.kelseylumpkin.blogspot.com). I also liked the big booming voice that announced “Silence” every once in awhile… and then the general murmuring would die down for a few seconds and then swell again.
Made our way over to one of the piazzas where we found a bunch of street vendors selling knock off wears…everyone was willing to give us “beautiful ladies” the “best price” the “very lowest price” on the Prada bags we were eyeing. We got back on our bus tour and got off at Piazza Del Popolo..., which was really quite spectacular. But we were so hungry at this point that we could hardly appreciate it. We found some snacks and a shady bench and pigged out on bread cheese, veggies and granola bars.
Then on to the Spanish Steps. I was a bit disappointed with the Spanish steps, actually. I mean…they were steps. Oh well, not everything can live up to its reputation…
Back to the hostel, showered and headed out to the Traverstre neighborhood, which we had heard, was good area to hang out at night. There were plenty of cafes, bars, restaurants and street vendors selling jewelry, bags and just about everything else you can imagine. We had a great dinner; all bought a knock off bag and saw some tango dancing. So I’d say it was a successful evening. ☺ Topped off by an amazingly fast taxi ride back to the hostel…whew!
OK. I think that’s all for this post. I will try to catch up soon. Still to come: Day 3, 4 and 5 in Rome, traveling day and Zurich! Yea traveling!
Hope all is well with you all back home…
Love and Blessings,
KNL
Friday, August 3, 2007
2 posts for the price of one!!
I took the bus down to Arezzo on Monday. Arezzo is
about an hour away by bus and it is the town that I
pass through anytime I am taking the train anywhere.
So since I have been to Arezzo several times without
actually seeing much of the town…I decided now was the
time.
Once I was in town I consulted my (almost) useless map
from the tourist office and headed up to see one of
the main attractions in the town. I got to the Church
of St. Francis where the Piero Della Francesca (a
famous Arezzo based painter) masterpiece “The Legend
of the True Cross” is housed. This church was a bit
higher up on my list than some because they had a
small display in the front entryway that explained the
story behind each of the 12 panels of this
masterpiece. I think that is one of the reasons I get
so under whelmed and burnt out on churches…I don’t
know any of the background of what the pictures are
about…so they just end up being a blur of pretty, old
pictures. When I had the background story in I
enjoyed the paintings much more.
Then I wandered around some more and saw: The Big
Square (not that big), another church/cloister that
was very pretty, a large park, the fortress, a
gigantic cemetery and the ancient roman amphitheater.
Also squeezed in another chiropractic appointment and
a picnic lunch. I think the cemetery was actually the
most…impressive isn’t the right word but, impactful (I
guess). They are really into the mausoleum thing
here…so this huge cemetery was all about 4 people
deep…and it was just this overwhelmingly sad place. I
guess sad isn’t the right word…more like, empty. It
felt like a big…void. If nothing else it serves to
reinforce that I want to be cremated…I don’t see much
point in a burial. But, obviously, to each his own.
Speaking of cemeteries; Agnes and I were on a hike the
other day and we followed the path behind the little
abandoned church just down the road from us. We found
the 2 old cemeteries back there. The first one was
the mausoleum style and originally held 18 people.
All but one of the tombs had been cleared out. I
guess the land the church is on had officially been
sold and since that is no longer sacred ground…they
had to move all of the bodies. I don’t know why they
left that one guy…May he rest in peace. The other
cemetery was much older (I don’t think I saw any dates
past 1917) and was further back in the woods, the wall
around it was completely caved in and it wasn’t creepy
exactly…but it felt odd. It’s interesting to think
about what happens to us when we die and to look at
all of the ceremony and circumstance that surround
death. I once heard my yoga teacher say this and it
frightened me at the time…but now I think I know what
she means. “Sometimes I can’t wait to get out of this
body and go home.” It isn’t a cry for help or
something dire…it’s just the acknowledgement that this
body is just the vessel and just like the clothes we
put on each day when it is ready to be discarded it is
only because our spirit/soul is ready to leave this
earthly plane and reunite with God. To merge into the
bliss and prem (ultimate love) from where we all
came…it does sound pretty good. And I will be glad to
go, when it is my time. But until then… Wahe Guru!
