A Day in Firenze. November 20, 2010

Today Br. Mark, Pam from DENA and I trekked to Florence for the day. We too the Eurostar, so the trip only took about 90 minutes. When we got there it was raining, so we found a nice covered outdoor cafe on the piazza Duomo with a lovely view of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore and had a cappuccino to relax and plan our day.

Br Mark from Memphis.

Pam from St. Gabe's Hall

It was a truly lovely day. There's something so nice about having your morning coffee while gazing at one of the most beautiful architectural wonders.

Here are a few photos of the doors of the baptistery. These are the famous "Doors to Paradise" made by

Ghiberti. The legend has it that they are called the Doors to Paradise because when Michaelangelo saw them he refereed to them by that name and it stuck.The doors took 21 years to complete and are absolutely spectacular. Each panel represents a scene from the Old Testament. The doors are gilded bronze.

This is David killing Goliath. The detail is simply amazing.

Doors of the Basilica.

Some stone work in the front of the Basilica.

The Pentecost.

This is a fairly bad photo of the inside of the Basilica. But it's the best one I have. I was trying to get a picutre of the dome and the walls to show the contrast of opulent and simple.

They had several trees of candles through out the church. 

After the tour of the Basilica, we went to the Galleria dell Accademica to see Michael. I've never been there. Usually when I've been to Florence the line was long to get in the door.There was no line at all to get in and the Gallery was not busy at all. They had an exhibit of icons that was beautiful.

You are not allowed to take pictures in the Gallery, so our time with David was undocumented. I was not expecting to be wowed. I'd seen a jillion pictures of the statue on calendars, post cards and refridgerator magnets and have an apron hanging in my kitchen with his likeness on it. But nothing really prepared me for being in the same room with the piece. It is amazing.

After a couple of hours in the museum, we slowly strolled through the shopping area and had lunch.

For the folks in Memphis: Br. Mark at the train station.

Br. Mark on the train after a long day of shopping with the ladies. He's a real trooper!

We were back home in time for dinner at Casa Lasalle. It was a nice leisurely day. While we only saw a sliver of Florence, it was nice to just relax and take things slow. I'm ready to go back already!!!

Eat, pray, laugh. Friday, November 19, 2010.

I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged. This week has flown by. We've been so busy doing, doing, doing.

Charlie from New Orleans, Br. John from Australia, Br. Charlie from the East Coast, Montse from Spain and Br. Alfonso in the translation booth.

 Mass in the main Chapel.

 My group posing in front of the relics of St. John Baptist de Lasalle and behind the Heroic Vow. 

Not a replica. The real thing.

Br. John Baptist de Lasalle from Singapore, me, Charles from Papa New Guinea, Br. Ambrose from Maylasia, Heather from Rhode Island, Eden from the Philippines, Br. Joseph from Vietnam, Br. Ed from DENA and Br. John from San Francisco. 

 My table. Br. David, Tina, me Br. Mark and Mary. I think it's pure coincidence that Br. John and Br. Charlie (the program leaders) sit directly behind us. I'm sure it's not to supervise the trouble makers in the back.

 The mail boxes for the CIL participants.

 Br. Jason from Singapore and Tina.

I wish I knew what was being said at this moment. Neither of them look too thrilled about it.

Br. Jason giving a geography lesson at coffee break. He asked me to show him where Minnesota is on the map as he is coming to study next year. At least he was before I showed him where it is. 

 Br. Mawal is the newest staff member at CIL and is handling most of the English translation. Br. Charlie is the head of the Secretariat of the Lasallian Family and dance instructor. He has some seriously sweet moves.

 My group hard at work.

 Br. Ed and Heather. I think this picture completely captures both of their inner and outer beauty.

 The American women have a dinner out.

From left to right: Tina from the Midwest; Pam from DENA; Mary from San Francisco; Heather from DENA; Me from the Midwest; Lois from DENA; and Carol from San Francisco.

 My view from the back table.

 Fr. Felix presenting on inter religious dialog. He was excellent!! His presentation was fascinating and cause for reflection and discussion among the participants.
I was fortunate to be at his table for lunch. He speaks 9 languages. It used to be 10 but he doesn't get to practice his Persian enough. He plays the cello, but only when he thinks nobody can hear him. He has a delightful sense of humor 

 An escape from the House to find some quiet and a cup of cuppacino.

 Another picture of my group. We pose for a picture whenever someone walks by with a camera. We should be embarrassed...but we're not.

 Br. Diego Munoz presented on the history of the vow and association. He is a wonderful teacher and a great academic. We are fortunate to have him leading the effort in Lasallian research.

I took this picture this morning. The sun was shining and the rain was pouring. It was beautiful.

