Newton family

2011-11-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

We are enjoying hiking in Sedona. Today is the last day. We'll be back soon! Here are some pics. 0f our trip! :)

2011-11-28T10:40:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Arizona with a friend and his family. We saw some cool cacti that actually looked like the cacti that people think of when people think of cacti. These cacti are not the most common cacti, as some people would believe. We have not seen very many at all.

2011-11-28T10:28:00.002-08:00

Spent Saturday at the Grand Canyon! It was cold and the wind was crisp. The day was clear and we could see the Canyon clearly with very few air pollutants clogging up the beautiful view.

The Zoo

2010-07-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

We went to the zoo a week or two ago. Holly won a coupon from the library for the zoo, and she got in free, and half price for Lloyd and a friend from the conference, Jim. Lloyd took Jim to lunch earlier on and he bought Lloyds' and his tickets. Jim is 73, or older, and a buddhist. We saw many different kinds of birds, gorillas, a tiger, a hippo, two alligators, flamingoes, orangutans, monkeys, a peacock and peahen, a huge family of wild hogs, then we went home for dinner and to drop Jim off. We went back after dinner, and saw a gigantic snake, a hedgehog, and something that looked like a hedgehog but wasn't, a giant lizard, which is called 'the Komadora dragon, koala bears, something that looked like a joey, (baby kangaroo) giraffes, rhinos, elephants, llamas, two lions, male and female, play fighting, a fox that looked more like a dog then anything else, eagles, and a panda.

Califonia!

2010-06-30T18:23:00.000-07:00

Lloyd and Holly are successfully installed in California. We headed to the beach twice last week, first time we got wetter then expected! Second time wasn't as great. Went there early evening, as high tide was coming in. Shadowed by a cliff, we made camp on the highest ground to be found, five inches above everywhere else. Holly stood on some rocks, with a friend, Lloyd went for a walk, when suddenly, a gigantic, fluke wave tried to steal our stuff! Holly yelled at our friend; Sarah Jane, "your bag! Your bag!" And both, unintentionally, got wet again! Sarah Jane, a fellow Aristotilion, wrote on her facebook page; Aristotle floated like a witch! Lloyd, who was returning from his walk, cried "where are the keys? Where is my cell?" Luckily for her, after Holly's watch was stolen, it was returned, with the next wave. Searched for the keys, but, to late! Lucky us, Holly forgot her cell at the house, so we still have it. Dinner, two margaritas, two hours, and five failed attempts at making keys later, we were able to get into the car! The house was a different matter. Holly squeezed through a tight window and unlocked the door. Broke into the landryroom the same way. Had to change locks on the mailbox though, and we all have a key now!!! Let this be a lesson for you all!

Hope you enjoyed reading about this adventure, keep posted for more!

Let's hope that they aren't as difficult as that one was to get to you!

Lloyd & Holly

2010-06-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

The Grand Canyon

2010-06-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

June 17, we visited the Grand Canyon, on our way to our friend's house, where we are spending the night on our way to California. We walked down the Grand Canyon, part way, because we were running out of time, but we think you can walk all the way down to the bottom! We are going to enjoy a fun day today, before we drive six miles to San Diego tomorrow. We are enjoying ourselves, and hope that you enjoy our pictures, as much as we enjoyed the Grand Canyon!

Back to the Daily Grind

2009-02-28T16:47:00.001-08:00

Today we celebrated Alexander's tenth birthday. He was surprised to see a cake in the shape of R2 D2 waiting for him on the kitchen table. Mom was worried that he might not recognize it. But he did and he loved it. Instead of singing happy birthday to him, we all hummed the Star Wars theme as he blew out all the candles.

There's no place like home!

2008-11-22T14:35:00.002-08:00

Home at last!

Maggie's First Communion

2008-11-16T10:27:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Maggie received her first Holy Communion at St. Paul's outside the walls in Rome in the year of St. Paul.

Papal Audience

2008-11-13T10:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, despite threatening rain and cold winds, we waited about 3 hours for the Pope. It was really great to see him and the kids were excited too. I got a few good pictures, which I will be uploading shortly. I don't have the best internet connection here.

We are staying at a Catholic guest house just on the outskirts of Rome where we have a 2 room apartment and three meals a day. I have to say, Italian food is excellent, but it is just too much. For dinner, there is always a pasta course (called "first") and for the "second", there is usually a meat, a vegetable and a salad. Usually wine is served with dinner. And fruit for dessert, and of course coffee or cappucino. The meal times are different, too. Lunch is served around 1pm and lasts at least 30 minutes, and dinner is usually served around 8pm.

Ronald McDonald's David

2008-11-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

Need I say more? Thankfully, Michaelangelo was born in Florence, not the U.S.

Okay! I'll admit it. During my five months in Europe, I did see two severely obese people. However, one was American.

View from the Top

2008-11-09T01:04:00.000-08:00

Went to the top of the highest building in Florence this weekend--the duomo, or Cathedral. You can see the shadow of it in the picture.

