What was to be a very easy afternoon after a great morning turned out to be anything but. The easy afternoon was to include packing and for some reason we pulled out our tickets AND DISCOVERED OUR TRAIN TICKET FROM ROME TO MILAN WAS FOR THE DAY AFTER WE FLEW OUT OF MILAN FOR ABU DHABI. Panic stations!!!!! Luckily we hadn’t disposed of our train tickets even though we’d amused each other with, ‘Last time we pass that station!’ Back to Termini we went and for the third time today faced the long, long journey underground around building sites and ‘no entry’ signs to get back to the main station and find the ticket office. An hour later we have two new tickets for the RIGHT day and our wallets are minus £10 each. That’s a small price to pay in the big picture…. and now we’re home again at Octtaviano with the packing still to do and plans on how to get a taxi in the early hours of tomorrow yet to be figured out.
We began the day with another early rise and this time we made the two train journeys to where St Paul’s Basilica outside the Walls of Ancient Rome. We were true to form …. very, very early but struck up conversations with other pilgrims to while away the hours. Reserved signs went out only an hour before mass when many people had arrived and, as luck would have it, we were the first seats past the reserved rows. The Basilica is HUGE but the crowd even larger! The Sisters of St Joseph arrived on mass and really looked wonderful in their teale scarves. Pilgrims and Sisters all wore the ‘Pilgrim Scarf’ as well. The dignitaries arrived close to starting time and we noted that none of them had pilgrim scarves but all were very gracious in welcoming people and taking photo shoots with the ‘ordinary ‘ folk’. Mass began with a procession of all the sisters present followed by the longest line of bishops and priests we’d ever seen. The Cardinal came up at the rear. His welcome included the story of the two Aboriginal Seminarians who came to this particular Basilica and one succumbed, while there, to TB. The other returned home with the same illness.Crd. Pell linked Mary MacKillop with her care and concern for the indigenous peoples. THE SINGING…. thousands and thousands of voices joined in music we all knew and we were led so well by the ACU choir. The Cardinal’s sermon was very inspiring and his praise of all women religious very sincere and generous. Ann Derwin ( present Monther General spoke so beautifully…. and all felt moved by her humble thanks and praise. The nuns processed out followed by the long line of Bishops and then the dignitaries.( Kathryn managed to snap Del in deep conversation with the ex PM Kevin Rudd.) We enjoyed mixing with old friends among the sisters after Mass and then it was home to Octtaviano for a delightful lunch before what we imagined was to be an uneventful afternoon!!!! The two of us know we can happily share rooms in a nursing home in the far distant future. It’s been a great adventure with more laughs than we can record! We’ve decided the worst meal we had was in Monmatre, the worst bed in Arras, the worst travel experience EASY JET”S ON BOARD lugggage rule, the worst walk was on Pat’s journey up the 7th HILL of Rome, the hardest day was the 10km of walking in Assisi, the longest afteroon was the tour of the Pallatine, the most moving time our walk at Bullecourt, the finest moment when the Pope said Santa Maria MacKillop, the most patriotic the Thanksgiving singing this morning, the most amusing my inabilitiy to
