Welcome Aboard Common Sense: Home, then Rome (then Home),

Ten weeks at home in Perth and the south west has flown by in a bit of a blur – in this case a very pleasant blur of sunshine, white beaches, clear blue water, coffee, drinks or meals with dear friends, house and dog-sitting, medicals, haircuts (for me, not Terry) and other personal maintenance, family gatherings and time with our kids, several new babies to welcome, all culminating in a gorgeous country wedding at our friends’ farm. The downside of life in Western Australia? The endless sprawling suburbs and accompanying aggressive traffic of Perth, the high cost of living and the isolation from everywhere else, resulting in long, long flights to the rest of the world.

Christmas in Perth

Terry bonding with our beautiful great-niece, Pia

On the positive side again, arriving in Perth International is now very quick and easy. The electronic recognition system is superb and you no longer have to stand in an outrageously long queue while indifferent Immigration bureaucrats dawdle over each incoming returnee. It never made any sense trying to complain about the lack of service – they and their bosses knew exactly how little they were doing to expedite the wait. Removing them from the process is wonderful. Departing Perth not so good yet but when the upper level renovations are completed it should be fine.

Apart from spending many weeks with Pauline, cooking up a storm, buying new toys like remote FM headphones for the TV, being treated to a fantastic birthday dinner and going on photographic trips, we spent time at Terry’s brother’s house and then at his sister’s house while she was away. We got to spend some quality time with our nephew Louis and enjoyed his company, as well as that of Oscar the dog. It was great to meet Martin's new (to us) partner Claire, and to do some long overdue mother-daughter stuff with Lizzy (and Keith - nice hair!)

Martin and Claire

Down home, we spent a couple of weeks in our home-away-from home while Andy and Cherry were off in France and were entrusted this time with looking after Nala the Labrador. She can be a bit of a handful as she is quite cunning but overall it was nice to take her for walks and have her following us around the house, presenting us with a dried gumleaf from the garden each time we returned home. Andy and Cherry installed a new oven last year and Terry says it’s the best thing ever – it is a magnificent Electrolux with all sorts of whizz-bang features, plus a second oven below. The matching cooktop was also a treat.

On our second trip “down south” we stayed with our friends Leonie and Steve. Unfortunately, school terms had recommenced so they couldn’t be home during the day but we did enjoy our evenings. Steve and Terry had a mini beer-tasting and we had a great time catching up on travel gossip (Steve and Leonie have visited about 50 countries to date.) Morning swims with Kath, Kim and the crew were wonderful, and something I will sadly miss until the weather warms up here.

Lots of good times with good friends

We had plenty of time to chase Geocaches this time and managed to get 61 while we were home, our best ever haul. Our final week was Hayley and Bryce’s wedding at the Lone Crow vineyard, and a wonderful country wedding it was, with Jenny and Robbie’s farm looking splendid and contributions from friends and relatives making it an especially memorable day. I wish I’d kept my menu – the food was all sourced locally and grown, caught, cooked and served by friends and neighbours – it was awesome. Hayley and Bryce looked radiantly happy, and the bridesmaids were particularly stunning (:

Proud dad and lovely daughter

Bridesmaids delivered by tractor

On our last day in Bunbury, we enjoyed a birthday lunch with our friends Ann, Robin, Colin, Sol, Simone, Michael and Glenys and Paddy, our ancient garden gnome who is under Ann's care while we're away, at the Water’s Edge restaurant. It was a great way to wind up the summer. Heartfelt thanks once again to everyone who put us up, or put up with us! After three more days in Perth, it was time to leave again for our home on the water, Common Sense.

So, after yet another long flight, here we were again in Rome, this time staying at a nice little B&B near the Vatican. Named “ La Lanterna di San Pietro” after the illuminated dome of St Peter’s that can be viewed from the balcony, it has very comfortable beds, a wonderful hot bath/shower, fresh croissants and coffee for breakfast and best of all, the lovely Silvia, who speaks excellent English and can help you with anything you need to know about Rome. (p.s. – it also has a lift!!)

