Part 2 in Scotland

April 25 - 27

When we returned to her home, her Polish boyfriend, Mattis, made us "instant borscht"! It was delicious. They put me up in the big closet where Faracy's mom stays when she visits. It was cozy and warm. This Californian doesn't think 10 degrees is balmy.

4/25 Spent the next few days acclimating, relaxing, and touring Edinburgh. Scotland is very beautiful in Spring. And Nature was just beginning to bud, and branch, and flower when I arrived.

No idea what these are, but they're purple!

Slept in the first day and wandered around Clerk Street. Mattis sent me to an Eastern European Deli on that street next to a Charity Shop [where I found an excellent book, "Folktales of the Scottish Border." ] The Deli had wonderful rye breads, meats, Polish mustard, and cheeses. I went there every other day.

View of Arthur's Seat from Clerk Street

 Was really lost around Princes Street, and boarded a tram instead of a bus. A dapper Scotsman in a stunning black plaid suit offered to escort me back to the proper transfer spot and intervened for me with the ticket taker.
[Wish I'd taken a photo of him, but I did snap one of this darling child at a 'brass' concert inside the  Natl. Gallery on 4/26].

Just love her shoes! She was listening to the music at the museum.

My niece, Caira, would probably like to play this.

Fine Scottish Establishment - had to check it out.

That evening Mattis made us real beef Borscht with the dumplings. Really yummy. 

4/27

Season of the Witch opening. Faracy is a well-known artist in the Edinburgh art scene. She had organized this event with five other artists, and at the opening, several paintings sold in the 300-500 pound range, including this one which was also used for the poster for the event.

 

 I had a few things with me I'd brought for the conference in Rome, and had set up shop in a window area and sold a print [dancing toads on the left] and an amber necklace for 50 pounds.
I was asked to speak about May Day and its customs and was happy to share my knowledge with the crowd for about 10 minutes.

The show was quite a successful event. There was even a belly dancer, and Faracy was well dressed for the show.

Scotland

April 24

The flight from Rome to Edinburgh was on Brussels airlines which seems much improved from the last time I flew them. Faracy picked me up at the Haymarket tram station which I took from the airport. I had stopped at the 'information' desk [which I always do in a new country] to find out about public transit, maps, and local attractions. I had never met Faracy before, but had spoken with her on Shane's phone when she called while I was visiting Minneapolis last March.

They've been friends since high school, and I was staying at Shane's in Minneapolis at the time. It was very serendipitous. I had intended to be in Crete for May Day, but my plans had fallen through, and Faracy invited me to come and stay with her and celebrate in Scotland. This is my first trip. It was 10 degrees cooler than Italy, but spring was springing out all over in late April.

This is where I stayed with Faracy Moon Grouse in Edinburgh.

17 Gladstone Terrace

It was not a long flight, and Faracy was done hanging her art show, so we picked up her daughter and drove out to view Arthur's Seat.
Went to the place where the show was to open on Friday.

And here I am at 'the Castle' which is near Arthur's Seat and where the Art Show will open.

day 4, end of Congress

On the 4th day we met at our hosts' [MTR] headquarters about a 10 minute walk from our flat. Inija's going back to Lithuania today after the Congress. Last night we had a 'farewell' dinner at an Osteria nearby. She ordered a tuna steak. Neither one of us had ever had one. I've seen her order tuna on a pizza, but the tuna steak was absolutely delicious [and I'm not very fond of any fish]. The night before I encouraged her to try Eggplant Parmargiana. She'd never had that dish before either, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't think I've never seen an eggplant in Lithuania. This trip we're really enjoying the Italian food in our neighborhood. One of the reasons we walked so many place was because even with a bus stop a half block from our flat, the buses were eternally late.

But I digress. We arrived early, but chatted and said goodbye to a lot of the others who were leaving later in the afternoon.

Wall at the headquarters.

The last day we finish up any loose ends and entertain proposals for the next meeting. No decision was made, but it may be Spain in 2020.

MTR roughly translates as Traditional Roman Movement. This is behind where the organizers were sitting for the meeting.
I took it before they arrived.

We finished our business early for us, although Inija left early to catch her plane. A bunch of us wandered to a nearby restaurant and had a lovely time.

Starting on the left, PhD Lady from Ukraine, next three are Letts, bearded Slovenian, Belgian Lady, another Lett, Marianna from Czech Republic.

At lunch with the Latvians [or Letts] who asked me to sing 3 songs, but I heard 'tree' songs, so I sang 'em two about trees. The other tables applauded and one of them sang us a song.

