Day 8-BA5 takes the lead

The Basilica!!!

The Colosseum!!!

The Trevi Fountain!!!

6/29/22. Wednesday

6:30-7:45 a.m. - I’m up around 6:30 and I shower and get ready, then change into one of my newer dresses - it’s a black, sleeveless, floral print, long dress. Mom arrives at our room and we walk down together.

8:00-8:45-The complimentary breakfast is amazingly good, with pastries, fruit, eggs, etc. We eat until 8:45, bathroom break, and the driver appears. MariLu, our tour guide with Tours by Locals, arrives a short time later.

9:00-6:30-The tour lasts for 10 hours and by Hour 2, it is very hot. Fortunately, L. and I are acclimated to the heat because A) we live in the desert; and B) we haven’t had air conditioning in our home the entire month. L. is wearing a sleeveless, short dress, depicting comic book panels, and a long blazer, that she can remove if it gets to hot. Although S. is wearing a sweatshirt and pants, he asks L. if she’s going to be hot “in that jacket.”

-We start with The Colosseum, located at the Piazza Del Colosseo. It’s incredible! I can’t believe I’m here! At The Colosseum. In Rome, Italy. Me! For whatever reason, L. shuts down and stops talking two hours into our tour. She is like this for almost the entire day. I never find out why.

-Next we go to the Giardino degli Aranci (the Orange Trees Garden), built by the Savilla family, from 1285 to 1287, where we can see the entire city of Rome. There is a church next to the Orange Trees Garden where live organ music is playing. The church is beautiful and the music sounds like Phantom of the Opera. The views are amazing and a bride and groom are taking their wedding pictures here. It is so hot that Mom decides to stay in the SUV. This also becomes a recurring theme for S., who either stays in the SUV or returns to the car before the rest of us, throughout the tour. Again, the heat is stifling, but “it’s a dry heat” and much better than the sweltering temperatures L. and I have been experiencing in our own home this month.

-MariLu locates a high-end restaurant where we can have lunch. There is no A/C throughout the majority of the city and it’s hot inside the restaurant, but largely empty. I order the bacon penne pasta with marinara sauce. Waitstaff bring bread to the table but no bread plates and my brother has a tantrum of sorts because he wants a bread plate ASAP, but the service is slow. He orders TWO courses, when the rest of us order ONE, and by the time the food arrives my brother is still complaining that he can’t eat the bread because there are no bread plates. I try to be helpful and suggest, “Maybe put your bread on the plate that just arrived?” He snaps at me, ‘Because some people want a separate bread plate.’ Although M. actually took a piece of bread from the basket, she puts it back to show solidarity with my brother and says, ‘I think I’d like a bread plate, too.’ My brother is just finishing his main course when his bread plate finally arrives - he hasn’t had any of the bread thus far, due to this strange compulsion that the bread must be kept separate from the plate bearing his food. By this time, L. and I have each had two pieces of bread. It’s delish!!!

-Unfortunately, my meal is delayed because, as the waiter tells me, “they burned the bacon”. I’m served just as everyone is finishing eating, but, since my brother ordered a second course this doesn’t pose much of a problem. My pasta is undercooked…

-My brother continues to wait for his second course, while the rest of us are finished. It finally arrives and we engage MariLu in a discussion about Italy, while my brother eats a second entree that nobody else ordered. According to MariLu, school and healthcare are free, although Italians have the option to pay for better health insurance. Abortion is legal in Italy.

-From here, we go to St. Peter’s Square, located directly in front of the Basilica, in Vatican City. St. Peter is one of Jesus’ twelve apostles, who the Catholic Church considers to be the first pope. The Vatican is closed because of some papal holiday tomorrow BUT the Basilica is open! The current Basilica was created to replace the older, aging Basilica, and designed by Michelangelo, Bramante, Maderno, and Bernini, all under the direction of various Popes. It took from April 1506 to November 1626 to complete. The Basilica represents the epitome of Renaissance architecture and, per Wikipedia, is considered the holiest of Catholic shrines. It’s the largest church in the world and where St. Peter is buried.