Thank you for the blessing of this day! (An
interesting side note: I just finished reading Seven
Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. It is his story of
going from a person without faith to becoming a
catholic monk. It was interesting to me how when you
get down to the depths of Catholicism it’s not that
theologically different from what I know of eastern
mystic religions… this just supports my theory that
all religions are basically just different frostings
on the same cake, if you get my drift.)
Back t0 the subject at hand. My next day trip I
planned for a little hill town called Monte Santa
Maria Tiberina. I knew it was a really small town and
would probably only take half a day. But I could
drive there in about 45 minutes so I decided to check
it out. Well, it was REALLY small. There was one
café in town. No restaurants or shops that I saw (and
I literally walked ALL of the streets). There is
supposed to be a church that dates back to the year
1000…but it was closed. And the castle at the very
top of the town was closed for construction. But
there were some great views. Wow. I am living in a
really beautiful place. (Pictures should be up soon).
On the way down from Monte SMT there is a small
nature reserve. So I stopped walked around and had a
picnic lunch. It was a small park but had nice
benches and walking paths so it was definitely worth
the stop.
Today Agnes and I took a nice long hike up to some
ruins on the mountain across the valley from us. It
was quite steep, but definitely worth it. These are
ruins that at one time must have housed a few hundred
people and now they are completely falling apart. You
can see that animals have taken refuge in some places
and every possible entrance is completely overgrown
with brush…isn’t it amazing that a couple of hundred
people just decided they didn’t want to live there
anymore, picked up and left their homes to be taken
over by nature? It just seems so odd to me. Other
than the fact that I have no where near the funds to
do it and I know what a headache it’s been for the
Sada Sats to do the work they’ve done on this
house…except for those two things, it makes you want
to get in there and fix it up into your dream house….
whatever that might be.
That's about it for the update. Other than that I
have been working on cleaning the house and setting up
for when the Sada Sats return from France, making
plans for my 6 week travel extravaganza that begins in
about 2 weeks, watching movies, reading, going for
walks in the mountains, doing yoga…I am constantly
amazed at how incredibly blessed I am. I don’t know
what I did to deserve this blissful space in my life,
but I am unendingly thankful for it.
So what’s new with you? I’d love to hear updates from
everyone: what have you been up to for the summer,
what’s happening in MN or the world in general that I
am insolated from up here…. etc. lumpkin_k@yahoo.com
Love and Blessings,
KNL
about an hour away by bus and it is the town that I
pass through anytime I am taking the train anywhere.
So since I have been to Arezzo several times without
actually seeing much of the town…I decided now was the
time.
Once I was in town I consulted my (almost) useless map
from the tourist office and headed up to see one of
the main attractions in the town. I got to the Church
of St. Francis where the Piero Della Francesca (a
famous Arezzo based painter) masterpiece “The Legend
of the True Cross” is housed. This church was a bit
higher up on my list than some because they had a
small display in the front entryway that explained the
story behind each of the 12 panels of this
masterpiece. I think that is one of the reasons I get
so under whelmed and burnt out on churches…I don’t
know any of the background of what the pictures are
about…so they just end up being a blur of pretty, old
pictures. When I had the background story in I
enjoyed the paintings much more.
Then I wandered around some more and saw: The Big
Square (not that big), another church/cloister that
was very pretty, a large park, the fortress, a
gigantic cemetery and the ancient roman amphitheater.
Also squeezed in another chiropractic appointment and
a picnic lunch. I think the cemetery was actually the
most…impressive isn’t the right word but, impactful (I
guess). They are really into the mausoleum thing
here…so this huge cemetery was all about 4 people
deep…and it was just this overwhelmingly sad place. I
guess sad isn’t the right word…more like, empty. It
felt like a big…void. If nothing else it serves to
reinforce that I want to be cremated…I don’t see much
point in a burial. But, obviously, to each his own.
Speaking of cemeteries; Agnes and I were on a hike the
other day and we followed the path behind the little
abandoned church just down the road from us. We found
the 2 old cemeteries back there. The first one was
the mausoleum style and originally held 18 people.
