316/365

We heard stories that Pope Francis sneaks out of the Vatican at nighttime and goes into the streets of Rome, to meet homeless people, to pray with them.

I wondered if he ever wants to sneak into the Sistine Chapel, but he'd probably be even more annoyed than I was with people talking in not-so-low-whispers and taking surreptitious cellphone photos. Besides, if he wants to go into the Sistine Chapel, the Pope just says so, right?

(I am thankful that I will never be important enough to have to sneak out into the street..)

315/365

Doesn't one of the most wonderful parts about learning and experiencing culture come in eating?

The food.
Pizza and cappuccino and bread and pasta and mozzarella cheese and olives and olive oil and wine and...
gelato.
Almost every day,
gelato.

314/365

Because, really-
how can you be at the Leaning Tower and NOT try to take this picture?
It's not as easy as one might think, to get a decent shot, the hands right, the tower completely in the frame, no random strangers showing up in the viewfinder.
Yet one more reason to be thankful for digital cameras!

And yes, when we turned the corner and saw the Tower through the wall... yes, I gasped.
(because really, in my mind, I confess, I guess I thought that the Tower stood alone, maybe more like Stonehenge, not in the middle of town, not with shops and a cathedral and A LOT OF PEOPLE right next to it...)

313/365

It was very difficult to tell who was the most delighted- the kids, the puppeteer, or everyone else watching them.

312/365

"The world is a book, and those who don't travel read only one page."
- St. Augustine of Hippo

311/365

I had to smile. Because I can see forward to the time when I might sit on a wall in the town plaza with my friend...

(well, NOT feeding the pigeons. ok, and probably not "sit on a wall," at least, not for very long. but the "with my friend" part, definitely.)

And I had to smile, because I pictured exactly the friends I might be sitting with.

(by the way, I'm pretty sure that none of them would be feeding pigeons.)

310/365

“He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.” ― Francis of Assisi