At dinner with Carole a week ago, she agreed to arrange for us to visit the Chamber of Deputies in session. She thought Wednesday would be best, because the most important matters usually are brought up in the middle of the week. They are in session Tuesday through Friday, with most members returning home on Friday. Many are not present for either Tuesday or Friday. We had not heard from her, so Hilary called at 8. She said call back in ten minutes, which Hilary did. The website, Carole said, showed nothing exciting, a non-controversial treaty ratification and an agro-tourism bill. She took our birth dates and passport numbers to fax in, which she would do immediately, and instructed us to go to the door on the Piazza del Parlamento side of the building marked #25 in time for the session scheduled to start at 11.

This proved to be a true E-tah-lee experience. We got to #25 at 10:30 or so, but it was locked. We went to #24 at the other end of the building. After going through security in a small lobby, we went to the "ticket window" and were met there with pleasant but firm nos. We were not on any list. Besides, the entrance for the likes of us was #25. Although their English was limited, the uniformed folks there seemed to understand what was going on and were sympathetic to our plight. Telephone calls were made. We were then taken a little further into the building where were turned over to a very nice reception official, also uniformed, who knew Carole. She had good English. After checking lists and making calls, she asked if she might call Carole which, of course, was fine. She did, and then I spoke with Carole. "They —-ed up," saith Carole, who is quite forthright. They lost her fax. She refaxed, and in ten minutes we had our approval. As we were leaving, Hilary admired the small bow in the colors of the Italian flag our fried was wearing on her uniform, which she generously presented to the American guest.

Then it was back to #25, where we were greeted with some deference and escorted up to the visitor’s gallery.

It was now about 11, but the session did not get underway until 11:30. So we cooled our heels. As the session began, we were given very strict instructions re decorum–much like the US House and Senate. Here, however, men are not to cross their legs, and when I did, I was reprimanded. The ornate, paneled chamber is majestic, a high domed ceilinged amphitheater with tiered seating for members. The visitor boxes, each seating about 20 people ring the chamber above the members’ seats. There were just a handful of us.

Debate was getting underway as we were seated and the business at hand, the treaty I assume, was taken up expeditiously. The government benches were sparsely attended. Across form them were seated the members managing the measure. About six of them spoke. There were frequent votes, 14 while we were there according to my count, conducted electronically. On these, there were around 400 of more than 600 members casting votes and they were all near unanimous.

After about 30 minutes, a recess was declared and we had to leave the chamber. According to the attendant, there was absolutely no way of predicting when they might resume. So we decided to leave. We had sampled the atmosphere of the place, and I had gotten an impression of the floor–the chatter, the buzz, taking and making phone calls, working on notebooks, ambling about greeting one another and whispering in one another’s ears. It brought to mind the Texas House of Representatives in the 1950s when I worked two sessions there as a university student.

Our friend who arranged our entrance asked us to come back by when we were finished with the Chamber and she would show us around a bit. We did so for that purpose and to thank her again, but she had gone out.

We spent a little time in the Chamber’s store in a nearby building and picked up a few small items. On our way out, we saw on the television feed that they were back at work, now on the agro-tourism bill, but we did not make an effort to go back in.

It was lunch time, and we searched the area for a place we had eaten in before and liked, but it was not to be found. We wound up at LaFonella on Piazza Borghese, an upscale place. We shared hot grilled vegetables. Hilary had spaghetti canbanara in a great sauce and a 4 euro Coke. I had gnocchi in black truffle sauce. After eating, since were at the piazza, we checked out the print and book stalls again to no avail.

Next stop was the Vatican, which we reached by taxi. I had forgotten that today is Wednesday, that there had been an audience this morning meaning that St. Peter’s had been closed, and thus it was likely that the crowd this afternoon would be quit large. And it was when we got there around 3. It did not take us long to get in, hover, and we spent and hour and a half there, but essentially suffering the same problems and distractions that I described after our previous visit.

I was able to spend some quiet moments in the Chapel of St. Sebastian, however. The little fellow in the picture is the only person I saw truly at peace.