Rome

Rome renders me speechless.  I got the same chills driving through Rome for the first time that I did in New York City.  The power of the city is amazing.  I stayed in a great monastery hotel right outside the walls to Vatican City.  I checked in and took myself out for lunch and who should sit down at the table beside me but this lovely woman also traveling solo from Vancouver!  It was nice to chat to her for a while.  I spent the afternoon touring the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.  The art was stunning.  I thought I would feel a huge spiritual connection to the Vatican, even though I am not catholic, but I felt nothing.  I searched for that connection the whole time I was there, even praying in a temple to the Virgin Mary....nothing.  While I was in Florence my left ankle on the inside started to hurt and I just assumed it was from the run and walking so much.  By the time I got to Rome I was in so much pain I could barely walk.  I spent the night in my hotel icing my ankle and leg and relaxing with some wine.  The next day I did a walking tour of Rome.  We hit the Spanish Steps, Trevi fountain, and the Pantheon. 

As soon as we came around the corner and the Pantheon came into view I got shivers, and it felt like everything around me got quiet.  I felt overwhelmed with emotion and tears came to my eyes.  The Pantheon is quite possibly the most beautiful building I have ever seen in my whole life.  There is was, the spiritual connection I was looking for, and it was beautiful.  I sat at the foot of a large granite column and was transported back to a time where God's and Goddess' were worshipped equally.  There was balance and passion on earth.  I felt calm, reassured and connected - to myself, to Rome, to my beliefs, to the earth.  

I wandered the streets of Rome all afternoon, lunching at this great restaurant close to the Spanish Steps.  You could wander Rome aimlessly all day for weeks on end - in fact that is what I recommend!  In North America we are in such a state of constant hurry.  I had been struggling with the urge to "fill my time", feeling the need to get it all in and cram as much as possible into every day.  This afternoon I stopped.  I enjoyed just being in the city.  Quiet.  Just be.