medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
From: Bill East <[log in to unmask]>
> I have written a journal of my recent visit to Rome. This may, in
places, be of interest to medievalists, but is not suitable in its
entirety to be posted to the list. If anyone would like to read it,
call up my parish website, http://www.stjopickering.org and on the home page,
click on 'Fr Bill's journal of a visit to Rome.'
or, Avoid the Crowds and Cut to the Chase:
http://www.stjopickering.org/what.htm
though clearly not told by a (complete) Idiot, it is tailfull of some Sound
and ocassional Fury, signifying i know not what, for sure.
A perilous journey, the coinage unexpectedly changed, miles became dreaded
kilometres, the busses went on strike, bizarre breakfast customs, local food
which does not meet the High British Standard of Standardness, no potatoes at
all for some pilgrims, papal intrails not worth venerating, other important
relics hidden away for safekeeping, even the Holy Father got out of town when
he heard who was comming...
people speak in Foreign Tongues, boring ancient ruins, the locals shamelessly
fleecing the gullible, naive pilgrims, non-existant queues which can therefore
be jumped with impunity, musea which don't live up to the hype in the
Pilgrims' Guide book...
from "On landing at Fu Manchu Airport, Rome..." things go downhill rather
precipitously for the hapless Brit Abroad in Latin Climes.
any middlevil pilgrim could surely relate to it:
"...the biggest railway station in the world...there is every kind of
staircase, barrier and obstacle to those carrying suitcases.
"At the Metro station, the ticket office was not open. The ticket machines
took Euro coins, with which we were not yet equipped.
"... the buses were on strike. We would have to walk...About a kilometre,
which is what they have here instead of miles.
"...for Saint Peter’s....there was no entrance charge.
"On television, we...see pictures of the Pope’s visit to Spain. A very
useful visit, no doubt; but I could wish that His Holiness had chosen another
week to make it.
"...at St Peter’s...The sermon was long and in Italian, so I understood
little....
"Pizza and a beer at a nearby cafe.
"The full title of the church is San Silvestro in Capite, the head being that
of St John the Baptist. However the chapel where it is displayed was full of
scaffolding and the head has no doubt been removed for safety.
"The tour bus returned us to the Stazione Termini, where we alighted having
seen nothing of interest except perhaps the Colosseum.
"The evening meal is a disaster.
"I cannot believe that continentals eat continental breakfasts when we are not
there. They are trying to prove a point, but what the point is, escapes me. No
man who had the means to do otherwise, would go to work on bread and jam.
"....the church of SS Vincent and Anastasio...contains the entrails of a
number of Popes, whose enbalmed bodies lie entombed elsewhere; but we did not
seek to venerate the entrails.
"To a restaurant next door for lunch, where it is Betty’s turn to quarrel
with the waitress, who has overcharged us, as is the custom. The watress [sic]
reduces the bill by one-and-a-half euros, because it might have been her
mistake. Difficult to see who else’s mistake it might have been.
"A taxi to the Vatican Museum, where thousands of people are making their way
in, but the procession has not quite coalesced into a queue, so we can join it
anywhere; and it seems good to join it just outside the door.
"Not so much a museum....
etc.
so, where are you off to next, OO?
i hear that Southern Indiana is nice, this time of year.
c
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