Headed to Italy for 3 weeks
After child/dog sitting at Kerry’s for 5 days while they and friends had a fun birthday celebration in Austin, TX, I headed down to CT to pick up friend/former teacher colleague Barbara and headed down to Stamford, CT. After printing out our boarding passes there, friend Sue Kelly drove us to JFK for our 4:45 pm flight to Rome. Flight was cramped (American airlines, middle seats) and no sleep, we arrive at Fiumicino airport at 7:15 and cleared customs and got our rental car. We were in for a sticker shock as I had been quoted about $300 Euros for the 14 days but with $30/day for insurance added on it came to $600+!! He let us check other rental companies and with $1000+ and $700+ quotes, we settled for Sixt rental. He upgraded our size and threw in a GPS for no additional charge!
Off we went headed to Arezzo to meet up with Doug. We were going to somewhat participate in a 2 week hike along the Camino di Francesco from Arezzo to Assisi. Then we are doing some sightseeing by train to Pisa, Vernazza and Como on Lake Como, coming home May 29 from Milan.
I adjusted to a standard shift and with Barbara watching signs we made it there. It was a little harried trying to meet up with Doug and 5 other monks who were staying in town but he got the street names and found us. I only knew ahead of time Phap Lieu, Vietnamese/French monk before and the others were new. We walked with them to get a pizza lunch/dinner and then GELATO!!! Delicious!!
We have been offered a place to stay just outside of Arezzo by one of the Sangha (that’s a group that are followers of Thich Nhat Han), two Italian teachers to stay for the duration. Our plan is to meet up with the hikers maybe at the beginning of the day for an hour or so, hike a bit and then drive off and visit nearby towns and then meet up with them at the end of the day maybe for dinner! Instead, Doug suggested we delay going to Mario and Alessandro’s and drive up to the Sanctuary of La Verna where the hike will begin, and stay there with them until Monday when the hike begins.
With Doug driving, we did that. UP, UP, up the mountain to this Franciscan Monastery where St. Francis in 1200s lived and died. I’m sure glad I wasn’t driving, although I’ll probably have to do that drive a couple of times this week. This is a place where St. Francis wanted to get away from it all, commune with God! It’s at 3700 ft, overlooking the wonderful Tuscan valleys below! Magnificent views from the Quadrante, the big piazza in front of the gorgeous Basilica here. We were checked in to our cozy, stark bedroom with twin beds and a warm shower!!
This place is pretty amazing! I’m so glad we came as it was at least an hour’s drive from Mario’s. Many visitors come here on pilgrimages or just to view an amazing place. I visited Assisi three years ago with Michelle for the day. It was beautiful, lots of history and I heard his story. But I’d never heard of this place where he ended his life. There are 27 monks living here. I’ve met two of them. This morning Barbara and I were in the Basilica at 6:30 a.m. when the monks where praying and singing. About 1/2 of them were there. Doug showed up and an Italian Dao Phuong who is helping facilitate this hike. This is where the medieval pilgrims would come to begin their pilgrimage to Rome, through Assisi in honor of St. Francis’ life. Last night we met in the church one of the Franciscan brothers who is a novice from Dubai, of all places, who was here for a year. He told us what would be going on the next morning so we showed up to see how it went. We were there for about an hour and then went to breakfast. Other visitors who are staying here were there as well. It’s a gorgeous Basilica and has many blue and white glazed terra-cotta pieces by the artist della Robbia from the 15th century. They are all over the grounds in many tiny chapels. During Francis’ life, the last two years, he received the Stigmata (wounds in hands and feet and his side the same as Christ’s wounds from the crucifixion. So there is a Chapel of the Stigmata. Barbara saw a ceremony/procession (she spotted Doug participating) walking from the Basilica to the Chapel. There’s going to be one tomorrow at 3 so I’ll get to see it, too. Didn’t get back in time to see the procession. Apparently they do this EVERY day!!