All but one of the tombs had been cleared out. I
guess the land the church is on had officially been
sold and since that is no longer sacred ground…they
had to move all of the bodies. I don’t know why they
left that one guy…May he rest in peace. The other
cemetery was much older (I don’t think I saw any dates
past 1917) and was further back in the woods, the wall
around it was completely caved in and it wasn’t creepy
exactly…but it felt odd. It’s interesting to think
about what happens to us when we die and to look at
all of the ceremony and circumstance that surround
death. I once heard my yoga teacher say this and it
frightened me at the time…but now I think I know what
she means. “Sometimes I can’t wait to get out of this
body and go home.” It isn’t a cry for help or
something dire…it’s just the acknowledgement that this
body is just the vessel and just like the clothes we
put on each day when it is ready to be discarded it is
only because our spirit/soul is ready to leave this
earthly plane and reunite with God. To merge into the
bliss and prem (ultimate love) from where we all
came…it does sound pretty good. And I will be glad to
go, when it is my time. But until then… Wahe Guru!
Thank you for the blessing of this day! (An
interesting side note: I just finished reading Seven
Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. It is his story of
going from a person without faith to becoming a
catholic monk. It was interesting to me how when you
get down to the depths of Catholicism it’s not that
theologically different from what I know of eastern
mystic religions… this just supports my theory that
all religions are basically just different frostings
on the same cake, if you get my drift.)
Back t0 the subject at hand. My next day trip I
planned for a little hill town called Monte Santa
Maria Tiberina. I knew it was a really small town and
would probably only take half a day. But I could
drive there in about 45 minutes so I decided to check
it out. Well, it was REALLY small. There was one
café in town. No restaurants or shops that I saw (and
I literally walked ALL of the streets). There is
supposed to be a church that dates back to the year
1000…but it was closed. And the castle at the very
top of the town was closed for construction. But
there were some great views. Wow. I am living in a
really beautiful place. (Pictures should be up soon).
On the way down from Monte SMT there is a small
nature reserve. So I stopped walked around and had a
picnic lunch. It was a small park but had nice
benches and walking paths so it was definitely worth
the stop.
Today Agnes and I took a nice long hike up to some
ruins on the mountain across the valley from us. It
was quite steep, but definitely worth it. These are
ruins that at one time must have housed a few hundred
people and now they are completely falling apart. You
can see that animals have taken refuge in some places
and every possible entrance is completely overgrown
with brush…isn’t it amazing that a couple of hundred
people just decided they didn’t want to live there
anymore, picked up and left their homes to be taken
over by nature? It just seems so odd to me. Other
than the fact that I have no where near the funds to
do it and I know what a headache it’s been for the
Sada Sats to do the work they’ve done on this
house…except for those two things, it makes you want
to get in there and fix it up into your dream house….
whatever that might be.
That's about it for the update. Other than that I
have been working on cleaning the house and setting up
for when the Sada Sats return from France, making
plans for my 6 week travel extravaganza that begins in
about 2 weeks, watching movies, reading, going for
walks in the mountains, doing yoga…I am constantly
amazed at how incredibly blessed I am. I don’t know
what I did to deserve this blissful space in my life,
but I am unendingly thankful for it.
So what’s new with you? I’d love to hear updates from
everyone: what have you been up to for the summer,
what’s happening in MN or the world in general that I
am insolated from up here…. etc. lumpkin_k@yahoo.com
Love and Blessings,
KNL
Up on the Mountain….
So it’s been about a week and a half since the Sada
Sats left…and I am amazed at how quickly the time is
passing… I thought I would be going crazy being alone
up here on the mountain. But I am really actually
enjoying myself. And am taking day trips and doing
things in town too…
The Sada Sats left on Monday. The rest of that day
and most of Tuesday I spent reading, watching movies,
laying in the hammock…that sort of thing. I was still
pretty wiped from the Green Group so it was nice to
have a couple of days to totally veg.
And then Wednesday was my 23rd birthday! Yea! Happy
Birthday to Me! And thank you so much to everyone who
called and emailed on (or around) my bday…it really
made me feel connected to home. In the morning of my
birthday I had made appointments at the local spa type
place. I’m not sure if this is just this particular
location or all places like this in Italy…but I found
it a bit odd. Before having any treatments done I had
to get my blood pressure checked by a doctor. And it
wasn’t the lush inviting spa environment you imagine,
it was much more clinical and matter of fact. But
still…
First up was a mud bath. I’ve never done this before
and it always sounded like fun…and you only turn 23 in
Italy once right? Well…it wasn’t really a bath…you
went into this little room and take off your clothes.