A Room with a View

2008-11-09T00:59:00.000-08:00

We went to an Olive Oil farm to learn how olive oil is made. It was a surprisingly small farm, but the results were beautiful. The tour included a lovely lunch, complete with fresh olive oil and gourmet dessert. Part of the farm was a large manor house that was originally built about 200 years ago and updated 100 years ago. It is the house that was used in the film "Room with a View" and "Tea with Mussolini" which were both set in Tuscany.

Tree Experience

2008-11-02T11:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we decided to have a little fun. We all went to the "Tree Experience" together and put on harnesses and tested our bravery and strength. Even Maggie climbed up. We all had a great time.

San Gimignano

2008-10-28T12:12:00.005-07:00

On Saturday we went to a walled medieval town called San Gimignano. It was a beautiful day, and the town was really nice. In medieval times, in many cities (Forence is one of them), people built tower houses for safety. I guess there was a lot of thievery and fighting going on and living in towers kept people safe. It would be a lot harder to break into a tower than a house. Anyway, San Gimignano still has 15 of its original 72 towers.

On the day we were there, we heard a free outdoor concert by a Canadian high school brass band. At the same time, there was a special festival going on with all the artisans from the city showcasing their art and even performing art for us. Opa bought a leather belt from a leather crafter and we watched a man create things out of alabaster, and Maggie was given a small bud vase. There was a potter who created a beautiful hand made vase in only 10 minutes. When you watch them, they make it look so easy! There were some people preparing a temporary wood-burning kiln for firing the pottery.

We saw a castle ruin and we had a glass of wine at a "wine museum" and then we walked around the old wall that bordered the city.

Michelangelo's David

2008-10-24T03:55:00.000-07:00

We went to the Academia today and saw the famous statue of David. Stunning.

The Character of Italy

2008-10-22T03:13:00.000-07:00

I recently read that it is an 'insult' to an Italian's intelligence to comply with a regulation. The following is the explanation, which pretty well summarizes Italian culture.

"Do you see that red light? It looks the same as any other red light anywhere in the world, but it's an Italian invention. It's not an order, as you might naively think. Nor is it a warning, as a superficial glance might suggest. It is actually an opportunity to reflect. . . .

"When many Italians see a stoplight, their brain perceives no prohibition (Red! Stop! Do not pass!). Instead, they see a stimulus. OK, then. What kind of red is it? A pedestrian red? But it's seven in the morning. There are no pedestrians about this early. That means it is a negotiable red; it's a 'not-quite-red.' So we can go. Or is it a red at an intersection? What kind of intersection? You can see what is coming here, and the road is clear. So it's not a red, it's an 'almost red,' a 'relative red.' What do we do? We think about it for a bit, then we go."

On another note, in America we have the old proverb: "You can't have your cake and eat it too" (Of course, as I've always said, you can have your cake and eat it, but you can't eat your cake and have it." But that is beside the point. The Italian version is much, much better.

To get the same point across, the Italians have the following proverb: "You can't have your bottle full and your wife drunk."

Cinque Terra

2008-10-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

Dad arrived yesterday after a mostly uneventful flight. Only a short 4-hour delay in Boston. We are glad to see him again and he was very happy to be here with us!

Today's title is Cinque Terra, but we only made it to Una Terra. We took a couple of wrong turns and only reached RioMaggiore, the first of the 5 cities, it was 1pm, then we had to find a parking spot, that took 30 minutes, then we had to walk into town from the parking spot and that took another hour, so by the time we got there, it was 2:30 or 3:00 and then the water of the Mediterranean lured us to itself. We started by putting our toes in, but the waves were big and we all got wet. So we sat in the sun to dry off. Then another hike to get off the beach, stopped for gelato, walked a little further, realized Maggie's sweatshirt got left behind, went back to get it, and got sidetracked when we stopped to watch the dolphins jumping in the sea. That was pretty cool. By then we were all too tired to go to the second terra. Quite an adventure. It was made even more interesting by squeezing 6 of us into a 5-seater car! But the one we saw was very beautiful and I hope you can see some of the beauty by the small pictures attached.

Florentine Art

2008-10-15T13:48:00.000-07:00

Another week in Italy, another adventure. Friday was Holly's birthday, and she was a trooper to have to spend the first half of it in an art museum. We went to the Uffizi with our class to see up close the many pieces of artwork that we have all seen so many times: Lippi's Madonna and Child, Michelangelo's Holy Family and Botticelli's Birth of Venus. These are the three pictures above. Learning about these famous artists and then seeing their work in person is very exciting. It's also exciting to know that Michelangelo, Leonardo, Botticelli, Giotto, Fra Angelico, Donatello, Cimabue and many other great artists were either born or trained in Florence. Go to www.uffizi.com to see more info.

