2 more saints in heaven

My alarm clock went off at 530. I went back to sleep. I was beat from that ten mile walk.

 We finally got out the door and  followed a bunch of monks down the hill and around Peter's Square. However they weren't letting anyone but those monks and others like them in. We followed the crowd trying another path. We ended up on a side street but could see a big screen. I believe all of Poland was there and most of Europe. There were flags waving everywhere and groups of the faithful praying and singing.  Millions of us were packed in like sardines. Happy sardines.

We found a cafe for a quick breakfast. People were coming in to use the bathroom and the proprietor was chasing them out because as he said in broken English" we have to work". I ordered my cappuccino and crossiant. He waved me to the coffee bar, Madame....he meant business. I am not sure what they were all talking about but I did recognize it when the young boy said Momma Mia . I had to laugh because it made me think about my grandmother  Beatrice   who always said Momma Mia. At that moment I knew she was with us..

The Italian man next to me was alone and spoke very little English. It was funny he kept talking to me and I with my limited Italian got the gist of it. He seemed to understand more than he spoke.

At one point he thought I was French. Now this is funny because before I left, I went to all these web  pages about what to wear and what not to wear when you go to Europe. I didn't want to stand out and scream American. So I guess it worked. Later on, another Italian man in a shop spoke French to me when I paid him....all the French I know is wee. ..not sure how to spell that.

Mass was very long and  was in Italian. When they spoke Italian for the Mass responses, I just did mine in English. I got a few strange looks. When I did the sign of peace in English I think some of them were confused.  I prayed for the intentions on my 2 page prayer list. The sky looked ominous but the rain held off.

The highlight of Mass was when the 2 reliquaries were brought out with the relics of the two popes the crowd went wild. It was so moving. You could feel the love for these two holy men.

Saint John Paul II and St John XXIII pray for us.

Still Counting

TWO days and counting. It won't be long and the Pope that had been such a large part of my life, Pope John Paul II will be made a Saint. Was there ever any doubt he would be a Saint? Not for me. I am so delighted that I will be there to witness the canonization. It is something I have never been a part of and something I've always wanted to do. 

I was going through old photos, etc. last night and I found these old postcards. My Dad kept them for years. When Grandmom died they were going to throw these away and Dad said he would take them. Glad he did. Now they are safe forever or at least until I die. Many of them have messages from our family in Fiuggi from both the Iori and Pannone sides.  The hotel pictured is one that was owned by the Pannone family. There are pictures of people who also worked there with their hotel uniforms. I hope to find this hotel.

 I have always liked this postcard. It's of the fountain in the old part of town. I hope to find this fountain too.

The street pictured is typical of the streets in the old part of town. The two streets I am looking for (ones that  my grandparents were born and lived) look like this. My genealogist in Italy took photos of those streets for me. I want to find them and this one in particular.

I hope they still look like this so I can take photos for later paintings.

For those of you who never heard of Fiuggi, it's a mountain town noted for it's mineral water. Way back in time, even the early Popes would go there to drink & bathe in the water. It is said that the water is healing and helps break up kidney stones.

The hotel we are staying in is a newer one...resort spa conference center. I'm hoping it's not too far from "Old Fiuggi"