Then a lady comes in with a bucket of hot mud, which
she spreads out, on a table. You lay down in the mud
and then she sort of rubs it in to the rest of your
body. Then she covers you up in lots of blankets and
you wait for about 20 minutes. She comes back,
unwraps you and you stand in a corner while she hoses
you down. It was…odd. I might try a mud bath again
if it was more of a bath type experience…I dunno.
Then, on to the massage. They are much less concerned
with modesty here than we are in the States. For
example, the therapist didn’t step out of the room
while I undressed. Second, there was no draping. At
one point when I got cold she did add a sheet… I’m
sure all of my MT friends are dying right now…I guess
they missed the boundaries talk. And, overall the
massage was ok. She used a LOT of oil and very little
pressure…but any kind of intentional touch is
therapeutic so I know I got benefit out of it.
And then on to the pedicure. It was very nice and now
I have pretty pink toes so that’s good. J I had been
thoroughly buffed and so headed into a nearby town
called Citta de Castello for lunch. After wandering
around a bit I chose a place just off the main street
of town. I had a nice lunch of pasta and
bruschetta…and of course stopped for gelato on the way
out. I came home, took a nap relaxed and made myself
a nice salad for dinner. And that’s all there is to a
birthday in Italy. J
The next two days were consumed in the anguish of
knowing that my English version of Harry Potter was
caught up somewhere in customs. This was amazingly
painful. How could the rest of the world know how the
story ends and my book is just sitting there in some
Italian airport waiting for who knows what to happen
so it can come to me! The man who works at the SS’s
real estate agency was helping me try to figure out
the customs stuff and he happened to mentioned that
there was a jazz concert in Castello on Friday night,
which was supposed to be good.
So Friday night I headed out to hear some Jazz. I
happened to notice, as I was walking towards to stage,
a bookstore on the main square that sold some English
books. And as I frantically searched the window…there
it was…in the lower corner…tucked away… the 7th Harry
Potter…in English!! But the store was closed and
didn’t open until 9am the next day. So I went and
enjoyed the concert and wondered if they had more
copies in English somewhere else or if that was their
last one. Gulp!
The concert was actually, very good. There was a nice
size crowd but not so big that it was overwhelming.
And a lot of families were there too. I was actually
amazed at how late the Italians keep their children
out. I was leaving just before midnight and I saw
people walking in with their babies and
5-year-olds…that just seems odd to me. But maybe they
figure it’s summer and their baby really wants to see
some good jazz music.
So the next morning I was up early…and on a mission.
I got to Castello and realized that this was also a
market day. So the whole town was full of people and
booths and general merriment. But I had one goal in
mind. Get to Harry. I walked into the store and
asked for HP in English. The girl went and took the
copy out of the window…it was the last one she told
me. And it was mine! All mine!! Now that I had Harry
properly in my possession I decided not to rush home
and start reading…but to draw out the anticipation.
So I wandered around the market, bought some fruit,
had a café…and when I couldn’t stand it anymore I came
home and sat down to read.
I tried to stretch it out as long as possible. I
tried to make myself get up and do something
productive after each chapter…but c’mon this is Harry
Potter and you really just can’t put it down. So in
about a day and a half I was through the book. Here
are my overall thoughts: not my favorite in the
series, but I was really quite amazed how she managed
to tie in so many things form all 6 previous books.
And she did a great job of tying up a lot of loose
ends. (I won’t say more in case you haven’t read it…I
don’t want to spoil it for anyone).
And I think I’ll end there for now. Next time: a day
trip to Arezzo, a day trip to Monte and other
enthralling tales!
Love and Blessings,
KNL
Sats left…and I am amazed at how quickly the time is
passing… I thought I would be going crazy being alone
up here on the mountain. But I am really actually
enjoying myself. And am taking day trips and doing
things in town too…
The Sada Sats left on Monday. The rest of that day
and most of Tuesday I spent reading, watching movies,
laying in the hammock…that sort of thing. I was still
pretty wiped from the Green Group so it was nice to
have a couple of days to totally veg.
