CHATTER, THE ENGLISH VERSION OF KREATIVBEREICH

Hello from Rome! Easter has been more than wonderful especially the mass in the square yesterday morning ' the sun shone, it was hot, Papa looked amazing and it was generally the tops!

Going home tomorrow. Taken lots of photos, which I will upload as soon as possible.

hope you are all well and happy!

Luff und choy ' Mary xxxxxx

Back from Rome yesterday, exhausted but happy. The liturgies were all holy and out of this world - the music gets better and better. Company of loving friends old and new made everything beautiful.

If you'd like to see some photos I'll post them soon.


Luff to all - Mary xx












I love....

I knew you would be there. I tried to spot you but... Too many people

I am glad to hear you had a good time and of course WE ALL WANT TO SEE YOUR PHOTOS

Photos????

Okay, girls, some of you were in Rome at Easter and some were there for the beatification of JPII. How about some photos? We're dying here waiting.

HAVE YOU DONE ROME?
By Mary Hutchings

Have I done Rome? Many of my friends probably think I have, considering I’ve been there more than ten times in the last six years. But the truth is I haven’t “done” Rome in the tourist sense. I’ve skipped past the usual tourist sites: Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and even spent longer in the Roman Forum, because the history of Ancient Rome interests me. I’ve been to the catacombs as a Christian pilgrim.

But my little part of Rome is home for me and it’s a fairly well-kept secret. Just outside the walls of Vatican City, between it and the Tiber, is a “borough” or “borgo” which was built in the 14th century and has changed little. It is sometimes known as the “Leonine City” and still has a Piazza della Citta Leonina, whose claim to fame is that Cardinal Ratzinger had an apartment there, a stone’s throw from his present residence, the Apostolic Palace. But step a little farther from the Vatican – only a few steps, I promise you – and you are back in the Middle Ages. The main street of the Borgo is Borgo Pio. It is narrow and cobbled and flanked by ancient buildings faced in warm dark yellow or orange stucco, whose windows have shutters or little balconies. Flower and plant pots abound on the balconies and, in May, there blooms an enormous bougainvillea which goes from the ground to the fifth floor of an old palazzo.

Artists and musicians live here. In summer the windows are open and you can hear groups singing madrigals. The ground floors of many of the buildings are now restaurants or trattorie, with tables on the road [this is a “zona pedonale”]. As you drink coffee or dine you will be serenaded by violinists and accordionists. It is a place to sit and think or dream, to write little stories or poems……to draw. On feast day evenings you may look straight down towards the Tiber and see and hear a beautiful, many-coloured firework display.

It is a place to “spot” well-known clerics from the Vatican, for a few cardinals and monsignori live here. The best time to meet visiting clergy is after the Pallium Mass [June 29th each year]; my friends and I once spent a whole evening deep in conversation with the Abbot and a monk of Papa Stronsay, the isolated Transalpine Redemptorist Monastery which has recently come back into Communion with the Holy See.

The ancient cobblestones are smooth and can be dangerous; they are unevenly spaced and not all the same height. To walk for any length of time here, you need stout shoes, for it is not unlike walking along an uneven rocky path in the mountains of Snowdonia [the only area I am able to use for comparison]. The various little streets, or borgos, can be explored all day. You’ll find furniture-makers and craftsmen making leather shoes and there’s even a street of the “umbrella makers”.

My day here begins with Mass, either at one of the many altars in Saint Peter’s Basilica, or in the little church of Saint Anne, the parish church of Vatican City……..and the day ends with dreaming at one of the tables in the Borgo Pio. Beware thunderstorms, though! One of these will drive you indoors and may last the whole evening.

Lucky you!
I am going at the end of August this year, was there four times since the election of Papa.
I wished I could have managed to go during Eastern or Corpus Christ.
Saw it on TV though.
I love Borgo very much indeed, especially the part where you can see the pasetto.

Enjoyed the article

Thanks for posting your article, Mary. I enjoyed all the local color. You really should write more. You do a great job of describing all the details so it is easy to imagine the look of the place. Sigh. It would certainly be great to visit.

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Two photos of the "top" of the Borgo Pio, looking down towards the Tiber. Particularly atmospheric at night!

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Watching the firework display at Castel Sant'Angelo, June 29th 2011

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A room with a view! My view this time was of the backs of the buildings in the Borgo Vittorio. I love the spiral staircase!

Thought I would post these here rather than on the Visit With Papa thread. I do have some more photos and still haven't posted my photos from Easter.

Hello Mary

Your article is a very good one and I know what I am talking about as I write in our parish magazine.

Very nice, Mary.

Love the view down the road towards the St. Anna Hotel.
The building on the right is my fav. cash withdrawal spot.

No trip to Rome for me this year - too much business travel already, plus one entire month family vacation on cape cod coming up.

Hopefully for Easter 2012.

@Cowgirl: Yes, I know about the ATM on the right. Handy when you run out of Euros!!!!! Borgo Pio my favourite place.....

maryjos, 16.07.2011 13:23:

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@Cowgirl: Yes, I know about the ATM on the right. Handy when you run out of Euros!!!!! Borgo Pio my favourite place.....

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HELLO
Agree with that!

We had a problem with the forum yesterday and benefan and I did wonder if it was going to be serious. I emailed Gloria, but she thought it was probably just Freeforumzone trying to panic us. Now all is well today! So, next time it happens, just
KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON !!!!!!

Thanks to Sonia for her technical advice yesterday.

Giselle: Have a good time later his month in Rome and don't forget to tell us all about it!

By arriving in Spain today Papa has started his 20th foreign trip already!

Well done, carissimo Papino, and here's to your next 20 foreign trips!

???



uuuuups, where ist your posting, benefan?????

I deleted my post, benedetto.fan. The situation addressed in the post got corrected so we didn't need the post any more.

Could someone please tell me how to add an avatar and a signature. I know I had both of them and then must have deleted them... but I don't know how and I want them back. Thanks in advance!

Saw this on Facebook


Atheism

The belief that there was nothing
and nothing happened to nothing and
then nothing magically exploded for
no reason, creating everything and
then a bunch of everything magically
rearranged itself for no reason
whatsoever into self-replicating bits
which then turned into dinosaurs.

Makes perfect sense.

Hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Professor Dawkins, did YOU write that? Or was it your sidekick, Christopher Hitchens???????


Thanks for that gem, benefan!!!!

happy easter to everybody here !

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[IMG]http://i44.tinypic.com/35l8f38.jpg[/IMG]
(taken one year ago )