We're also working on a couple of projects in art class, one being to represent a piece of art. Mine is San Lorenzo church, which is an amazing church, and famous world-wide for being the first church built in Florence, then the first church to be rebuilt in the renaissance style. It houses some very famous works of art that are just awesome to see.

A Day in Rome

2008-10-07T13:03:00.005-07:00

Today we spent the day driving to Rome, visiting St. Peter's and driving home. What a beautiful day. St. Peter's was amazingly beautiful and overwhelming. The size of the church was just incredible. We walked around looking at everything, spent some time praying, and then went downstairs to the tombs. We prayed for all of you in front of Pope John Paul II's tomb, and I found that very moving. I hope that when we come back in November we will be able to see Pope Benedict XVI in the flesh.

Only a couple of construction setbacks and a little bit of traffic and it took us 4 hours to drive to Rome. For those of you in the U.S., you probably wouldn't believe the cost of the highways here. The main highways are tollways, and when we drive for about 2 1/2 hours, the cost was 13.80 euro. That is about $20 for a one-way trip to Rome. Or $40 for the day trip. And I wouldn't say that the roads are always worth the price, either. Then we needed a litre of oil for the engine. Lloyd paid 11 euros for one litre! That is about $17!!! Not to mention the parking garage (25 euro for the whole day). But despite the cost, and including gas (and oil) it was still cheaper to drive to Rome than to take the train. It may have been a bit less stressful, however. We left the house this morning at around 8am and got back just before 8pm, and in fact, just in time for a very delicious Italian barbecue at the Villa! A nice change from pasta!

The Feast of St. Francis -- Oct 4

2008-10-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend was the Fall break for the students. They all went away and we had plans to visit some friends in Rome. Our plans didn't work out as we had hoped, so we stayed at the Villa and had a quiet weekend. On Saturday we went into Florence to enjoy the city again. We found an Oktoberfest market in the piazza in front of Santa Croce. There were lots of brats, beer and crafts from Germany. We went to the Saturday vigil Mass at Santa Croce. It was the feast of St. Francis, and Santa Croce is a Franciscan church, so there were special festivities there. The Cardinal Archbishop did the Mass and the Florence City Council attended. There was a procession, which I tried to get a picture of, and failed. They had special Florentine costumes on, they held banners with the Florence flags and they blew trumpets and carried flowers. It was all very unique and special.

Tomorrow we leave early for our Rome trip to see our friends, Father Hart and Mrs. Hart from Fort Worth. Maggie will be receiving the sacrament of Confession from Fr. Hart.

Today we decided that it is time to come back home. So we changed our tickets and are making arrangements to leave when the semester is over here. We will be flying on Ryan air into Frankfurt and flying from Frankfurt back to Kansas City. We should be arriving home on November 20 in the evening. The semester will be ending with ten days spent in Rome with the students.

Perugia and Assisi

2008-10-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, September 27, we got on a bus with all the students and headed toward Assisi and Perugia. It was a 2-hour drive. We had a private tour guide who was born and raised in Perugia and who specializes in giving tours in Perugia and Assisi. He was fabulous and gave us some great information that made the trip really worthwhile. Now that we have started taking a class on Florentine Art History, I am familiar with the Florentine Renaissance artists. So I looked at the frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue in the Basilica of St. Francis with a new eye. The students enjoyed the trip too, but I think they enjoyed the wine and chocolate more than the artwork. On the way home, we stopped at an old castle and explored. That was pretty cool!

Weekend alone--1st mini Marathon

2008-09-28T03:54:00.000-07:00

While Lori and the kids went back to Perugia and Assisi this weekend, I stayed here alone. On Saturday night, I went to Prato to see my favorite Italian band, Funk Off. They put on the best concerts I've ever seen. Check them out on youtube if you have a chance. Then on Sunday, I ran my first mini-marathon, a 12K race through the hills of Florence. I still can't believe I ran 12K today. My legs are going to be hating me for the next few days.

Pictures from this week in Florence

2008-09-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures we took in Florence this week.

Siena September 14

2008-09-13T16:18:00.001-07:00

Today we spent our day in Siena in the pouring rain. It was beautiful, even in the rain. Amazing art work in the churches and museums. Also, it is amazing to think that when this art was being created, it was thought of as nothing more than "work" from the hands of hired workers.

Villa Morghen

2008-09-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

You can see more pictures and more information if you go to www.villamorghen.com.

Wednesday, Sept 3

2008-09-03T06:34:00.000-07:00

School has officially started--both for the BC students and for the Newtons. The Newton kids are not too happy that vacation is actually over. They seem to think that they should still be on vacation since we are away from home. The BC students have a bit better attitude about their schoolwork. I am enjoying meeting the students and the kids are in friend-heaven. They have been playing non-stop with college students. When they're not playing cards (memory, Cash, Golf, etc) or ping pong, they're finding a spot beside someone new at the dining room table or on the bus on the way to Florence. We have been going into Florence every day just to get used to doing it and to learn our way around. Soon we'll be starting our cultural classes with museums and artwork, etc. This Saturday we are planning a day in Orvieto for a street-performer festival.