Originally, I was going to Crete for May Day with Melissa, but she couldn't make it this trip, so I spent an extra day to recover in Rome being a tourist. I've already posted the painting I made of the wall, but here is the wall on my last night in Rome.

Goodbye Rome, goodbye Aurelian Wall outside my window.

 My plane left on [4/24] for Scotland.

More ECER

At the end of the second day, we just made it to the Pantheon before it closed.

the Pantheon.

Pantheon Ceiling

Interior

The next day the Letts and some of the others said they missed me singing songs, but I told them dinner was just too late for us, and they said they didn't leave the place till after midnight. We were really glad we'd skipped it.

On the third day of the Congress, the host group usually takes everyone on a tour. Ours took us to the Palantine Hill and the Coliseum. Inija and I walked from our flat and headed south at the Arch of Constantine to meet the rest of the gang and head up the hill.

Walking around Rome is a pleasure.

 It's easy to see why and how Augustus and Livia turned this into the best neighborhood in town.

This ancient fountain is still working after thousands of years.

White building behind the ruins is a museum.

Still beautiful after thousands of years.

Stoned again.

Roman arch. Palantine hill walk was one of the most beautiful I've ever done. Inija and I logged over 12,000 steps [8.2 km].

Inija took this in the shade at the top of the Palantine Hill near Augustus and Livia's home
 [or as Mick informed me 'Chuck & Vera's.']

And while we were there, a group photo was taken:

I'm on the far left.

On the way down, roses were passed out to all the women and we made offerings to Vesta [goddess of the Hearth; her acolytes were also the keepers of legal documents and wills].
I wrote the following chant in Her honor:
Vesta, Hearth Mother.
To Thee we give honor.
[repeated until all roses were offered]

After the tour Inija & I made a trip to Coliseum and saw these on the way:

That's a live raven hanging out on the lamp post.

And a lovely rendition in chalk on the sidewalk of this master work.

Rome takes great pictures.

More soon!

Italy, Day 2

I'm speaking about Romuva in the US on the first day of Congress.

The 2nd day was presentations from all over Europe. 

Greek Proposition

Inija spoke about Romuva obtaining recognition as a 'religion' in Lithuania, and many other groups are working towards that in their countries.

Krive Inija

We were all supposed to go to a certain restaurant for dinner. The presentations were over around 5, but the reservation was for 9 pm. Inija and I were way too tired to go out to eat that late, so we went to a neighborhood restaurant. On our way out of the Palace, our host was talking with a man on our elevator whom he introduced as the owner of the place.

palace courtyard

Must be nice! 

Palace Walls

Palace Ceiling

Even More Ceiling

Palace Is the Building on the Far Left

One of My Favorite Rooms

ECER in Italy

As I've come to suspect on Norwegian, the flight was uneventful and comfortable [considering it left three hours after its scheduled time.] At first, I was in the front row behind the bulkhead with plenty of legroom, but I don't like being squeezed into the seat and pulling the screen up and over. When I went to a restroom at the back of the plane, I noticed the penultimate row had only two seats and they were both empty! Asked the stewardess if I could move and she said, 'yes.' Now I was most comfortable. Only movie I watched, though, was "Rebel without a Cause."

It was actually a good thing my flight was delayed, since when I landed, Inija's flight was due in less than an hour, so I waited for her, and we took the shuttle together to Roma Termini. From there we walked to our fabulous apartment with the Aurelean walls across the street from our building. What a fabulous site. Marcus Aurelius was a philosopher who enjoyed arguing with himself [sound familiar?] I like the wall so much I decided to paint it.

It's a small painting, only 5 1/2 x 7 1/2. Only packed my small kit. Have to save weight for amber.

And we liked our courtyard so much, we took photos of each other. Inija was amazed hers received over 500 'likes.'

I'm just happy I finally figured out how to upload photos!

The European Congress of Ethnic Religions is always fun. The first day is when the groups introduce themselves and talk about what they've been doing for the past two years. The 2016 Congress was in Prague.  Our host group this year in Rome was the MTR [Movement Traditional Roma]. Here's how they felt:

Actually, there was a man there named Fabio who had just heard about the Congress and was only able to attend for the 1st day. When he's not in Italy, he lives in SF! He's the one who gave out the T-Shirt. Our site was unreal. It was held at the Palazza Colonnia in a palace.

That's Marcus Aurelius on top of the column.
All for now. Just glad I've started this.

END OF PART THE FIRST

Thank the Gods!

For some reason I have been unable to post on my blogs since I left the States. I'm at the airport in Stockholm and all is fine now. Off to Lithuania in a few hours and hope I can start the tale of my most recent travels

Shamanic circle on Palantine Hill in Rome