It is Tuesday night, the end of our first full day in Rome.  Doug and I awoke very late...12 o'clock noon.  Kate and Mary Lou woke at a normal time.  Doug could not sleep on the plane or fall asleep last night.  I fitfully slept as he got up and down.  Finally when he fell asleep at 3:30 I was wide awake.  This did give me time to set up the wi-fi and post the second day of the blog, finally falling asleep at almost 5:00 am.  I guess we have not adjusted to the time change!

The afternoon started out a little slippery, literally that is.  When Doug was trying to take a shower the drain clogged, and started spilling onto the floor and Doug then fell getting out of the shower.  That certainly was an exciting start to the day.  Luckily he was okay if not wet, but the handle on the bidet did not fair so well.  

We ate a light brunch and then left for the Vatican, stopping at the Visitor's Center  for American Bishops to get our tickets for Mass with the Pope tomorrow morning and tickets to pass through the Holy Doors.  This being a Jubilee year, the Pope is honoring  priests this week.  There are priests every where, speaking all kinds of languages.  Doug rode an electric portable lift into the American Bishop's visitors center where we obtained our tickets.  It was a little scary when he first got on, but once on, it was a beautiful thing. 

We stopped for lunch at a little sidewalk cafe.  There is a cool breeze in the air, it is a warm 75 degrees.  Perfect weather. We were forced to wind our way through a narrow mideval street in search of a an accessible toilet.  Much to our relief we found one in a bakery and Getali shop.  I had a lovely vanilla with Baley's liquor.  Kate had a limoncello with limoncello gelato. Hmmmm! Mary Lou wanted pineapple and gelato, but only got the pineapple, they missed the gelato!  Darn, that was an essential ingredient to miss.

We strolled back to the Vatican, to wonder at the 400 ton columns, the 140 saints surrounding us and the ancient 2000 year old 90 foot, 300 tons of granite obelisk sitting in the center of the square.  We wonder at the meaning.  Rick Steve's says that it was originally erected in Egypt and that it witnessed the fall of the pharaohs to the Greeks and then to the Romans. He goes on to say " Today, it watches over the church, a reminder that each civilization builds on the previous ones. "Let's hope we continue to grow and change and don't keep repeating the mistakes of the past."

We return home, to drink some wine, share some stories and prepare for our audience with the pope tomorrow AND passing though the Holy Doors. Looking forward to all of that!

Today is Tuesday in Rome.  We have arrived!  The airplane trip was better than feared.  We were not sure how Doug would do and he did fine, even enjoyed the trip.  I had some frustrations with dealing with the airlines and the electric wheelchair.  Even though I had notified them and had approval for the battery, at each stop they made me take the battery off of the chair, taking that part of the chair apart and carry it with me on the plane.  In trying to be helpful, they would try to take it apart and open and close the collapsing chair, while not knowing how to do it.  Me, always concerned they were going to break it and then what would we do?

We had the most gracious help in London and in Rome upon arrival at each airport.  They helped us to get to our next gate and when landing in Rome stayed with us through baggage and even helped us find our driver and load into the car. Our driver delivered us to our apartment directly across from St. Peter's Basilica.  Andrea, the owner and his father were waiting for us. They greeted us in true Italian style with great enthusiasm!

Andrea and I had been communicating for the past weeks through email.  He told me that there were a few steps into the apartment, but that he could overcome this.  I imagined he would put in some kind of ramp.  But oh no....He and his father, with great excitement thought they could lift Doug and the 50 pound wheelchair up the stairs. Thy proceeded to do that...half-way, grunting and groaning and with much loud Italian talking. Oh, I wish I had a picture.  Finally they decided they should start again and went back to the bottom, 3 steps. I told them that is was okay,  Doug can walk with my help.  So slowly we made it up the steps and back into the chair.  Fifteen more feet and we are at the elevator.

Oh my, the door to the elevator cannot be more than 20 inches wide and it can only hold 2 maybe 3 people and we have a wheelchair and 4 large suitcases.  And here I thought I had prepared for every important detail.  Andrea and his father try to push Doug and the chair in.  Nope, it is not fitting.  I am trying to intervene and say wait, he can walk, I will collapse the chair. It is hard to get a word in edgewise though with all the excitement and enthusiasm.  Finally, Doug steps into the elevator, I collapse the chair and get in and we go up the elevator.  I am still scratching my head trying to figure out how they thought we were going to get Doug in and our each day.

See, it is a pilgrimage.  There has to be struggle.

The apartment is perfect.  We have 2 bedrooms, a sitting room with table and chairs and a small kitchen with a terrace to hang the laundry.  Each room has a view of St. Peter's Basilica and loud traffic noise from the street below. Ahhh....we are in Roma!