Florence and Settignano

2008-09-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Settignano on Monday, August 26. It is nice to be settled into our "own" place, at least for the next 12 weeks. Settignano is a suburb of Florence, which is on a hill that overlooks Florence. It gives us a beautiful view of Florence, especially at sunset.

We have been exploring Florence by bus, which the kids are loving. It is convenient to be on the bus and leaving the car behind because there are no worries about where to park, how much is parking, will I get a ticket?, etc. We are about ready to sell our car and just relax and enjoy the Florentian lifestyle.

Four students arrived today and we had a good time with them in Florence having pizza and gelato. I look forward to a fun and educational semester.

Hopefully, by the end of the semester I can have a conversation with someone in Italian that consists of more than simply asking where the bathroom is.

Florence

2008-08-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

After leaving Holland on Wednesday, August 20th, we headed back to Paris for a few days. Then on Saturday, it was off to Florence, with a brief stay in Freiburg, Germany to break up the long drive, where we once again visited old friends. Late Monday night, we finally arrived here in Florence, where we stay until November. We are staying at an old monastery, which has been converted into a language school. We have the basement apartment, which has three bedrooms and a good size kitchen. It is a wonderful place to stay. I anticipate having a great time here.

Amsterdam--Tuesday, August 19

2008-08-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, we went to Amsterdam to see the Youth Hostel where we met. We were warmly welcomed by some of the workers there. It was great to see the place again, and it brought back many fond memories.

Holland--Sunday, August 17

2008-08-20T11:24:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning we said goodbye to our new friends and headed two hours north to Holland to see our old friends, Max and Suzan Jonker. After 15 years, it was good to see them again. We knew we were in Holland by the windmills. Cool and rainy is a nice change from the hot Italian weather.

Brugges, Belgium--Saturday, August 16

2008-08-20T11:05:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Zander spent the morning learning some soccer moves, since Tom coaches a team, and we sat enjoying our coffee and pastries. After lunch we piled into the cars to go to Brugges, the city of bridges. We did more sight-seeing and chocolate-tasting. We sat at a café for dinner and sipped a glass of wine and then it was time to enjoy the “Reiefest”, which is the festival of the canals. It is once a year, and they use skits and dances to show the history of Brugges. It was quite interesting and fun, but it made for a very late evening. We didn’t get to bed until almost 2am.

Ghent

2008-08-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

Walking along the canals, seeing the bicycles and flowers, I believe this may be one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.

Belgium--Friday, August 15

2008-08-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

On Friday morning we loaded up the car and headed for Belgium. Not bad—only a 3-hour drive. We were on our way to meet Tom and his family. Lloyd met Tom in Perugia, where he was studying Italian for a month. They met in the middle of town during an open-air jazz concert. After talking for about 30 minutes that evening, they exchanged addresses and invited each other to their homes. Little did Tom know that we would take him up on his invitation! His family was so kind and gracious to have us into their home and to make typical Belgian food and then to take us out sightseeing.

After a wonderful lunch, we got on a train and headed for Ghent, about 30 minutes away. What a beautiful city, with old buildings and a real castle! The first thing we saw after getting off the bus was a stand selling homemade gingerbread and small raspberry cone-shaped candies. The gingerbread was a cheesecake-consistency and moist and absolutely delicious! The raspberry was also wonderful, but very, very sweet. The Belgian word for the candy translates as a “nose” because it is shaped like a nose!

Then, we went to Gravensteen, a castle that was built back in the 800s, which was rebuilt over a period of decades, starting in the 1800s. It is now a museum containing medieval weapons and torture instruments. The kids loved it. The tower also offered a spectacular view of the city.

We went to the Cathedral of St. Bavo in Ghent, which holds a very famous painting by Jan van Eyck, called the Mystic Lamb. Here is a link to one site about St. Bavo's: http://www.trabel.com/gent/gent-saintbavo.htm

Versailles-again

2008-08-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, August 14, we spent the day in Versailles. This time we went inside--we avoided the long ticket queue by purchasing tickets the day before at the supermarket. We saw the Dauphin's apartments, the Hall of Mirrors, Marie Antionette's Grand and Petit Trianons. There was more to see, but after walking for seven hours, we felt we got our money's worth.

Chartres, France

2008-08-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, August 13, we took a trip to Chartres, which was an absolutely amazingly charming town, complete with stream and romantic bridges. We stopped in the Cathedral and climbed up about 300 or so steps to get up to the bell tower. At the top, my legs were a bit wobbly, but what an amazing view!

August 7-13 France

2008-08-13T02:49:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have been jealous of our trip, this is the week you can be glad you are not in our shoes. After twisting his ankle last week, Lloyd came down with a pretty bad cold. Of course, he shared it with everyone else, so now we are all sick. We did discover that you can now watch any television show on the internet, so we've made great use of our time watching Lost, Monk, Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and a few old episodes of All in the Family.