Doug and the other monks are staying near where the Franciscan monks are. We met Father John, a Franciscan from Malaysia,who was asked to be a liaison between the Buddhist group and the Franciscans. So we sat with Doug and Fr. John, Barbara and I and had a lovely conversation about him, where he was from, his life, etc. (he’s 50 something). He has been to Plum Village and so is familiar with the practice. The monks have been showing up at 7 a.m. in the Basilica and doing the chanting with the Franciscans (in Italian). Doug’s Italian seems pretty good. Being fluent in the Spanish helps and the group keeps prompting him with words.
We were asked to drive Favio, the lay planner of this hike, on Sunday to Citte di Centrale to meet the group of hikers and the van that will shuttle them up here. We did that and then were able to find our way back up to the Sanctuary. We passed on the way where we will stay the first night in Pieve S. Stefano.
When we returned, I had asked Fr. John if he knew if we would be able to get into a private area with an old pharmacy/medical treatment room and the library. Doug found us when we returned and the “guardian” monk had already started the tour of the pharmacy with the family of one of the Franciscans. There was an old skeleton in a closet, surgical tools, two snakes in jars, and herbs, etc. stored on shelves. It hasn’t been used since the 1950s.
We then moved on to the archives/library. I was given a pair of white gloves by the guardian (he had a pair on as well) and he put in my hands several large books from the 11th and 12th centuries, on animal skin parchment, hand lettered!! It was amazing! My hands were shaking just to handle something that old! He moved forward to some books that were now printed (not sure when printing press came in). I was amazed the letters in all of the books were so clear! Not faded! He then took out a couple of hand scribed scrolls, in special fire resistant boxes, from the 1200s, time of St. Francis. One was a letter from his follower Masseo recalled the last farewell when Francis left the Sanctuary, after receiving the Stigmata, was going back to Assisi, a couple of years before he died. I had read this speech in one of the books I bought. It was breath-taking to see the ACTUAL letter preserved. For a former librarian, it was thrilling that Fr. John was able to arrange this (I had seen pictures in the book I bought about the Camino so he thanked me for asking. He hadn’t known anything about these private rooms!)
Favio asked if we would drive our car, loaded with extra luggage, along with Dao Phuong’s father who lives in Arezzo, down to the next place for the hikers. So we did. We then went in the little town to find Doug a scarf. We also got him 3 pair of socks (his had gotten wet that morning they started out in a big puddle), and a sleeveless black vest. He seemed to appreciate them when we met up. So Barbara and I headed back to the hostel where I thought we were all staying. We moved into a room with a double bed and bath.
At the Sanctuary it was a surprise to run into Sister Dao Nghiem, a French sister who was ordained same time as Doug, had come to PV a couple of months before him in 2003, who was hiking with her daughter Sivalami from Barcelona. I had met them when I went to the Barcelona teacher retreat and also years before in PV. They had started hiking from Florence and randomly met up with us. they were hiking on their own a bit ahead of Doug’s group. So they arrived at the hostel which was full but we gave them floor space in our room. They showered, got settled on the floor to rest, when the large group arrived. Turns out our room HAD to be for the guy hikers to stay! So Favio went with Barbara and I into town, barely 1 km. away to a hotel in town. We had a HUGE room with a king bed and two twins. So Sr., her daughter, Barbara and I took over that room for the night. We had dinner back at the very crowded hostel with the group of 27 and then went to the hotel with peace and quiet. They were very appreciative of the treat of a comfy bed, heated towel rack!!
They headed off after breakfast to the next stop at Sansepolcro. The group didn’t need us to transport luggage so we off for the day to San Marino, a mini-country up on a high point completely surrounded by Italy. It’s on the level with Monaco, Andorra, Liechtenstein, and the tiniest Vatican City. Our GPS in the VW I rented got us there. We had an issue with parking but found a 30 minute space to run into a tourist shop and get a few things, including postcards and stamps from SM. I moved the car to another 30 minute spot and we were able to walk some uphill into the town for an overlooking view out towards the Adriatic. We left and drove to Rimini and found a place near the beach (pretty ugly beach) for lunch and gelato! and headed back.
We ended up in an old convent hostel in Sansepolcro and there was Sr. Dao and Sivakami!! We went out to dinner (she treated at a delightful WARM spot!) and had our daily gelato and home for the night. After breakfast we drove them to the outskirts of town where they headed off trekking toward Assisi.
