Luciana - the Queen of Ravenna!

After my previous long entry, I shall do my best to be a little more succinct this time. I can promise nothing of course because as I am sure you would have noticed if you have been kind enough to continue reading, brevity is no one of my strengths. I shall try but I get distracted and caught up in things and well, you know, a thousand words later....

We travelled a couple of hours from Padua, resting place of St Anthony, to Ravenna. You may recall me mentioning earlier the lovely Patricia, our tour escort. Patricia arrived in Italy from South Africa as a backpacking hitch-hiker in the 1960’s and never went home. She is now married to a Roman, has four children and a few grandchildren and I reckon knows more about Italian history than anyone who ever drew breath. And she is a beautiful person to boot. As well as Patricia, at each place we visit we have a local guide to show us some of the town’s most sacred and historically significant sites. I mention all of this because I want to tell you about out tour guide for Ravenna – a 4’10” pocket dynamo and grandmother of four – the rampaging take-no prisoners, garrulous Granny from Ravenna, ‘Luciana the Incredible!’

When the bus pulled up at the place where we were to meet Luciana for our tour, her first words to Patricia were ‘Get off the bus!’ We did exactly as were told and were quickly led off to a beautiful old church containing the most exquisite mosaics and canvasses. Luciana left no one in any doubt who was in charge. “Follow me now please, no, not in a minute but now...we must hurry...did you not hear? Do not stand there...stand behind me, not in front...listen with your ears please! Time for photos and questions later, maybe...must hurry, no dawdle...do not look over there now, look here...” Once I recovered from the initial onslaught, I have to admit that I fell in love with Luciana. I wanted to see if she was free for a few months to come home with me and have a gentle word of two with my 17 year-old son. I think she would know just what to say. Sadly, I later discovered that she had already been to Australia numerous times and had seen more of my home country than I had. But you never know...

My favourite Luciana moment – in fact one of my favourite moments of the whole trip so far – occurred towards the very end of the Ravenna tour. We were waiting to go into a tiny but extraordinarily beautiful chapel whose walls were lined with the most exquisite mosaics – some of the finest anywhere in the world, I was reliably informed by Luciana (and as you might expect, there was no argument from me!). Luciana had begun telling us the story of the mosaics and the building’s history when a small group of German tourists who had been inside emerged and began chatting excitedly, I would imagine, about what they had seen. They were a bit noisy and made things a little more challenging for us to hear Luciana’s commentary.

And then all hell broke loose. Luciana stopped mid-sentence, turned sharply to our German friends who were less than five metres away and unleashed a blistering tirade. Of course I do not know exactly what she said (and I suspect neither did the Germans...) but I later learned from Patricia that it went something like: “Just who the hell do you think you are! You are not in the marketplace or piazza now! I am trying to work here so please go somewhere else so I can do my job. What is the matter with you people!”

There was silence, and not just among the stunned Germans. I am pretty sure that even the birds in the tree next to the entrance to the chapel stopped chirping. I was mightily impressed and decided immediately that as soon as I got back to the hotel I would see if there was an extra ticket on my flight back to Sydney and book Luciana on it. I was more convinced than ever that my 17 year-old didn’t stand a chance and I also suspect that there would be no issue with flight delays on any airline Luciana was travelling on – even Malaysia Airlines! Tirade over, the tour continued. Luciana had a captive audience.

As for Ravenna (I guess you wondering when I would get to that), it is yet another beautiful Italian provincial city. There were more stunning churches and in one a wedding was taking place and with camera in hand, I couldn’t help but take a few snaps. I have included one in the photo gallery. Sorry but it’s a bit blurry but at least I remembered to take the lens cap off. You can’t expect me to think of everything!

The late afternoon/evening in Ravenna was gorgeously mild and bright. I was particularly struck but the number of people out in the narrow streets, walking and talking, all dressed immaculately. Some had dogs on leashes, other pushed prams – sometimes there was what I suspect was a whole extended family walking together and many were eating gelato (the gelato is so good here!). My friend ‘sue-in-sydney’ had commented on the blog only the day before about something called ‘passegiata’ - the slow gentle stroll through the streets of a town, dressed to kill. I think this must have been what I had witnessed. I wanted to start passegiating right there and in then, but alas...

I know I haven’t included much about Ravenna itself here, and again, I have once again written more than I intended. I am sure you are not surprised but despite this, I wanted to finish this post with another very touching story about one of my fellow travellers. On the bus to Ravenna, I asked a few people if they would mind telling me on camera (I have a little Video ‘Flip’ camera with me on the trip with me). There were three beautiful reflections offered that day – all of them very moving. I have tried to put each video up on the blog a few times but the files are very large and YouTube is not being very cooperative. I shall keep trying as they are so worth seeing and hearing. I just very briefly wanted to tell you my friend Josephine’s reason for being on this trip. I think I willget thee in the end. Jo is not even Catholic but wanted to come on this trip because because her good friend Colleen needed a companion, and she also really wanted to be with good people in October (and I think see has found them). Jo’s husband passed away this year and their birthdays are on the same day – October 15. She needed to be somewhere good on that day. As I write this, October 15 has just dawned. The night before last night I sent an email on behalf of Jo to her son who also has been travelling but for work, just saying hello. Today, an email came back with a lovely message for his mum. Another moment of grace...

I am behind with my writing and I am doing my best to make up. So many special places here and we are now moving to the most important part of the journey – our witness to the canonisation of Blessed May MacKillop. I have so much I want to write to you about this. If you able to get a copy of Saturday’s Daily Telegraph, you are likely to see a photo and story of me and three other people whose lives Mother Mary MacKillop has touched in a special way. Lots of calls for media at home too for information and interviews. Trying hard to keep up.

Posts and photos from Florence, Loreto, Assisi, Ovieto still to come! And now Rome. No time for passegiata just yet!

Frantically yours
Mark