We are hoping to go to Chartres today, but at the rate we are going, we may not get out of the house in time. On Friday, we plan to go to Belgium to stay with a student that Lloyd met in Perugia. Then on Sunday, we head to Holland, where we will stay with some old friends of Lori's family, whom we have not seen in 15 years.

By the way, I think this is the best smile on Maggie that anyone has ever captured on a camera. We look forward to any comments.

Versailles

2008-08-06T04:41:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Versailles to walk around the gardens and have a picnic lunch. We were planning on buying tickets to the palace and to Marie Antoinette's garden after we finished lunch. But on the way to look at the boats in the canal, Lloyd stepped in a hole (that he couldn't see) and twisted his ankle. We came back home to let him ice it and rest. Hopefully in a day or two, he'll feel better.

The Chapel of the miraculous medal

2008-08-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal. It is right in Paris, and we had no trouble finding it. We went to the daily Mass at 10:30 this morning, and the chapel was packed. There seemed to be various nuns, locals and lots of pilgrims. You can find out more about the chapel at http://www.chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com/EN/a.asp

We saw the incorrupt body of the saint, which was on display in a glass case.

It was another beautiful day in Paris! And to top it all off, we decided to have an evening picnic on the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower. Nice view at night!

Free Museum Day in Paris!

2008-08-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

The first Sunday of every month, most museums in Paris are free, so we planned to see two, maybe three museums today, depending on the crowds. We went first to the Musee D'Orsay to see many works of pre-impressionists, impressionists and post-impressionists. There was almost no wait there at all. We spent the morning just enjoying the beautiful artwork. We brought a picnic lunch with us, which we enjoyed in the Tuileries Gardens. Maggie, particularly, enjoyed feeding her breadcrumbs to the pigeons and the fish in the pond. Next we stood in line at the Louvre so we could see the Mona Lisa. The queue was about 45 minutes long, with a little rain sprinkled in. It was so crowded inside that it was all we could do to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. The kids enjoyed it and were ready when it was time to leave. Next we decided that there was enough time to see the Orangerie museum, which has a number of Monet's water lilies on enormous panoramic canvases.

On the way back to the house, we decided that we had a little time left in the day to see the Arc de Triomph. What a long day, but very rich.

Paris, part 2

2008-08-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

Another day in Paris, another trip around the Arc de Triomph. Today we went to Notre Dame Cathedral for a tour in English and a vigil Mass. The Mass was packed, but beautifully done.

Vive la Paris!

Paris!

2008-08-02T02:37:00.001-07:00

Our house in Paris has been the best so far, in terms of sleeping arrangements and comfort. There are actually four bedrooms and three bathrooms. Not to mention the basement playroom, books, dvds and toys for the kids. Also an actual yard for them to play in.

The drive here was brutal. About 14 hours after a stop-off in Settignano. We left at 4:30 in the morning so we wouldn't arrive too late. It was a long, long drive and very hot, especially when we got stuck in some rush hour traffic in the sun. The rest stops in France were by far the nicest we have encountered on the road trip. For some reason, the Italians don't think toilet seats are necessary, or even toilet paper, for that matter, and this can be troublesome when you have small-ish girls who need help with the handicaps!

But we arrived in time to be met by Pacal, the owner, who showed us around and gave us some useful information about Paris and the surrounding area.

We spent the first day here relaxing and planning out a trip into the city. Friday, we made our way straight to the Eiffel Tower. The day was cool and overcast, too, much to our relief. We all made the trip up the first 680 steps of the tower, even Maggie, with no help at all! What a view from the (semi) top. After a picnic on the grass at the bottom of the tower, we drove around Paris in the direction of Notre Dame and decided to head home when we realized that traffic was getting thicker and there was no chance of turning off the main street. So we turned on the GPS, which promptly directed us to turn around and head straight for the Champs-Elysees! That was the last place I wanted to drive, but having no choice, I gritted my teeth and hung on to the steering wheel for dear life! I managed to navigate through the crazy Paris traffic (the craziest are the scooter drivers who will knock off your side mirrors if you don't give them enough room to get in between the lanes) while the rest of the family enjoyed the sights. And we made it home in one piece!

Today we are planning on going back to Notre Dame for evening Mass, and then back again tomorrow for the Free Museum Sunday. The first Sunday of every month a few museums are free all day, including the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay. I hope to let the kids see the Mona Lisa, if the lines are not too long.

Supposedly, half the city leaves for vacation at the beginning of August, and it appears to be true. Both of our close neighbors have left early this morning, leaving us plenty of room to park the car. This should make it easier to get through Paris and to find parking on the streets.

Au revoir.