And then Wednesday was my 23rd birthday! Yea! Happy
Birthday to Me! And thank you so much to everyone who
called and emailed on (or around) my bday…it really
made me feel connected to home. In the morning of my
birthday I had made appointments at the local spa type
place. I’m not sure if this is just this particular
location or all places like this in Italy…but I found
it a bit odd. Before having any treatments done I had
to get my blood pressure checked by a doctor. And it
wasn’t the lush inviting spa environment you imagine,
it was much more clinical and matter of fact. But
still…
First up was a mud bath. I’ve never done this before
and it always sounded like fun…and you only turn 23 in
Italy once right? Well…it wasn’t really a bath…you
went into this little room and take off your clothes.
Then a lady comes in with a bucket of hot mud, which
she spreads out, on a table. You lay down in the mud
and then she sort of rubs it in to the rest of your
body. Then she covers you up in lots of blankets and
you wait for about 20 minutes. She comes back,
unwraps you and you stand in a corner while she hoses
you down. It was…odd. I might try a mud bath again
if it was more of a bath type experience…I dunno.
Then, on to the massage. They are much less concerned
with modesty here than we are in the States. For
example, the therapist didn’t step out of the room
while I undressed. Second, there was no draping. At
one point when I got cold she did add a sheet… I’m
sure all of my MT friends are dying right now…I guess
they missed the boundaries talk. And, overall the
massage was ok. She used a LOT of oil and very little
pressure…but any kind of intentional touch is
therapeutic so I know I got benefit out of it.
And then on to the pedicure. It was very nice and now
I have pretty pink toes so that’s good. J I had been
thoroughly buffed and so headed into a nearby town
called Citta de Castello for lunch. After wandering
around a bit I chose a place just off the main street
of town. I had a nice lunch of pasta and
bruschetta…and of course stopped for gelato on the way
out. I came home, took a nap relaxed and made myself
a nice salad for dinner. And that’s all there is to a
birthday in Italy. J
The next two days were consumed in the anguish of
knowing that my English version of Harry Potter was
caught up somewhere in customs. This was amazingly
painful. How could the rest of the world know how the
story ends and my book is just sitting there in some
Italian airport waiting for who knows what to happen
so it can come to me! The man who works at the SS’s
real estate agency was helping me try to figure out
the customs stuff and he happened to mentioned that
there was a jazz concert in Castello on Friday night,
which was supposed to be good.
So Friday night I headed out to hear some Jazz. I
happened to notice, as I was walking towards to stage,
a bookstore on the main square that sold some English
books. And as I frantically searched the window…there
it was…in the lower corner…tucked away… the 7th Harry
Potter…in English!! But the store was closed and
didn’t open until 9am the next day. So I went and
enjoyed the concert and wondered if they had more
copies in English somewhere else or if that was their
last one. Gulp!
The concert was actually, very good. There was a nice
size crowd but not so big that it was overwhelming.
And a lot of families were there too. I was actually
amazed at how late the Italians keep their children
out. I was leaving just before midnight and I saw
people walking in with their babies and
5-year-olds…that just seems odd to me. But maybe they
figure it’s summer and their baby really wants to see
some good jazz music.
So the next morning I was up early…and on a mission.
I got to Castello and realized that this was also a
market day. So the whole town was full of people and
booths and general merriment. But I had one goal in
mind. Get to Harry. I walked into the store and
asked for HP in English. The girl went and took the
copy out of the window…it was the last one she told
me. And it was mine! All mine!! Now that I had Harry
properly in my possession I decided not to rush home
and start reading…but to draw out the anticipation.
So I wandered around the market, bought some fruit,
had a café…and when I couldn’t stand it anymore I came
home and sat down to read.
I tried to stretch it out as long as possible. I
tried to make myself get up and do something
productive after each chapter…but c’mon this is Harry
Potter and you really just can’t put it down. So in
about a day and a half I was through the book. Here
are my overall thoughts: not my favorite in the
series, but I was really quite amazed how she managed
to tie in so many things form all 6 previous books.
And she did a great job of tying up a lot of loose
ends. (I won’t say more in case you haven’t read it…I
don’t want to spoil it for anyone).
And I think I’ll end there for now. Next time: a day
trip to Arezzo, a day trip to Monte and other
enthralling tales!
Love and Blessings,
KNL
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)