One of the people in the tour group wrote; Marion, ahead of us and behind all at the same time, constantly finding a new shot, a new angle -- always the figure of action, of inexhaustible energy and cheerfulness while the rest of us were likely to be flagging, Carol meanwhile quiet and amused.
Guess that explains what she observed and interpreted. Pretty much – straight on in my “view.” (-:
Breakfast again at the Hotel Diana rooftop garden area. I can say I will not leave the place as a hungry person. Today, will start out with a visit to another church - The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, that is the church of "Mary Major." Yesterdays church visit was to Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri – Saint Mary of the Angels and Martyrs. For those of the Roman Catholic faith – special days. It starts with All Hallows' Eve to most known as Halloween. Check this out, if interested in more details. The next 2 days, Nov. 1 & 2 are known as Tutti santi, All Saints' Day (Ognissanti) is followed by La commemorazioni dei defunti (or Tutti i morti).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallowmas
Both days, we attend the church religious services. Here are some comments by others who attended this year and times past.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g187791-d192274-r183690310-Basilica_di_Santa_Maria_Maggiore-Rome_Lazio.html
I love finding these additional websites to see how other interpret their observations.
http://www.italiannotebook.com/local-interest/tutti-santi-festa-dei-morti/
http://www.timeout.com/rome/features/300/festivals-events-in-rome
http://www.eyeitalia.com/ognissanti-all-saints-samhain-halloween-italy/
I realize that I am diverting your attention to things I think are important, maybe not yours. Before coming, a few people I talked to who had also visited, commented about the A-B-Cs. No, not the alphabet like I am doing, but ABC, translates to Another Big or Beautiful Church. Those who have never been here, may not realize how beautiful the buildings, to include mosaic floors, statuary, and paintings that are available for viewing by the public. Most at no charge. Too many times, a fee is paid to access viewing “art,” whatever you personally define as art.
I am very pleased to have this time to visit. Especially, this “extra” time we arranged for before starting our scheduled tour. We are enjoying the time spent in all these places. Hope you have either had the same experience or can at least hope to have a chance to visit.
After the church service, we spent the remainder of the day visiting many of the sites of Roman ruins. This sort of takes me back to a comment I made on Day Zero of this journal. I showed a photo of Detroit. In the foreground was a dilapidated home on a weed-filled lot. In the background was the buildings that houses the General Motors headquarters, just a few blocks away. Here in Rome, the same sort of differences are seen. These “ruins” are even more limited in what is available to be seen. It could be just a column or two that at one time supported a large beautiful building. Next to the ruins are much newer, still in use buildings. Here, we have a tour guide filling the spaces that are no longer here to be seen, but are described verbally. Maybe at some time, we can appreciate what the remaining old buildings in Detroit represented in a prior great time.
Photo 1. The main aisle to the altar of Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
Photo 2. Shows an article of special remembrance of the dead in the church
Photo 3. As we neared our hotel, noticed a much smaller neighborhood church having their special way of remembering loved ones
Click below for today's online photo album.
https://picasaweb.google.com/magwheel44/2013C2CDay15of28