Orvieto

2008-08-02T00:13:00.000-07:00

The last week of July. It is hard to believe how fast summer is passing. On Saturday, 26 July, we headed to Orvieto, stopping at Todi on the way. Although it is hard to believe, I was starting to get jaded seeing another medieval town, each with at least seven grand churches that were starting to look all alike. But then, to my surprise, was the Duomo (Cathedral) of Orvieto. What a sight--with its black and white stripes and impressive facade. Orvieto quickly became my favorite medieval town, or at least my favorite Duomo (to see more, you can search pictures of it on google images).

Monday was our last day in Perugia, so we spent it in Assisi, of course. True, Assisi is a major tourist site, but given that most of the tourists seem to be on a religious pilgrimage, it is actually very refreshing. Everywhere you look you see Franciscan monks and nuns. They have the best scholarly bookstore for works of Scotus and Ockham that I have ever seen.

We headed to Florence on Tuesday, where we spent the day at Villa Morghen. Then, on Wednesday, it was an excruciatingly long drive to Paris, which lasted about 14 hours in the car. The only compensation was seeing the Alps in Southern France.

Perugia

2008-07-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Perugia on July 17. Although we had not planned it this way, it turned out that we arrived in time for a good portion of the international Umbrian Jazz Festival. So from Thursday through Sunday, our days were filled relaxing and listening to great music.

Perugia is home to a major Italian university (about 40,000 students), as well as a very large foreign language school, where people from all over come to learn Italian. One benefit is that there is a regularly scheduled English Mass, which we found on Sunday afternoon. However, since it is summer, and the students are all gone, we had the rare privilege of having a private Mass (one other guy came in after the homily—otherwise, we were the only ones there). It was very special, to say the least.

On Monday, we trekked to San Pietro in Perugia, where we met Fratelli Anselmo, an old college friend of Prior James. He gave us the most spectacular tour of the church and attached Abbey. Besides seeing a painting by Caravagio, we saw 300 year old vestments, the library, a museum containing various scientific seismographic machines invented by the monks there, and the recently discovered crypt, which dates back to the 3^rd century. It was an unforgettable day.

On Tuesday, we headed to Assisi, where we had another fabulous day. One of the highlights was meeting Kyle, a young man who is entering a monastery in September. It is great to see young people give themselves entirely to Christ and the Church. Here is a link to his blog, if you would like to learn more about this amazing young man. http://www.anyoneseenkyle.blogspot.com/

On Wednesday, we headed to Spello and Spoleto. Spello is a very small, medieval town. Quite quaint. Spoleto, though, has been one of my favorites, so far (at least what I saw of it). Although much of the town is covered with scaffolding, it has one of the most amazing bridges I ever saw, an old aqua duct, called the Ponte della Torri. It is 80 meters high and 240 meters long, spanning an incredible valley. Apparently, it was the main water source during the Middle Ages. I can't imagine how they built it, or how many died trying to build it! You can walk across the bridge for some of the most spectacular views imaginable. On the other side is a walking path that hugs the face of the mountain, also with incredible views. So if you are interested in combining a great medieval town with the austere beauty of walking through the forest of a mountain, you should visit Spoleto.

Trisulti july 14, 2008

2008-07-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Our last week in Veroli! On Sunday, we attended a Gregorian Mass with the monks at Casamari. Today, we went back to Certosa Trisulti, a Cistercian Abbey about 30 kilometers from here. I had visited this Abbey the first day I came with Pio and Dante, and I took Lori and the kids there a couple of weeks ago, only to find out that, like all of Italy, it was closed from 12:00-16:00. The monastery is famous for its farmacia, which is one of the oldest pharmacies in the world. Sadly, there are only 7 monks there. Like Subiaco, the monastery is located within breath-taking mountain scenery. The area has a majestic quality, very austere, yet absolutely beautiful.

On the way to visit Trisulti, we stopped off at a large cave--famous for its stalactites and stalagmites. The kids loved that. A real cave, complete with bats! Being inside the cave also gave us a temporary respite from the heat.

Subiaco & a night out!

2008-07-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

Today, we headed to Subiaco, where St. Benedict began his monastic life. The monastery is seated in breath-taking mountains near Rome. That St. Benedict would become famous here is, in itself, quite a miracle--not the place where one would expect fame, which is obviously why St. Benedict chose this area. The Mass was not as well attended as I expected, but I'm glad we went. To get there, we drove through some amazing mountains, with roads that turned left, then right, then left again, then right again, and so on, every few meters, for miles and miles. If there were a major highway from here to there, we could have made it in 15 minutes or less, but as it was, it took us over an hour.

For the evening, we were invited to a local dance competition, featuring the evolution of dances through the ages. The high-light, in my opinion, was watching Italian couples dance to American Country and Western music that was about living in Mexico. Now that is multi-cultural. Caio e Buona Sera!

Fossanova

2008-07-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

Our fifth week was a blur. We lost internet connectivity for 3 days.

