Celebrating Love in the Eternal City

A brief (or maybe not so brief!) synopsis of the last three days ...
Friday ... Communication has been difficult between we Aussies. Easy wifi access is tricky. Texts not arriving is common.  As a result I waited for Anne and Mark who didn't arrive...still waiting for their text.  Hit the walking trail to the Vatican at about 12, aiming to join a hop on, hop off bus to get my head round Roman geography.  This I did just down from St Peter's.    

Between there and the next stop, as I sat on top of the bus, who should I see on the footpath but Anne and Mark!  Not knowing I didn't get the text they had been thinking I would join them in Piazza Navona.  We had a very short loud conversation, which must have entertained both those on the bus and on the footpath!  
I then got home with enough time to get ready before Sue and Tim picked me up from my hotel and we then had a pre dinner drink on Piazza Navona to catch up with each others travels since arriving.  Then onto the pre-wedding dinner, where all wedding guests were dining.  It was a wonderful evening.  So fantastic to see Mary and Mark, meet family and friends and get into celebration mode.  It was grand!

Friday morning I had planned to play tourist for a few hours but a furious electrical storm made that idea suddenly unappealing.  A sleep in, late breakfast on Campo Fiori and a wander in my local area was a much better idea.  Even found a hairdresser a three minute walk from here and made an appointment for 1.  So with hair done and glad rags on Sue, Tim and I arrived at 'wedding central' to join other guests on a coach, organised by Mary and Mark, to get to the castle, about 40 minutes out of central Rome.

So hard to put into words the amazing experience which was the wedding.  In short ... The castle was incredible, the chapel intimate and perfect, the bride stunning and gloriously happy, the ceremony - meaningful, personal and an 'experience' (to quote Father Michael),  
the sense of unity and communal witness was palpable, the musical talents of family and friends enhanced the liturgy perfectly.  The pre dinner drinks and antipasto on the terrace, over looking Roman countryside, with live music, set the scene beautifully for the rest of the evening.  The dining room was elegant with wonderful personal touches alluding to Mary and Mark's love of music, as well as beautifully formal table settings and glorious red and white roses everywhere.

The wine flowed, the food, which was fantastic, kept coming!  The formal proceedings were very Mary and Mark, honouring family and friends (those present and absent) and making it very clear to all, blessed to be present, what a perfect union we were witnessing.

The dancing was enthusiastic and great fun.  What followed was, for the Aussie contingent, a most incredible experience of Irish tradition.  As the castle staff packed up around us, the extremely musical members of both families and it seemed like all their friends, played and 
sang for, it must have been, close to two hours.  The sound of probably close to 20 Irishmen singing with passion traditional Irish songs was spine tingling.  Some Neil Diamond was thrown in for good measure.  Around the piano was Mark with his wonderful vocals who was joined by brothers, cousins, brother in law, friends and then the bride joined in on the fiddle! It was such an amazing way to end a magic night.  

 

 

We were thrown out on to the terrace, lemoncello was had and I think it was about 3.30 when I got to my room!  
The party continued, sharing the table at breakfast with Mary and her parents before we all boarded the bus for a tour round some parts of Rome.  Fr Michael had lived, studying in Rome for a number of years so was our translator and guide on the coach mic.  It was fabulous.  Two spots we ventured off the bus.  One was near the Forum (where Anne had a very close encounter with a pick pocket.   The thief was only stopped, after she had opened Anne's bag, by a very fast souvenir seller who yelled at the girl, who ran, saving Anne from what could have been an awful start to their month in Europe.  

The second at the Trevi Fountain, which was where quite a few of us left as our hotels were that end of town, rather than going back to 'wedding central' to then have to make our way back across town.  We bid farewell to the very happy couple, who leave tomorrow for three weeks of Italian adventures.  And so the main event is over, but the magical memories will last a lifetime.  I feel so blessed to have been able to be here and share such an amazing experience with them.

Returned 'home' to dump overnight bag and then headed to the Pantheon, which I didn't see when here in 1995.  Just amazing.  

Late lunch/early dinner in a cafe on Piazza Navona hit the spot before coming home for what will definitely be an early night once I've finished watching Roman Holiday!

Only two days left of my Italian exploration. Intend to see Sue, Tim, Anne and Mark before I/they leave. The weather was supposed to be awful yesterday and today but all was good.
The next two are also supposed to be wet. But hopefully they'll be wrong about them too.

I know this has been long but for St Patrick's friends and colleagues I know they are keen to know all about the wedding and I also wanted a record, so I can remember in the future how amazing this slice of life has been.