Silvia

Roman breakfast at La Lanterna

Our first day dawned in teeming rain, so it seemed like a good idea to spend it inside the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s. A lot of other people obviously had the same thought, though I’m sure it is way more crowded in the high season. The Vatican has to be one of the ultimate people-watching locations on earth – flocks of nuns of many denominations, earnest American Bible study groups, important men in fine suits, colourful African delegations and tourists of every nation milling about, stopping to snap the inevitable selfie with the majestic cathedral as background. Our guide, Silvio, was easy to follow through the throng: a six-foot-four giant with ginger hair and a booming voice, he was adept at crowd control and passionate about art. Particularly fascinating were the contrasts he drew between the serenity and perfection of “religious art” and the realism and energy of the Humanists. The highlight of the Basilica for me was the beautiful Pieta. I couldn't believe we were really there looking at the most perfect of Renaissance sculptures (in my humble opinion!)

Michelangelo's Pieta

Of course the crowning glory of Renaissance humanist art is Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. It is revered as a holy site – the chapel where the cardinals gather to pray for guidance as they elect a new Pope – so silence and respectful behaviour are required. But to me, the whole glorious edifice seems to be a shrine to the human body, specifically the male body, in all its sinewy strength, suffering and drama. I’m sure that many others have observed that even the female figures are drawn from male models, either powerfully muscled athletes or beautiful boys – with breasts attached as a kind of afterthought. Some theorise that it is also a shrine to the human mind. God’s cloak in the creation scene forms a perfect cross-section of a brain (Michelangelo was a keen practical anatomist), the whole composition hinting that the idea of God is contained within the human mind. That kind of heretical thinking would probably get you excommunicated even today! Terry was distinctly underwhelmed by the Chapel but was in awe of the Basilica; homoerotic art doesn’t seem to be his thing.

We managed to do a bit of geocaching in Rome, despite the challenges of litter, crowds and an abiding concern about lurking suspiciously near important landmarks. Italy seems to have about fifteen separate police forces and I don’t imagine any of them take kindly to suspected terrorists! Nevertheless we had a few successes, and took our tally to 300 across about ten countries.

Our third day was fine and cold, perfect for a kind of rally through some of Rome’s finest old churches in search of works by my favourite Italian painter, Caravaggio. Silvia turned out to be a fellow enthusiast, and she helped us to create a walking plan.

The Martyrdom of St Matthew

My first encounter with Caravaggio’s painting “in real life” was in St John’s Co-Cathedral in Malta, where two amazing paintings stand out, even in the richest and most ornate context you can imagine. “The Beheading of John the Baptist” is like a snapshot at the moment of highest drama, with the figures and their facial expressions vividly lit against the darkness. “St Jerome Writing” is a similar work of chiaroscuro but its mood is a total contrast. The old man is all quiet power and concentration. In Rome on our last visit we saw the graphic and quite horrifying “Judith Beheading Holofernes” in the Palazzo Barbarini. The realism of the characters makes it look like a still from a horror drama - it’s as though Caravaggio has invented stage lighting in his imagination, ising a ‘spotlight’ to emphasise stricken faces and violent gestures. On this latest walk we first found the ancient church of Santa Maria del Popolo, where “The Crucifixion of St Peter” and “The Conversion of St Paul” hang in a small chapel. Three paintings from the life of St Matthew hang in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi, and there is a wonderful Madonna in the church of Sant’ Agostino, famous for the dirty feet of the pilgrims who dominate the foreground. All the pictures have such power because they represent people struggling and suffering, not beatific saints with painted haloes. They make every other painting in a place seem pallid and lifeless. Caravaggio’s life was as full of passion and violence as his paintings – but you can read about that elsewhere.

Madonna (and the dirty-footed pilgrims)

Of course it’s Italy and you can’t forget about food, even if you wanted to. There was yet another great fresh market near our place, Mercato Trionfale (called “the stomach of Rome”) with mounds of oranges, artichokes and gigantic cauliflowers the big items of seasonal produce, bulk wine to be bottled, butchers, cheese vendors and bakers. We grabbed two simple pork rolls in fresh bread (€3) and took them on a walk down to the Tiber. Later that night, we enjoyed an excellent meal at Falcone’s, recommended by Silvia as typical of the local fare. Each day we took a Hobbit-style ‘second breakfast’ at a magnificent Sicilian pasticceria presided over by a vivacious young woman from Transylvania. How do Italians stay relatively slim surrounded by all this? (1. Walking up hills 2. Smoking like chimneys)

Second breakfast...

Market produce

Winter walk along the Tiber

And then, after one last wonderful hot bath at La Lanterna, it was time to hop on the overnight bus to Licata to see how Common Sense had fared in our long absence.

Now a few random pictures of things that amused me...