When in Rome. I usually go to a church to enjoy the beauty and solitude. I like old synagogues, the ones in Europe, and cathedrals. I like how these places smell, and the quiet. And they are pretty.
The last one I went to was the cathedral in Merida, on the Yucatan. Jesus, half the gold they dug out of the New World is in that place. The Mexicans claim it is the oldest cathedral in the Americas. Art, relics, quiet, Frankincense and Myrrh in the air. The night before I was atop another temple a few miles away, the Uxmal ruins, part of the Chichen Itza complex, contemplating the skies the night the world was supposed to end.
My Log for late December, 2012 reads:
Acquired an absolutely lovely passenger/aspiring first mate at KW and delivered her to a little yoga clinic in Celestún around sunset the Friday those kids were murdered in Newtown, CT. Was on top of Uxmal temple the night the world was supposed to end. Went to a beautiful Christmas eve midnight mass for the first time in years at the old cathedral in Merida… …really strange. This trip started with a Buddhist lady expat out of KW who took me straight to the Yucatan interior in her Jeep so we could lay at the top of a Mayan temple under the stars, then she dragged my sorry, unrepentant ass to Midnight Mass a few days later, and now I have a seriously radical priest on board. We’re headed for Montserrat… ..a very interesting trip. And no drunks. So nice…
If there’s a service going on, I mimic the people around me. I show respect for the things that are important to these people. I also stand at attention during national anthems when I’m the foreigner and it’s their flag and country. They appreciate it, and it cost me nothing.