We take to the streets, to have find pizza and toast our arrival with a class of vino!

Today we leave for Rome. While I have been preparing for days and months to go to Rome, there was still much to do with all of the last minute details. These details seem to take more time than expected. Finally I got the car packed with luggage, dog bed, dog water fountain, carry-on, dog, leashes, treats, wheelchair, walker, cane, a bag of items for Anna, a bag for Kate, checks to deposit that came in the mail yesterday, and Doug in the car. I go back in the house and leave notes for the neighbor taking care of the fish and notes for the cleaning lady. We are 15 minutes later then I wanted to be.  I jump in the car, start the engine and notice that the sprinkler system has not come on. Darn!  Out of the car back in the house, out to the garage and fiddling with the system that apparently does not want to follow my directions. I give, I will ask my son in law if he can figure it out. It looks good to me!

We head for Star. Tom and the kids are taking us to the airport. Kate and Mary Lou are meeting us there. We stop at the bank to deposit checks and Zamzoes for 25 pound of Doug food. When we get there Tom is waiting. Anna and Tom help me unload all of the stuff for the dog, arrange the luggage,put up the seats for everyone in the van and we wait. Kate and Mary Lou show up 45 minutes later.

We hurriedly take her cats into the house, load the car with the luggage and people and head out. Poor Cole has no where to put his feet because the wheelchair is in front of him. We are like sardines, but we will make it. We get to the airport, unload and Kate realizes she forgot her carry-on. Tom jumps in the car, heads back to Star where Kate has left her keys in Mary Lou's car to drive to Nampa to her house to get the carry-on to drive back to the airport. 

Meanwhile the airlines is concerned with the wheelchair battery which they had previously approved after lengthy conversations on the phone. 

We grab some lunch, I have a beer, and wait for Tom. Finally at 3 I say we are heading to the plane. It is Alaska and we take off at 3:50. We go through Security and which is a big deal with carry-on, walker, and wheelchair. They tell Doug he cannot take the Bag Balm. The woman at TSA tells me that I can leave it with someone in the lobby. I go back out give the Bag Balm to Anna tell her good bye again go back through Security again and Doug waiting, tells me he wants gum. I go get gum. While I am paying they call Doug's name and want him to come to the gate immediately. We get there as fast as we can and they tell us they were just going to close pre boarding. 

We hurry outside to the small Alaska plane. They have a ramp up to the door but it is not wide enough for the chair. We have to get Doug strapped into a little transport chair, meanwhile I am helping the flight crew to collapse the wheelchair. We get into our seats, everyone is boarding. Kate and Mary Lou make it on the flight. Then the baggage guy tells me he has to detach the battery. I say we have never done this, I don't know if it can be done. I tell him if he breaks it our trip will be ruined. He says he will see what he can do. They are getting ready to shut the doors and the head of baggage comes  in holding the battery. He shows me how he disconnected it and assures me it will be ok, handing me the battery. He walks away, I say a few choice words.

The flight attendant announces they have complimentary craft beer. It does not come fast enough!

Tomorrow morning, Doug, my sister Kate, friend Mary Lou,  and I leave for one of those lifetime trips.  We will be journeying to Rome to spend 5 days and then boarding a cruise ship and sailing to Naples, Crete, Ephesus, Istanbul, and then Athens. Even after months of preparation I can hardly believe we are about to leave on this wonderful adventure.  For days now, I have been trying to decide if I should blog this journey or simply go, enjoy and remember.  A big question for me has been wondering if this is a pilgrimage or a vacation.  And finally, I have decided it is a pilgrimage.

My husband Doug has MS, for him to be able to make this trip has taken a great deal of planning as well as encouragement. Because of the unpredictability of the control he feels over his own body and his great fatigue,  leaving home for a few hours, let alone days, or traveling overseas seems almost too much.  But his heart and mine say go.

Before this diagnosis of MS, everything Doug and I did together at home, in the community and in travel could always be tied back to an expression of our faith and our call to serve God.  We met in the Formation for Ministry and were ordained together.  We served as clergy together for many years.  And now we will travel to Rome, to Naples, to Ephesus, to Istanbul (the old Constantinople) and end in Athens.  We go to walk in the steps of the disciples that came before us.  And so it is that I will call this a pilgrimage. I believe that as God has called us in the past to seek a deeper knowledge of truth and to see and know something we could not imagine, God is now calling us to this new experience.  And so tomorrow we leave on pilgrimage; to touch a relic, to see a vision, to hear an oracle and to experience the divine in a three dimensional space.  We leave with anticipation and trepidation, knowing that this journey will have challenges as all pilgrimages do.  This one with  the challenge of the disease.

I pray now that the wonderful experiences will far out-way the struggle and that the struggle will lead us closer to the divine.  May it be so...