When I Paint My Masterpiece

Now it's time to resume my story! When I last wrote we were about to venture nervously towards Italy. For the first time we used the overnight train from Vienna to Venice as our accommodation for the night. When we woke in the morning we were crossing the border through the mountain ranges arriving in the land of beggars, thieves, the Mafia, an at large serial killer and of course the Pope. Italy may once have been the greatest ancient civilisation in Europe but this is where you can see the two faces of humanity. History tells us it is a schizophrenic land of beauty and savagery. Once upon a time this pinnacle of human civilisation  threw it's own citizens to the lions for entertainment after all. 

Padua was the recommended stop as a cheaper place to stay than Venice. The remains of the Roman Empire are everywhere throughout the city. Love was also openly on display in Padua at every corner. Boyfriend and girlfriend kissing in the streets. Two girls walking hand in hand or arm in arm which you'd never see in New Zealand. A nun leading a large group of happy children past a fountain on the way to school. These things I remember very well. I watched the nun and felt the sense of respect that there is in Italy for the Catholic Church. What troubles me is that the robes and hats, the confessionals, the rosary beads and the ritual services are what make the every day person think that God is out there and unreachable except through some super religious person which is completely opposite to the truth. It makes the Church look like a dead relic from the past rather than something attractive, spiritual and alive. But at least the very basics of simple faith in Jesus are right. Peter said "love overlooks a multitude of sins", if you truly love someone, there is no escape, you can forgive them anything : )
 

Venice is a remarkable place, a haven from traffic. You don't have to go searching in the museums for the art because the whole city is a work of art. We journeyed in by train from Padua  sitting beside a Jewish family of 4. The oldest boy looked peaceful and regal. I imagined a young David before he was King and I remember the feeling of awe. The artist hopes you get an impression from his work, the one that they were trying to project but very often we will ascribe greater or even different meaning than the artist ever had in mind. There are greater worlds inside of us than anyone could imagine because God has put them there. Sometimes another person will see in you something that you cannot see yourself. If you find someone who believes in you, you have found a great treasure.

The day was hot and walking through the narrow streets made us thirsty. We found a drinking fountain and sat down on a bench by one of the many little canals near two women who were taking a rest as well and listened to the beautiful language that they were speaking. Listening to Italian in that moment was more like listening to music than ordinary speech. I just admired the sound back then but now I think that language has more than a little influence on the way people are. Music incites strong emotions both good and bad.

We tried to get away from the tourist areas a little. The Venetians have a very different life to ours. There were signs that daily life would not be too easy. It wasn't hard to imagine flooding. The washing could only be hung between buildings so some agreement would be needed between neighbours. There would be some difficulty dealing with the daily rubbish for sure. And where do the kids play football except in the narrow streets?

The next day we took one of the rural trains to Florence. It's only about 200km but it took a very long time, it was incredibly slow. We arrived in Florence on a late beautiful warm summers afternoon, the shade from the leaves in the tree lined streets painted another masterpiece as the bus made it's way into the hills and to the hostel. Of all the places we stayed, this was the most stunning with views out to the Tuscan countryside. It would have been perfect for camping but for Cicci the Monster of Scandicci roaming the hills at night. We had been warned that couples especially, should not camp in secluded areas because there was a serial killer at large since 1968. Twenty one years of terror in Tuscany! It remains a cold case to this day, even though a number of different people have been arrested and convicted. Florence for all it's beauty was our first experience of a much darker and dangerous world where everything is not as it seems.

We were approached by a woman holding a baby, begging for money. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the woman's other hand coming out from under her shawl where she held the baby to try and pickpocket my brothers wallet and I pulled him away just in time. At another time, we watched a young family walk into a church only to come running out a few moments later pursued by a gang of child pickpockets flapping cardboard at them. There is no way to know which one has stolen from you as they all run off in opposite directions. These kind of things are shocking to see and the thieves have you constantly on edge. You keep your valuables close and glance around to see if strangers are lurking. Even at night, you cannot sleep without wondering if you'll wake in the morning to find everything gone. For this reason I used to put my valuables in my sleeping bag with me. It would be difficult to live in peace in a society like that.