-From a distance, MariLu shows us St. Peter’s Square and points to the line to get into the Basilica. It is extremely hot, around 2:00 pm, and there is no shade, but she says the line will only take around 10 minutes. Of course, we HAVE to go - there will never be another time to see the Basilica!! and it’s an important piece of history. Incredibly, S and M don’t want to go because it’s too hot and they don’t want to stand in line. M. actually says, “Well, it’ll still be here tomorrow.” Yes, but WE won’t. Even MariLu is incredulous at S. and M’s lack of interest and tries to convince them to stand in the 10-minute line. She is successful and eventually they relent.

-All of us stand in line for the Basilica. It’s very hot, but the line is moving, just as MariLu said. When we get to the front of the line, there’s a dress code for women, but not for men. All of the security guards are male and they leer at the women, telling those in shorts or dresses above the knee that they have to cover up. There are larges squares of shitty, dirty fabric at the front of the line for just this reason and women ahead of us are wrapping fabric around their legs in an attempt to hide them. This is ridiculous! I’m also in violation because of my bare arms. Mom is wearing a scarf so she gives it to me so I can wrap it around my shoulders like a shawl. L. borrows something from M. to cover her legs. In 2022, women are forbidden to show their bare legs or bare arms at the Basilica? What is this - the Taliban?

-Inside, the Basilica is ornate and opulent, and it is here that I really start to hate Catholicism and everything it stands for. MariLu recites the priests’ history over these many thousands of years and they are corrupt as hell (pardon the metaphor). While the people were starving, the papacy spent six years building the Basilica and stocking it with luxurious treasures and paintings, at the same time shaking down the poor for tithes and donations that they couldn’t afford but that they HAD to pay if they wanted to get into heaven.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely and the priests truly didn’t care about God or the principal teachings of Jesus. They surrounded themselves with courtesans and prostitutes while at the same time suppressing women. They also raped nuns. This went on for hundreds of years and are we really supposed to believe that it’s not going on now? Recently, letters between Pope Pius XII and Adolf Hitler were uncovered - they were actually corresponding. I’d like to take this time to note that, currently, there are no women in power or who hold leading roles in ANY religion. Women are banned from ascending.

-M. routinely corrects MariLu’s speech, even though MariLu speaks English pretty well. For example, MariLu Is relaying an account about “medicine” but it sounds like she’s saying ‘ Madison’ and M. replies, “Madison? What do you mean?” which forces MariLu to repeat herself until M. replies, “Oh, medicine! Now I understand. Sorry about that.” This happens repeatedly.

-MariLu takes us down to the Catacombs where one of the priests, hundreds of years ago, demanded that he be mummified and put on display for all the people to see. The hubris of this asshole.

-We’ve officially seen the Basilica and we embark on our never ending quest to find a pharmacy that will administer a rapid, Covid-PCR test so we can board The Escape tomorrow. MariLu calls around and finds a pharmacy, but when we get there the pharmacy tech is gone, so nobody is there to administer the tests. After an earnest conversation between MariLu and an employee at the pharmacy, we are directed to another pharmacy that is able to administer five Covid-PCR tests so we head there. By this time, we’ve been touring Italy for 7 hours. Mom has to extend the tour and pay the difference because we absolutely have to get these tests. Today.

-We drive to the next pharmacy and it’s a go. Each of us fills out a form and then walks outside to a small white tent, where the tests are administered. There’s a chest-high divider between me and the pharmacy tech. I’m instructed to stick my head and neck over the divider and he sticks a large Q-tip up my nose. This is my FIRST “ brain biopsy test” and I’m struck by the brutality…. Think about it....an individual is aggressively ramming a Q-tip up your nose so deep that it actually feels like it’s behind your eyeball. After two years, this is the best we have? We can obtain DNA with a simple swab of the cheek but in order to accurately test for Covid, a Q-tip has to be rammed up our noses? No wonder President Trump refused to test when he was in office. I know that L. Is going to hate it, but I say nothing about how bad it truly is. When the pharmacist sticks the Q-tip up L.’s nose, she instinctively backs away and starts crying. This test is invasive!

