In no particular order, here are some things I learned on my recent trip to Europe:
Just like in Prague, Belfast, London and Paris, America is not the center of the universe. People in Italy mostly care about Italians in their news.
They could use the Americans with Disabilities Act here. There is so much walking, but very little handicapped access to things here.
Leonardo DaVinci didn’t get his first choice job in Milan. If DaVinci could “fail” at a job interview, so could you or I. He’s Leonardo DaVinci, for goodness sake!
The Last Supper melted about 4 years after it was painted. It has had to be restored ever so many years since it was done.
The system of locks that make ships on canals go up and down? invented by Leonardo DaVinci.
Our tour guide just assumed we all knew that DaVinci was hard to get along with.
I don’t know what Italian diabetics do. There are way too many pasta dishes here to not eat.
I don’t understand American processed foods. Fresh veggies in food taste so much better. And nothing on a tomato says “polysorbate 80” either.
When I was a kid and my grandfather would take me to a parade, he’d make me salute each and every flag as it went by. He never went to war. Non-veterans Americans don’t know anything about war compared to Europeans, with the exception of 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and possibly January 6th. That’s 3 days of destruction. Israel, Palestine, and Ukraine have that every day. In Italy, the building that housed The Last Supper was destroyed on 2 sides and the roof was blown open. An air-raid shelter held 400 people, and it was built under a fountain.
When we talk about Israel and Palestine, we don’t have a clue. I suspect the Russians don’t have a clue about Ukraine , either, as I think about it.
Assisi really is a hard sell. How does “the poverty of St. Francis” become a tourism theme? It doesn’t. But the place is gorgeous, even without cartoon characters running around. There is so much spirituality going on here.
Francis was a failed saint in a couple of ways: His first vision of his call was a misunderstanding. God wanted Francis to rebuild the entire church of the time. Francis and his friends rebuilt a local church building. Did a nice job, too, but it was a misunderstanding. Also, Francis’ movement worked too well. Within a few years, there were like 50,000 Franciscans. Francis would meet them on the road, ask who they were. They would say, “followers of brother Francis” and he had never met them before. By the third “rule” on how to be a Franciscan written by him, he was dismayed at how out of control the whole thing had gotten. Still, there are so many things that he got right Christ’s way of being, and his clarity about God was so full that, yes, he’s a saint.
Lest you think I like bringing down saints and heroes, DaVinci is still a genius and Francis is still a saint. I like flawed saints and geniuses, because it means there’s a chance for the rest of us.
Assisi is 1,000 feet above sea level. That’s really hard on someone with asthma. The view is incredible, but it’s harder to enjoy it if you can’t breathe. If you go, rest a lot, stay hydrated, and bring a puffer.
Rome is a lot smaller than I expected. You could see the Coliseum from our hotel in one direction and , I think, the Vatican in the other.
Just like in The Blues Brothers movie, “the trains run so often” past your room, you hardly notice them after awhile”. Luckily, though, Carrie Fisher didn’t try to destroy our hotel with a missile.
Also, in regards to the Blues Brothers: the driver, on the way to the airport, played “Think” from the soundtrack, and then the rest of the”Aretha’s Greatest Hits . It’s nice to think of American culture here being soul / Rhythm and Blues.
Did anything happen while we were away?
Resisting with Peace,
John
Because It Matters 