You’ll never guess which Cork ditty I sang in Pompeii arena!
Our Italian guide was wonderful, she knew the full history of the town that got covered with ash on St Bartholomew’s Day in the year 79AD. She answered our questions without a bother.
Maybe 500 were in the circular area when we arrived. She explained the brilliant acoustics of the site and commented that they were as good today as over 2,000 years ago.
She stood on a spot right in the very absolute centre of the arena and explained that from here a singer could be heard anywhere - even if a full capacity of 5,000 were present.
She looked for a volunteer to sing and several of our group quickly ‘volunteered’ me for the job!
The last time we were in the Rome, the Pope died - now it had nothing to do with us, mind. John Paul II had reigned as pontiff for 27 years until his death in April, 2005. I remember those strange days in Rome that year - the Pope had died and his successor had not yet been elected. It was a bit surreal, but still a historic time to be in the Eternal City.
The song says Twenty-One Years Is A Mighty Long Time, surely it is, and twenty-seven years even longer!
So, earlier this year when the Parish Social Initiative Group announced a tour to Italy, we were thrilled to give in our names and get included.
It was back in 2019 that the GAA and then President of Ireland Mary McAleese launched the Social Initiative Project. Initially, it was aimed at older people, especially older members of GAA clubs, to encourage social inclusion and travel.
Over the years, different Social Initiative Groups all over the country have been set up. They are all independent and, depending on the people involved, they can basically ‘do their own thing’.
Our local group has no particular rules or regulations and no upper or lower age restrictions. In recent years, trips have varied from single day outings to longer trips of maybe two or three days.
Shows in Dublin, the All-Ireland Ploughing, dogs at Curraheen Park, the Fleadh Ceol in Wexford, the Rock of Cashel, St John’s castle in Limerick, the Booley House in Ballyduff, and Lismore Castle gardens - that’s just a sample of the places visited.
So, very early on Friday morning we got a bus from Rathcormac to Cork Airport for a 10.45am flight to Rome. There were about 50 in our group, including a few that had booked the Italian holiday through a travel agent and were included in our travelling party.
There’s something special and lovely about a group of people who bond together - from different backgrounds, but that made no difference. That’s the way it turned out.
Over the week we stayed on a bed- and-breakfast basis in different hotels. We had coffee breaks, lunch and evening dinner (I’d prefer the word ‘supper’) but in Rome, do as the Romans do! Different people sat together all the week so we all got to know each other.
Two years after I last said ‘Arrivederci Roma’, I started travelling to Lourdes and I’ve been there about 30 times since. The June Pilgrimage is a busy, busy time and my ‘winter trip’ the exact opposite - quiet, all alone and so calm. Going away then for nearly a week was something I looked forward to - after a crazy hectic week of getting ready.
‘Memories are Made of This’ was a great song of Dean Martin - all about love, romance, marriage and bliss. Well, we had a different mix last week, but the memories are etched in the memory and will remain there.
After landing in Rome, we headed for the beautiful-sounding Castellamare Di Stabia - now, how many of ye have stayed there? We had a small hiccup en route - a traffic snarl-up after a crash meant a stop in the ancient town of Anagni had to be missed - hopefully, we’ll get back there some time, the beautiful town where four popes were born.
The Bay of Naples is truly magnificent and in the setting evening sunshine was an array of rainbow colours glistening on the blue-green water.
We stopped to eat before reaching our hotel. I had often thought of eating the famous - or infamous - calamari so on my first night in Italy I thought, ‘here goes’. The waiter had broken English and I asked could I have the octopus, very well done. He was puzzled - I was hungry.
One of the group at our table nudged me and glanced over at an eater chewing away on his calamari. And still I looked, and still the wonder grew - and he chewed and chewed and his plate seemed very full. No squid for me tonight, I thought and my fellow travellers advised me in the direction of the pork - sublime.
We all slept well that night after a long day. In fairness, I didn’t do the dog on it at breakfast the next morning; ham, cheese and brown bread and a coffee - well, that was OK for the starter anyway!
Our bus took us to Pompeii, I was there before but you’d need two days to see it all. In fairness to the Romans - even allowing for slave labour - they were magnificent builders. The road and street system of 2,000 years ago are remarkable.
Thousands were killed in minutes on that August day when Vesuvius spewed up huge ash clouds -many were suffocated and their bodies entombed and preserved in that awful moment of time. Excavation work is still going on to this day.
We divided into two groups with brilliant guides and came together for the ‘concert’ in the auditorium.
Back on the bus and 1,000 metres up the side of Vesuvius. Some of us trekked the path to the top. Great to get there but ‘twas like looking into a vast, disused gravel pit - with an odd wisp of smoke.
We stayed in Castellabate that night - a beautiful luxury hotel. We went out for a meal but the waiter had no English (and not a word of Irish!) and the menu was only in Italian!
Modern technology is not my forte but a combination of QR code and downloaded apps gave us colour pictures and details of the fare. Beef, lamb, chicken and sea-bass never tasted so good.
Next day, we set off for Rome -a long journey. We stopped en route at the wonderful hilltop Abbey of Montecasino, the oldest monastery in Italy, founded by St Benedict in 529AD. For four months in 1944, the abbey was the scene of a ferocious battle between the Allies and German forces on the hilltop. It was a bloody conflict and the monastery was flattened.
On to Roma then for three nights and four days. Truly an amazing city. We walked a lot and talked a lot and sang a good share each evening.
We had guided tours of ancient Rome - the Colosseum, Roman Forum and the Pallatine Hill. One night there the whole group booked a restaurant and we broke bread together - for hours. Amazing, isn’t it, at home I often ate the dinner half sitting, half standing in quarter of an hour -in Rome it took hours.
We spent a day in the Vatican and the splendour of the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s are beyond compare. Some say too sumptuous and jewel-laden, but then, God is good and nothing is too good for God.
We were privileged as a group to attend a 5 o clock mass in the Basilica - very special indeed.
On our last full day we visited the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon. Tired, but exhilarated, we flew home.
Oh yes, what did I sing in Pompeii? Pete St John wrote his version and we’ve ours; The Fields Of Bartlemy!
App?