Rapid PCR tests are notoriously inaccurate anyway so why bother testing at all? Plus, you have to test at just the right time, at least 3 days after you’ve been infected, or it will read negative.

As a family, we all agree to have our results sent to L’s phone. My brother is concerned that one of our results will not be received because “since Ellen is here, there’s going to be a problem.” He’s serious. Hmmm…not sure what he means by this…

Within 10 minutes of testing, the results are texted to L.’s phone. After 5 hours at LAX, a 12-hour flight in extremely cramped quarters, and an 8-hour tour around dirty, polluted Italy, where not one person is masking, ALL of us are negative. The odds of this happening are bizarre but true. We’re clear to board The Escape tomorrow!! Spoiler Alert: On 7/22/22, I will learn that PCR rapid tests rarely pick up the BA5 sub-variant which is probably why we all tested negative. The last week of July, I will also learn that a prior Omicron infection does not protect you from a re-infection. Even if you’ve already had Omicron [ I had it in January], you can still get it again.

-We’re close to the Trevi, so MariLu suggests we walk around the corner to see this historic fountain. We’re heading into Hour 8 of the tour and it’s a lot, even for me. Part of the problem is the fact that it’s been between 90 and 100 degrees the entire day, with no shade. My Mom opts to sit in the SUV - can’t say I blame her.

-The rest of us walk to the Trevi Fountain. The streets are filled with trash!!, as is the fountain - it’s very dirty here! MariLu says there are no ordinances against littering so people throw their trash wherever. This is a historic city, filled with centuries-old monuments, and the citizens of Rome are eating their gelato and throwing their trash on the cobble-stone streets.

-We reach the Trev and it’s truly beautiful. In fact, L. gets a great picture of it that hangs in our landing, back at home, to date. BUT, it is absolutely packed. In your mind’s eye, picture Michelangelo’s mural, The Last Judgment [Sistine Chapel], you know the one…it depicts frolicking, naked people, crammed together, all of whom are going to hell. At the Trev (and in the painting) bodies are everywhere - I mean you can’t even move! Nobody is masked and they are breathing all over each other. I ask MariLu, “What is everybody doing here?” She says they’re just hanging out.

-We head back to the van and drive to our hotel room. Along the way, MariLu points out some banner or statue that the papacy put up in honor of the upcoming holiday. This is when I notice that there are reminders of Catholicism and priests everywhere throughout the city, shoved in the citizenry’s faces. My final conclusion - I don’t like Rome.

6:00-9:00-We’re back at the hotel and everyone is tired and wants to take a nap. It’s my understanding that we will go to dinner later, as Italians eat later than most people, but apparently it was only MY understanding. I sleep from 6:00-9:00 and I’m ready for dinner - in fact, I’m starving - but L is still asleep and nobody calls me so I have a Lara Bar and call First American.

9:00-9:30-I’m not on hold for long and this time I speak with “Carlos”. He says that the database shows I am authorizing the modification [replacement of the condenser], but they are unable to reach Nick to inform him that I’ve authorized the modification, so “Carlos” is now forwarding my issue to First American’s Claims Dept. so they can definitively determine that I am not the reason for the delayed repair. Carlos has a New Jersey accent and is a complete asshole. He says it will take the Claims Dept. 24 hours to review the complaint before they can establish if A/C Clinic is at fault. I tell Carlos that First American needs to fire A/C Clinic and hang up on him.

9:30-12:00-I start reading With Teeth. Can’t sleep.

12:00-12:15-After sleeping for six hours, L. wakes up, gets ready for bed, and doesn’t wake up again until 11:00 the next morning.

12:15-12:45-Nighttime routine. Bed.