Stanley impara a conoscere l'amore
Stanley learns about love!
If you’ve been feeling our joy when reading about our journey, I’m fairly sure we are radiating it every day. That’s the only explanation I can think of as to why the universe seems to present so many connections as we travel around. Many of these are linked one way or another with love! Now, Rome is actually known as the Eternal City - I can’t imagine what would be happening if we’d been traveling to Verona or Venice. These two cities are most naturally associated with the most powerful of human emotion.
Even going to the local shop, we noticed a lovely young Italian couple engaged in discussion across the road. Her arms were resolutely folded and the man appeared animated, in the midst of a charm offensive. He spotted Stan and I lingering just a little too long on the picture they presented. In Italian, he called out to us, much to my embarrassment. Not only could I not understand him, but I’d been caught out people watching - one of my favourite pastimes. Despite this, I wanted to know what he was saying, and explained, ‘I’m English, I don’t understand.’ He said, ‘I was saying something beautiful to you. I want my girlfriend to know she is the most beautiful woman and I love her very much!’ Quite how Stan and I could help with this public declaration of love was another matter. We told them they looked bellissimo, but secretly hoped that the man had not betrayed this woman he professed to love so much!
Early that evening, Stan and I stopped at the Piazza di San Lorenzo, Stan wanted me to know he was absolutely there for me as his best buddy. He knew it was different being alone again and it was his job to be the perfect dinner date. I wouldn’t normally encourage Stan to sit at the table, not least because it can cause a few raised eyebrows. However, he was the perfect gent - giving me the space to enjoy my Hugo Spritz, whilst whiling away an enjoyable hour.
Then we were off again, with that carefree spirit that adventurers carry so well. It didn’t matter that we got lost on the way back to the tram. If we hadn’t, we wouldn’t have met Gianluca and Federica. But there they were in the narrow alley that artists frequent behind the Villa Borghese and off the principal thoroughfare. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking at the art. Most folks were packing away and it was their dog that captured Stan’s eye. She was so black that at night they placed a neon collar round her neck so that she couldn’t get lost. I got the distinct feeling that Stan was enamoured with her and whether she was wearing said collar or no, he wouldn’t have lost sight of her for a second. It was Federica and Gianluca’s story that captivated me. And Stan had the same effect upon them. Gianluca had been an antiques collector, but, in Federica’s words, had given it up when he started to collect neurological illnesses - both Parkinson’s and Multiple Sclerosis. Of course, we always see ourselves in others’ stories. For me, I thought of my mum and stepdad and how they are navigating his struggle with Parkinsons. I saw that same resolute commitment to each other, despite the adversity they faced. That is the mark of true love. The fact that Gianluca had turned his attention to creating art from the symbol of the love - the rose made it even more poignant. Thank you Gianluca and Federica for being happy to share your story. Stan and I wish you well.
In Western cultures that are dominated by logic and reasoning, it’s easy to turn off our appreciation and expression of love. It’s hard to do that in Italy as evidence of it is literally all around us. And no more is that the case, than a visit to the Spanish steps. The Spanish Steps’ most famous story of love is both fictional and unrequited. It is a key location in the filming of the movie Roman Holiday. The story follows a princess, Audrey Hepburn, who experiences a day of freedom from her royal duties and falls in love with Gregory Peck. He is a journalist, initially intent upon scooping a story about the young royal. He certainly gets a story, but in the spirit of the love they share for each other chooses not to share it with the wider world. It’s hard to imagine that narrative these days in our kiss and tell culture. Their love story does not end well, as Audrey Hepburn chooses her royal duties over and above her brief, but intense, feelings of love.
Being at the Spanish Steps in the middle of the day, it’s hard to see it as a romantic destination since it is swarming with tourists. But there is one place where you can experience it in a more meaningful way and it comes with its own story of unrequited love. Yesterday evening, to refresh my memory, I watched for the first time Bright Star, Jane Campion’s movie about the life and untimely death of John Keats. I’d studied Keats at university, but I had shelved it in the deep recesses that only time creates. I had forgotten the story of Keats’ love for Fanny Brawne and how, impoverished, he could not make her his wife. Their romance blossomed on English soil, but it was to Rome his friends sent him to escape the worst of the English winter. That was to be his resting place - as he died at the tender age of 25 from tuberculosis. The museum is wonderful, blissfully quiet as the tourists tour unaware of the story that played out on the steps they come to see. If you come to Rome, frequent this place. Whilst Keats is undoubtedly my favourite of the Romantic Poets, the colourful lives of Shelley and Byron played out here. Whatever you know, and I am sure you know more than I, you will see the parallels with our world today and learn more of their adventures.
Here, in all its glory, the Bright Star poem:
Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death.
By now, I hope you know our journey has been far from contrived. We didn’t know these last two days that the theme of love would become so strong. It’s our last encounter with cupid’s arrow that really astounds.
I shall try not to offend any religious followers by saying that seeing the Pope today was remarkable and unforeseen but it wasn’t the same as what we found beneath our feet. We had not known when we set out that the Pope would be present at the Vatican. Having already visited the Sistine Chapel some years ago, and knowing that taking dogs inside was forbidden, I felt satisfied with soaking up the atmosphere in St. Peter’s Square. I recall my first visit happening after a very enjoyable evening in a Roman jazz club, and that over indulgence had severly impacted my appreciation. In many ways, it was different this time. As we entered the square, there was definitely a sense of anticipation in the air. You can check if the pope is in residence by looking at the Papal Audience Schedule. That said, if you’d checked today you’d have arrived at 9am when he was due to hold his General Audience for which tickets are required. We were there closer to 12 - but, despite this, we felt something was going to happen. Members of the crowd could feel it too and there was a ripple of excitement when he appeared directly on the hour.
Jubilant and appreciative, the crowd dispersed. At our feet a photographer stared attentively at the mosaic stones and we couldn’t understand what captivated him. A small group of girls asked the question that was on my lips, ‘what are you photographing?’ There are over two million cobblestones in St. Peter’s Square and Stan and I had unwittingly stood next to the most rare of them all. The miraculous cobble stone is engraved with a single heart. It goes by many names and dates from the end of the sixteenth century. The myths that surround it are linked to Michelangelo’s broken love, to Bernini never having found love or that of a woman’s love for her husband who was sentenced to an untimely death. Whatever you believe, I’m sure you’ll agree it is a very special piece of Rome!
Stan is the perfect dinner date
What a pleasure to meet you Federica and Gianluca!
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on set at the Spanish Steps
If you can, see the Spanish Steps from the terrace of the John Keats house
Sadly, Keats died far from Fanny Brawne
Stan and I in St. Peter’s Square
The Pope really did appear today
Look carefully and you’ll see the Heart of Rome
