This is Sybil’s last journal. Following the death of her husband in 2002, Sybil and her daughter Ellen fly to Rome for a final journey.
After switching hotels to be close to the Spanish Steps, Sybil and Ellen speed to the Vatican for a special audience with the pope. Their VIP tickets, acquired from a family member, are for the third row in a large auditorium. Behind the two women sit nearly 300 young Italian soldiers waiting to see if they will be shipped out to Iraq. It is clear that Sybil disagrees with the war in Iraq as she comments that she is sad to see so many people who might soon be involved in a “war without the dimension of just war.” Very rarely in her writings does Sybil side so clearly against a political event.
After Pope John Paul II happily waves to the audience, Sybil and Ellen take a tour of the Vatican. She writes of the nostalgia of reliving her wedding having taken place there over thirty years prior, “everywhere I turned I saw Cliff’s smiling face…and I imagined I heard well-wishers calling out, “Auguri, Dottore Morris, Auguri!” ”.
After some Bolognese and site seeing of different churches, Sybil and Ellen catch a train to Florence to revisit the Uffizi Gallery. Even in old age, Sybil stays true to her primary influences of art and her faith.
One night, after dinner, Sybil is surprised to hear the local taxi drivers on strike. Walking a mile back to their hotel proved a challenge for the aging travel writer yet she writes that hearing a local musician’s rendition of Beethoven kept her mind away from complaining about tired feet.
A bus ride to Siena leads Sybil to the home of St. Catherine of Siena. A Hermit Sister from South Africa was their informational guide on St. Catherine. Although Sybil had a strong relationship with her faith and an interest in all Catholic saints, she instead writes about this guide, calling her the “essence of sweetness and gentleness”. Before leaving Siena, Sybil and Ellen agree that this sister was a gift from God.
On Christmas day, Sybil and Ellen return to L’eau Vive, the French restaurant run by nuns where her rehearsal dinner was held back in 1972. She writes that the sisters who run the restaurant were all dressed in their native dress for the occasion of Christmas, dancing among their diners while performing the Nativity scene. It proved to be another precious occasion to Sybil and the last time she would visit this beloved location.
Before leaving Rome, Sybil and Ellen stop once more by St. Peter’s to see the nativity display and to collect souvenirs. On the way to the airport, Sybil writes, “the refrain, “Arriverderci, Roma” played in my head and never stopped.” In truth, the rhythm of travel, to Rome and all over the world, continued to play for Sybil until her death on April 25th, 2010.