On Monday, we went to the Abbey of Fossanova, where Aquinas died, which is pictured at the left. Surprisingly, Fossanova was not high up on a mountain (as are the Abbeys of Montecassino and Trisulti), but was rather in a relatively flat valley. The Abbey and other buildings on the grounds were very well kept, and has been made very tourist-friendly. More importantly, the Abbey had a gift shop full of books pertaining to the Catholic faith and Aquinas in particular.

We also got to spend another day at the beach--a beach called San Felice Circeo. It was a very windy day, which cooled the air and made very high waves. The kids had a great time playing in the waves, but at one point, a big wave washed over Maggie and she lost her glasses.

Last night, some friends took us to Castle Fumone, where Pope Celistine V was imprisoned by Pope Boniface VIII. Castle Fumone is still inhabited, and has been in the current owner's family since the 16th century--it must be awesome to grow up in a castle that has been in the family for 500 years or so.

Tomorrow, we hope to go to Subiaco, where St. Benedict first started his monastic pilgrimage, to celebrate the Feast of St. Benedict with a special Mass.

By the way, for those of you who are complaining about high gas prices, be glad you are not in Europe, where gas is about $9.00 per gallon!

the Pope

2008-07-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, we went to Castel Gandolfo to see some friends at the University of Dallas' "Rome" Campus. Castel Gandolfo also happens to be where the Pope keeps a summer home. Wednesday happened to be the day that the Pope was arriving there. While the wives and kids stayed at the campus pool to swim, the two husbands went into the town for a little look-around. While they were there, we (the wives) saw the Papal helicopter flying overhead, which meant he was arriving. Meanwhile, the men joined a fair-sized crowd in the Piazza to see if they would be able to catch a glimpse of the Pope. Within about 5 minutes of finding a spot, the Pope appeared, waved to the crowd and walked inside his home. Pope Benedict will be leaving soon for World Youth day, so we were lucky to see him when we did.

Veroli & Alatri

2008-07-01T04:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we returned to the nearby medieval town of Veroli, while today we ventured a little further --to Alatri. Both are famous for their Cyclopedan walls--the stones of which are huge, hence the legend that they were built by the Cyclops--quite ironic given that I can only see out of one eye right now. Each town has a number of beautiful churches, very narrow streets (sometimes less than six feet wide), and great architecture. It never ceases to amaze me that people drive through these towns--but what is more amazing is the occasional single-, or even double-car, garage! Also, we often see outdoor frescoes or marian statues above doorways, often where one would least expect it!

San Tommaso

2008-06-29T03:50:00.000-07:00

St. Thomas Aquinas--my patron saint and philosophical hero--is one of the key figures in my conversion to Catholicism. So it was only fitting that we pilgrimaged to his home town of Aquino and the nearby castle remains of Roccasecca. No thanks to the Americans in WWII, the castle at Roccasecca no longer exists, but the town of Aquino is still there, although admittedly not many things pertaining to Aquinas remains. I did see a portion of a castle in Aquino where Aquinas may have lived, as well as the church of St. Maria della Libera, where Aquinas was baptized.

On a different note, before your next travels, I highly recommend a Garmin Nuvi (a GPS) that is utterly amazing. Type in your destination and it will generally take you the shortest way there, which includes winding, unnamed roads that are often in the middle of a field, and at times only the width of one car.

Boville

2008-06-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

Today we made a pilgrimage to the medieval walled town of Boville. Although the current town only dates to the early thirteenth-century, archaeological finds show that the area was inhabited since the 10th century BC. With only 3,357 houses, I was surprised to find no fewer than 7 churches within the walls and 5 outside the walls (granted, they didn't measure up to St. Peter's Basilica). From what I can tell, there are also three active convents there, which, praise God, appeared to be thriving. It is a beautiful village, where we enjoyed cappuccino and gelato.

Sacred Site

2008-06-25T00:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. The church was incredible, and there was a piece of wood from the manger of Jesus.

Going to the Doctor

2008-06-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

A word of advice: only go to the doctor in Italy if you absolutely have to. Otherwise, wait until you are back in the U.S. Today we went to see the eye specialist in Rome for a post-operative check up. The appointment was set for 9:15 am, so we got up early, rushed to the train station to get the early train to Rome, and arrived at the doctor's office right on time. . . . FIVE HOURS LATER . . . we are finally done! I can't believe we spent 5 hours in a waiting room. When we finally went into the office, we spent about 20 minutes with the doctor. All I can say is--I hope we never have to do that again!

The original plan was to see a few sights in Rome and go to Mass at St. Peter's at noon. But when we left at 2:30, we needed to eat lunch, then we went to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, and then it was time to get back to the station to catch our train. It was a hot, frustrating day, but it all turned out well. We still got to go to Rome. We saw a beautiful basilica and said some prayers. The kids got to stay home with Marisa. They had a great day. They even got to go swimming in a little kiddie pool. Another day, another new experience.

