Souvenir

While passing some columns on our way to ascend the cupola of St Peter's Basilica in Rome I noticed some loose pieces of marble lying at  foot of one of them. I showed my daughter and she snatched one larger piece. So now we have a piece of the cathedral at home.

The Apostle's Toe and the Snail

As we were passing the statue of St Paul in front of the cathedral St Paul Outside the Walls I noticed something odd at the Apostle's right little toe. First thinking it was some plaque or at least something made of metal I approached and discovered that it was in fact the shell of a snail resting at the Apostle's toe.

Some Reassuring Experience

Usually people with machine guns guarding a place make me nervous. Instead of adding a feeling of security they make me feel afraid. But when the guard told us to put our hands up and express our joy, he made me for the first time feel secure in the presence of a heavily armed person, because he was a human being (and probably a little bit bored by his duty).

Oh What Fun We Had

Maybe I was sort of to blame for the actions of the soldier, a slight retort, for I was yahooing some people in a quad scull at the Tiber near the Castel Sant'Angelo the evening before.

Misericordes Sicut Pater

Just like the soldier with the machine gun outside St Paul Outside the Walls greeted us pilgrims: "Welcome to Rome! Put your hands up in the air and say: Juuhuuu!"

Alas it was our final day and time to say 'Arrividerci Roma', but oh the fun we had ;)!

Abstraction

Incidental Music

explained: The scene is always the same, a man going down the stairs into the basement but the lights do not work. Yet three different options of incidental music set a different tone.



First case: If the actor is little known he most likely will not survive the next sixty seconds - and yet he moves on
Second case: Something bad will happen but the children are allowed to watch.
Third case: Only the children do want to watch.