Forty-Seven Years ago, in the middle of March, my Mother began her Italian adventure. I have her travel journal. This, my treasure among her things. I love to travel, I love my Mother, I loved traveling with her. On this trip, she was traveling with a friend and with her twenty-seven year old niece, Linda.
Recently I read the journal, and found seeing my Mother’s pen comforting, the familiar cursive writing. Momma, it is so good to see you there on these pages.
ROME: Friday March 17, 1972: “6:00 AM Up and at’ Em” – Jammed pack day the first full day in Italy, after a good night’s rest….”.breakfast at 7:00” … “bus tour 8:45”…a full itinerary. Tours of the sites of Rome; Vatican City … “Morning at St Peter’s Basilica…the pictures don’t prepare you for the size of it.” ….“the Swiss Guards were something to see.”… “Saw everything on the itinerary!”, “Florence tomorrow”.
Mother didn’t list the full itinerary. What she did write touches to the heart of her. She expresses the things she wanted to remember, the daily happenings in Rome, about the people, about what she found so interesting. The monuments of Rome will always be in the travel guides. These. The moments she wanted to remember.
“Strolling through the buildings seeing the patios and the beautiful flower gardens.” She savors the smell of the blossoms as they open and show their shiny faces to the sun, capturing the image of their colors as they glow. “People hanging out the windows to get some fresh air.”….
“ Laundry hanging out the windows to dry. The sheets drying in the sun are so white” … she wants to remember this and she hears – the flick of the laundry on the clothes line as the wind helps them to dry…”wonder what detergent they use?”.
Later that afternoon, another site seeing tour ends, the bus leaves them just below the Spanish Steps at the Plaza di Spagna. They roam the area admiring the sites, the Plaza and its fountain Fontana della Barcaccia. The Spanish steps and the rise to the Plaza Trinità dei Monti, with its church at the top.
“Linda had her portrait painted by an artist at the Spanish Steps.”. “Might get mine done, if we can find our way back”… “The streets are crammed with cars and they drive like maniacs.”…
“ Funny- I haven’t seen a dent fender.”… “All the cars are small-mostly Fiats. I saw one large car and it had a California license plate.”
They wind their way through the streets, immersed in the city, feeling the breath of the people, the breath of the city, to relish the place. People watching at sidewalk cafes, cappuccinos, “bought charms for my bracelet and a flower for Kaycee”; the flower for her youngest daughter, Kaycee…a glass rose.
A taxi ride back to the hotel. “The taxi driver wants to take Linda out on a date ..says he’ll call her after we get back from Naples”… “Florence tomorrow, at 7 AM”… then Naples, Pompeii, Sorento before we return to Rome.
Story & Photos: © 2020 Molly Cox