The View from our Terrace

2008-06-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

We are in Veroli, and the view is mountainous. We are enjoying dinner Al Fresco every evening and this is what we see. Almost everyday we have pasta, just so we feel more Italian. But sometimes we barbecue, too! it has been very hot here, so we try to escape the heat by staying indoors. Tomorrow, Lloyd has his appointment at the retinal specialist in Rome, so we will be leaving early in the morning. I expect another hot day.

to the beach!

2008-06-21T09:46:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the beach at Sperlonga. It is on the Southwestern coast of Italy. It was a nice, clean beach. The day was hot and the kids all got sunburned. We were a little worried about finding a "free" beach and not spending too much money, but it turned out not to be a problem. On the way back, we decided to let the Nuvi find us the shortest route home, which turned out to be all back roads, sometimes very narrow, and up and down mountains. Since it was a fairly short trip, it was pretty interesting and we got some beautiful photo ops from it.

Roma--The Eternal City

2008-06-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

We finally made it. They don't call Rome the eternal city for nothing. I think one of the reasons is because it seems to take an eternity to go from one side to the other, especially when you are walking. Why we walked, when we had metro passes, I don't know. However, we managed to walk from the Colesseum (complete with Roman soldiers) to the Spanish Steps before we called it quits for the day. I must say that the kids did surprisingly well, especially Maggie, who was quite the trooper. The gelato by the Trevi Fountain was great. However, it was a very, very hot day.

2008-06-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Veroli and Trisulti

2008-06-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a very old mountain town called Veroli. It was very hilly, rocky and quaint. We saw two gorgeous old churches with many relics inside. Markets in the morning sold everything from quilts, vegetables, fish, meat and breads. We bought some little donut-like pastries covered with sugar that were very good but would have been even better with an espresso or cafelatte. When it started to rain, we got back in the car and drove to Trisulti--an old Cistercian abbey. Here is the website with many pictures if you want to see it. http://www.casamari.it/old/trisulti_english.html

When we got there, it was closed for lunch--that is from noon until 3:30pm. Siesta time. We are still getting used to that! Everyday brings new opportunities!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

2008-06-17T06:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday we got lost in a small mountain town. The roads were unbelievably steep and narrow. It was a beautiful sunny day and the scenery was beautiful.

2008-06-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Casa Mari: we stopped in for a quick visit this afternoon and stayed for Mass. There were about 15 people there for Mass, and since it was all in Italian, I don't know what was said, but everyone who was there greeted each other warmly and I think it was a Mass for someone in their family who had died. I felt like an intruder, but no one is ever made to feel that way at church! It was truly beautiful and cool to think that St. Bernard had been there before.

Casamari

2008-06-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Today we visited a Cistercian abbey called Casamari (somehow related to or built near the house of Marius, a Roman consul). It is a beautiful monastery near Veroli. How the monks built the monastery 800 years ago is a marvel to me. St. Bernard visited the monastery. To see more about the monastery, go to: http://paradoxplace.com and click on Casamari.

First Day in Europe

2008-06-16T05:57:00.000-07:00

After arriving in Germany on a sleepless red-eye flight, we found a train to Freiburg. While on the train, the kids met a girl and her father from Russia. We invited her to play go fish with us. They had a good time and she learned a new game and a few new words. Our kids did not try to learn any Russian!

Our friends, Martina and Jaouad, invited us into their home, where we stayed for a week. We visited several small villages, along with the big city of Freiburg, where we walked around the downtown area and saw the inside of the Cathedral.

The small towns of Germany have so much charm, and we even spent one day at a "Stadt Fest", which is the town's special festival day celebrating their 1200th anniversary! There were lots of fun activities set up for children, lots of wonderful food booths, along with free-flowing wine and beer! I even shared a glass of wine with a Roman soldier.

Since Martina and Jaouad live in the black forest near the French border, we spent one day in the French city of Colmar. It was another beautiful city with interesting architechture. Some of my pictures were taken on a video camera, which I can't upload while I am here.

While in Germany, we bought a car that would fit all 5 of us plus luggage. It will help us to get comfortably from one place to another.

We started on our journey to Italy. at the first filling station, we inadvertently put diesel in the gas tank, since we couldn't read italian. There were 3 pumps: sensa plomb, diesel, and gasolio. Well, we didn't know what sensa plomb was, we knew what diesel was, so we thought gasolio sounded most like what we needed. All the pump-hoses were the same size. Within seconds of filling the tank, the engine started smoking. So we went back to the mechanic, and tried to explain what happened. There was one attendant who knew enough English to tell us that we had put diesel in the tank and they would take it out for us. It was a costly error, to say the least. The car is driving fine now and we will never make that mistake again!

Italy is beautiful, but the language barrier is difficult, so we are trying to learn a few words to help us along.

Welcome!

2008-06-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our page! With all our travels this summer, we thought this would be a great time to start a blog with lots of posts and pictures for you to enjoy!

I will be posting more soon.