Category: Italy

Yesterday (21 May) we came to a tiny place called Casa Vacanze Marilena la Cassella, in Lisciano Niccone Commune, Perugia Province, Umbria. Firstly we had to collect our lease car from near Rome airport, and I had to quickly adjust to driving a left hand drive car on the right side of the road on a fast moving motorway. After more than three months of flying, being on trains, being driven to places, this was quite a challenge. But I did well and here we are in Umbria!

After all the challenges since we left home on 8 February this is an incredibly welcome, and stunningly beautiful, haven. Last night, with the help of some other guests here, I talked to Guiseppe who owns this place with his wife Marilena. I talked briefly about our journey and my work. There is something very special about the environment here … tree clad hills, small villages, grapes and olive trees in pockets on the slopes, cultivated land on the flats. I am sure that it is not all perfect, but there is a powerful sense of harmony with nature here.

Just over a week ago, on 14 May, we arrived in Milan and next day Emma decided to join us, after three months at Origlio Steiner School near Lugano. It was wonderful to have her with us again. We are very grateful for Paolo and Iva who very kindly hosted us for four nights in Milan

On 18 May we all flew down to Rome, where we spent three nights and two days. For me this was another part of a personal journey that began in Egypt. My grandfather was in Egypt in WW1, and my father served in both Egypt and Italy in the latter part of WW2. Visiting the Colosseum and then the Palatine (the site of the main centre of historic Rome) brought back a very clear memory of my father talking about his time here in Rome. It was a place he had wanted to bring us all, a dream that he never realised in his life. This made it particularly memorable to be here with my family.

As we walked around the ruins of a civilisation that collapsed around 1500 years ago I reflected on the cycles of nature, the rise and fall of life, of civilisations. I wondered how many of the many tourists there were consciously reflecting on this in the context of the current state of our modern world. The important message is to become conscious of cyclical nature of all things, including human civilisations. Most importantly we need to be more aware of the good things that are already rising which I believe offer us true guidance for the future.