At this point we were two weeks into our trip and quite a long way from home. We had been spending a little more than budgeted and with two weeks to go we would have to be a bit careful.
Around the middle of the afternoon we found 5000 lira lying in the street. Being in Italy had turned us into beggars already. We decided it was a gift from above and heard the trumpets sounding as we pocketed it. We had bought a pizza in Padua in for 3000 lira so we knew it was enough for a meal for two.

When we arrived back at the hostel we decided we would have the best Italian meal we could afford. We ordered a pasta which was so delicious you could not find outside of Italy and we sat in the courtyard of the hostel looking at the landscape painting before us, enjoying the moment. However soon after we had finished I felt very ill to the point where I told my brother I was in serious trouble. I went back to the room and had to lie down for more than an hour. I had been very hungry and of course had gotten very bad indigestion from eating too much too quickly. Of course, Cicci could have been working in the hostel kitchen...

The following day we took a day trip to Pisa. Back then you could still walk up the Leaning Tower although to me it didn't look safe at all. What's more, there appeared to be no barriers between each pillar in the tower, it was easy to imagine someone accidentally falling off especially with Cicci around. In fact just six months later and following the warning of another collapse in Pavia in the same year we were there, the tower was closed to the public.

Next on the list was the ancient enemy, Rome. We know the old prophecy that one day this monster will be revived, some would say it is already here in the form of the EU whose tentacles reach to the same boundaries that the Roman Empire once did, so it has a lot of interest. The hostel was near the Olympic stadium but it was a bit crazy getting there. Crossing the road to get to the hostel was taking your life in your hands. It seemed like 50 metres to the other side and about 3 lanes of traffic each way. The only way was to step out on to the road and hope the cars would stop. Some did, others just swerved around you and kept going. The whole night the tooting of car horns kept us awake. We were so tired the next day!

In the morning we walked to St. Peter's square. It is impossible to capture how big it is on my camera, you would have to go there yourself. I was very annoyed with myself as shortly after taking the photo I went to get a drink from the fountain and dropped my camera in the water, there was a bang and I was never able to use the flash again after that.

After that we took the walk to the Coliseum and other famous ancient Roman sites like the Pantheon, the Forum, to where Peter and Paul were imprisoned and to where they used to have the chariot races. It was sad to see empty heroin syringes lying around on the way. We also saw the more modern sites like the Trevi fountain and where all the young people gather on the Spanish Steps. At the end of the day we were exhausted and I think we slept much better the second night! My memories of Rome are better than the actual experience at the time. It was very hot, we were tired and we didn't have enough time to take it all in.

In Italy you get the feeling that you don't know what's going to happen next. Your day might be wonderful or it may be worse than horse manure. You might be drinking wine at sunset looking at the Tuscan countryside or you might run into a serial killer on the way home in the dark. And you don't know in life how it's going to go for you, it's all down to the Grace of God. The guys in the first photo were beggars in Florence but they don't look too different to the guys in the Band who sang this song about Rome and one day when everything would be different...

When I Paint My Masterpiece
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You can almost think that you're seeing double
On a cold, dark night on the Spanish Stairs

Gotta hurry on back to my hotel room
Where I got me a date with a pretty little girl from Greece
She promised, she'd be there with me
When I paint my masterpiece

 

Oh, the hours we spent inside the Coliseum
Dodging lions, and a-wasting time
Oh, those mighty kings of the jungle, I could hardly stand to see 'em
Yes, it sure has been a long, hard climb

Train wheels are running through the back of my memory
When I ran on a hilltop following a pack of wild geese
Someday everything is gonna sound like a rhapsody
When I paint my masterpiece

 

Sailing round the world in a dirty gondola
Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola

Well, I left Rome, and landed in Brussels
On a plane ride so bumpy that I almost cried
Clergymen in uniform and young girls pulling muscles
Everyone was there to greet me when I stepped inside

Newspaper men eating candy
Had to be held down by big police
But someday everything's gonna be different
When I paint my masterpiece

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