Day One

We left San Francisco Airport in the afternoon of December 27th, and arrived late evening in Rome on December 28th. We were exceptionally tired because the overseas flight was exceptionally noisy, kids running around, one of whom screamed into my ear has he passed my aisle seat, waking me from a sound sleep. On arriving and gathering our luggage we walked to the train station and got our tickets. The train was crowded and we hurried off the train and were immediately surrounded by a whole bunch of people. In the blink of an eye, one bag disappeared. We were robbed before we even got to the hotel. There will be no pictures from this day as one of the things in the bag was my camera and all the pictures on it. We walked the two blocks to our hotel, got our rooms, walked up to a police station to make a report, and then had a meal of pizza, wine and eventually good Italian Grappa.

The trip had gotten off to an unsettling start. Missing was a leather bag , my journal with all my Advent/ Christmas reflections, my camera, my laptop, my bible, breviary, psalter, passport, precriptions, and all the plans and reservations for the trip.

I was determined that it should only be a moment in time, that it was not to determine the future, and that we would still have a great pilgrimage. All in all, we suceeded.