part 5..the trip to Italy

The dates and events are taken from the diary I kept at the time ( the nuns obliged us. Thank You Soeur Louise)

March 27th, 1968

Our Itinerary: Ports of call: Rome, Astia, Tivoli, Villa d'Este, Castelgandolfo, Naples, Pompei, Capri, Rome, Sienne, Florence, Fiesole, Bologna, Venice, Milan. Then because that was so much fun, a trip to France, Lourdes to see Miracles then on the way to more fun, Cote d'Azure, Toulouse, Marseilles, back to Milan and Genoa.

I remember being so excited at the thought of my first overseas trip. I was just about to turn fourteen, it was my first year as a day student since my parents had moved to Montreal, I was becoming interested in boys and lip gloss , had great friends and was headed for the biggest adventure of my life. The "gang" consisted of Louise of course, Helene, Marie, Michelle, France and a few others who have faded in my memory. We were always in some kind of trouble but the nuns still had a soft spot for us, their wayward daughters. According to my diary, we were the last ones on the plane, we slept 2 hours, the stewardesses who looked so pretty when we first boarded, looked haggard at the end of the six hours and Michelle threw up five times because she ate airplane lasagna, salmon and cheese and had three pieces of cake.

March 28th

We landed in Rome at 11.35 am. I still remember inhaling different air then I was used to when we first set foot outside. A sweet, thick palpable kind of air. The light was also different, mellow, hazy , shimmering giving everything a rich antiquated look. After taking the coach bus to the hotel and quickly changing (we had to wear our uniforms on the plane) we were taken to the Forum, drove by the Vatican, took pictures of churches and statues but what is underlined in my diary...translated from french is.."Italian boys are really friendly. It seems that they've never seen Canadian girls. I guess Louise hiking up her skirt could explain why they were all throwing " Belissima" in her direction. I'm wearing a skirt tomorrow. Lights out, I miss my brother".

March 29th

"Today we went to visit the Trevi fountain. I threw coins (1000 liras is $1.60) and made a wish. Seeing that I've come this far to make a wish, I'm sure it'll come true. I wished that my mother would never have another migraine. After we left the fountain we got back on the bus and went to the Catacombs. Louise tried to scare me by climbing into one of the openings in the wall but she ended up falling and as she did so, her knee touched some bones and she screamed so loud that two guards came running and the nuns were told that we had to leave. Now instead of going to get ice cream, we have to get back on the bus and say the rosary all the way back to the hotel. Sister Mathilde said we needed to pray when we got to Lourdes because maybe someone would be listening and we would miraculously become obedient girls. I'm always getting in trouble and I didn't do anything! There are two boys staying at the same hotel. One is Sylvio and the other one is Illio. I think Illio likes me. He always looks at me and when I look back he goes all red."

March 30th

"We had to get up really early and were on the bus at 7.30am. I'm not crazy about breakfast here. Some kind of buns with sweet butter and jam. We are allowed to drink tea so that's a bonus. The milk is disgusting. Helene got bitten by something in the middle of the night and her eye is all swollen. Michelle hasn't had a bath in 2 days. She says the water is yellow and she's sure it's from the toilets. I'm not sitting next to her. We visited the gardens of Villa D'Este. The water falls, the flowers and the Italian boys were magnificent. At 11.00 we went to Castelgandolfo and had lunch there. Their pizza is nothing like ours. Back on the bus to drive along the shores of the Tyrrhennian sea. All the cars are so tiny and people drive as if they don't know where they're going. We spent most of the day in the bus. Marie decided to face backwards so she could talk to Helene, Louise and I. The bus had to stop fast because a scooter cut it off. Marie ended up on the floor, wedged between the seats. The look on her face was so funny that we were crying. We arrived in Naples at 7.30pm, had supper, got a speech because we're too loud and went to bed early.

March 31st

"The catacombs...we were all amazed. You can actually see a woman holding something, she still has hair, frozen on the spot when the volcano erupted. We could see how the Romans lived, the ovens to bake the bread, objects that survived all these years. Even Louise was quiet and attentive. The only thing that ruined it was a school of snooty french kids from France who were laughing at our accents. Marie wanted to trip one of them but I said no because I really didn't want to get kicked out of the Catacombs. In the afternoon we walked along the streets of Naples. I love it here. I wish I lived here. The thing that makes me sad is that there's a lot of poverty and little children begging. I guess we're really spoiled and should stop complaining about .the bus being hot. At one point we stopped traffic. Louise and Helene's skirts were really short and an old woman, all dressed in black was yelling at them. I didn't understand what she was saying, but Sister Mathilde was blushing and she told us to hurry and walk away. I wish I could take pictures with my mind and never forget what I see. Not just what I see but how it feels to be here. Snapshots aren't enough. I want to bring back the smells and the way it feels back to Canada with me. When I'm here, I feel warm happy and like I'm supposed to be here. I'm going to be an artist and marry an Italian. We went to bed at 9.30pm but talked till midnight. You should see the moon here. It's not a man in the moon, it's a beautiful lady who's smiling.

To be continued....