On Sunday morning we walked to meet Yael and Benjamin and Liana for breakfast, a nice farewell meal. When we went back outside it was still Purim, with some kind of a kiddie event with balloon twisting and games and costumes. Purim never ends in Israel.
Jon was feeling tired and short of breath so we decided not to do any of the ambitious plans we dreamed up. They were too much anyway. Instead, we went to Benjamin's and Jon took a nap on the couch, Liana took a nap on Benjamin, I sat at the table and wrote, Yael taught a lesson. Eventually it was time to go and Benjamin dropped us off at the train station.
It is much less stressful, every time we buy tickets and find the right train. Everything is more familiar. It didn't really matter that the scrolling announcement, saying where the next stop was, was about three stops behind the whole time. It was useless but we knew when we would get to the airport. We had a leisurely lunch at the airport and we got onto yet another fully packed plane.
We got to Rome at 9:00 and it took almost two hours to get ourselves back to Ronni's just because everything takes a long time. So we missed Marco who had to go to bed early enough to get up to fly to DC, alas.
The next day was sunny and warm and we got ourselves ready for a day of walking. We told ourselves we could come home anytime and there was no particular destination. But we also knew it would be rainy on Tuesday, so whatever we wanted to see by walking around, it would happen on Monday.
We walked down the hill and straight to the center of Rome, where all the tourists were filling the streets. Last time we were here it was January, now it is the week before Easter. Big difference. Mobs. We paused at various points of interest and read about them on Jon's phone, minimally. Obelisk brought back from the first successful campaign in Egypt (very long time ago), twin churches, Spanish steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon (and we identified where we stayed when we were here with Rebecca 9 years ago), then on down toward the Jewish ghetto. Crowds in the streets, at the sidewalk cafes, all around all the antiquities. We bought a paper cone of roasted chestnuts and Jon didn't eat a single one because they are dry and a little mealy, but I like them. It was funny to see the menus at the Jewish/Italian restaurants, written in Hebrew and Italian.
We decided to go into the Italian Synagogue and museum, and we left the crowds behind. There was a lot of display space dedicated to Purim, and then rooms full of artifacts and explanations about Jewish history, practice, Jews in Italy, what happened during World War II in Rome -- while Rome was the only European city that did not expel the Jews from the second century CE up until the present, there was still a time when people were rounded up and taken to the concentration camps. Then we had a tour of the grand synagogue. It still has an active congregation, with Torah services three times a week. Orthodox, of course. The temple was built in the early 1900s, filled with gold and non-representational art and all the artifacts from the centuries of Jewish life in this region.
One connection I got to make, slowly, was that rimmonim refers to the decorative silver caps that go on the top of the Torah scrolls. I kept thinking, isn't that what Mika likes to eat so much? Pomegranate? Exactly. The first tops were in the shape of pomegranates and that was what they have been called ever since, even though now they have evolved away to a different shape.
From there we walked across the Tiber to Trastevere (which the guide on the train had told us means "across the Tiber") and started to look for lunch. At 3:00 we chose a restaurant with an outdoor dining area in the back. We arrived just at closing time, but we were not alone. Jon got spaghetti with clam sauce and I had fettucine with mushrooms, plus we had bruschetta with terrible tomatoes but the bread was good. It was a perfect lunch.
Then we wandered around and went into a few churches. One of them was dedicated to a saint we don't have any associations with, and they have a piece of his skull carefully displayed in a lighted box up on the altar. Oy. At another church there were ten nuns chanting/singing in Italian but there were no congregants. And then they quietly got up and processed through a door.
Then it was time for some gelato since the temperature was starting to drop and it would be too late pretty soon. Since we were still reasonably close to the Circus Maximus, we crossed the river again and went to see that grand space again. It is easy to imagine horses being able to get up to full speed on that big flat racetrack, and then to have hazardous situations as they careened around at the end. Couldn't find the taxi stand that was supposed to be there, so kept walking up toward the Coliseum.
So much we don't know about what we were seeing, but we can read about it later. Still no taxis so we pushed through the crowds and walked down the avenue with the archaeological excavations of Roman fori (forums) on both sides.
There is nothing new to say about this city, but it is amazing to imagine all that is underneath the streets we are hobbling along. By now, my feet were sore. It was getting to be evening. The crowds continued. Finally, many steps later we found a taxi stand that was where it was supposed to be (Ronni had explained to us that you can't hail a taxi, you have to find a taxi stand and start from there). Another video game-style ride through pedestrians and buses and motorcycles and so many cute little cars and we were back up the hill to our quiet haven by 7:00. That was a lot of walking and looking and eating and sitting. We walked almost ten miles and peeked at the remains of thousands of years of human history, while pressing through the crowds of today's humans.
Ronni had an elaborate dinner all ready. We certainly don't expect or deserve this much generous hospitality but that's what you get when you visit here. We have talked for hours and hours, over two breakfasts and two dinners and beyond. We have not yet solved all the problems of the world, but we have certainly identified most of them.
Later in the evening, Jon started to feel worse again. I don't quite know how he got through the day so well, but I am a big believer in the power of being outside, and we were outside for many hours.
On this rainy Tuesday, we are resting in this luxurious apartment, looking out over a vast swath of Rome, and wondering whether we will go outside if it stops raining.
I think I will publish this without pictures since Jon is napping, and later we will add those in.
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