Tomorrow is our day off. I am going to Florence for the day to do some shopping for a very special friend.

Ciao Bellas!!

Saturday, November 13,2010

We had the entire day off today. Br. Leonardo graciously offered to take Br. Mark, Br. David, Tina and I to Assisi for the day.

This is the view of the Basilica of St. Francis and Assisi from Santa Maria degli Angeli.

 This is the view of Br. David and Br. Mark on the road below Assisi. 

You can tell by the shadows that this was taken in the middle of the afternoon. After we had the patented two hour Italian lunch. Let me tell you later about the regiano ravioli in sage butter sauce with pears.

After lunch we went to the Hermitage. It's where St. Francis retreated to pray/ I'd never been there before. It's at the top of the mountain.

This is a picture of the road to the Hermitage. As you can see the sun was getting very low in the sky at this point.

 After we had spent a couple of hours at the Hermitage, we went down to Assisi. Here's a sunset photo of the Basilica of St. Francis. We got there just in time to go into all three chapels. We had hoped to attend Mass, but there is no Mass on Saturday nights.

 The view from below the Basilica.

 Can you find Br. Mark and Br. Leonardo in this picture? It's supposed to be a picture of those two looking at the Basilica.

At this point we had walked the entire length of Assisi and needed to walk back to the other end to get our car. During the entire walk back it seemed like we were walking straight up the mountain. 

I had hoped to take pictures of windows while I was there. The homes in Assisi always have such beautiful flowers in the windows. So, I started back with that in mind. However, that's not exactly how things turned out.

So far so good. Cute window. Fairly good picture.

Still kinda ok. A little blurry but I was beginning to breath a little heavy and holding the camera still was a bit difficult.

Still recognizable. At this point I was breathing fairly heavily but was still able to stand still without leaning over. Notice the path to the right. That's the path we were on. For blocks and blocks.

At this point I was gasping for air. My face was red, my eyes were watery and I appeared I may collapse. When I stopped to take this picture a shop keeper came out and invited me to come in and sit down for a while. I think he thought it would be very bad business to have a tourist collapse right in front of his shop.
As you can tell, I was breathing so hard I couldn't hold the camera even slightly steady.

 This is the final picture before I totally gave up any hope of being able to take pictures. 

Right after I took this picture two older women (older than me) strolled by in very high heels. Seriously. 

I'd have taken a picture, but...

The good news is that I made it home in one piece and Br. David and Br. Mark admitted the climb about did them in too. Right now I'm sitting on my bed looking at my sore feet and wishing I could go back again tomorrow. I love Assisi. 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Today was group day. This morning we discussed our reflections on yesterday's presentations, created posters to represent our discussions and then presented the posters. Every member of my group was very hands on in making our poster.

I love the finished product. It represents bamboo and how we as Lasallians need to be more like bamboo. Sending out new roots, widening our base and bringing up new shoots in our home ministries.

This evening, Br. Leonardo took Tina, Br. Mark, Br. David and I on a night tour of Rome. My photos in no way represent the beauty of Rome at night.

This is St. Peter's Square. Notice the lights are on in the Papal apartment. I'm sure he was sitting up late thinking about ordaining women.

Br. Mark, Tina, Br. Leonardo and Br. David sharing theories about what the Pope watches on t.v. on Thursday nights. I heard that during Project Runway, he was on team Mondo.

 This is a little better shot. The streak to the lower right is a motor cycle. He was a little close for comfort.

 The Fountain Aquapaola.
This is right beside the Spanish Embacy.  There were guards with guns to my left as I was talking these pictures. 

The Brothers.

The Tiber at Tiberina Island.
At one point the Island was a place for criminals and the chronically ill - perhaps a leper colony. Today it has a hospital and is the home of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God and the Basilica of San Bartomeo.

 The Arch of Constantine.
The building of this began in 312 and it was dedicated in 315.

 More of the Arch of Constantine.

 The Colosseum.
Construction began approximately 70 A.D. and was completed in 80 A.D. It had seating from about 50,000.

 Another shot of the Colosseum.

 An interesting fact from Wikipedia: the local authorities of Rome change the color of the Colosseum's night time illumination from white to gold whenever a person condemned to the death penalty anywhere in the world gets their sentence commuted or is released, or if a jurisdiction abolishes the death penalty. Most recently, the Colosseum was illuminated in gold when capital punishment was abolished in the American state of New Mexico in April 2009.

 Brother Leonardo.

Brother is the Canon  Lawyer for the Christian Brothers. And he's a pretty good tour guide too! His home country is Colombia, but he drives like a Roman.

 Rome from the top of the highest hill.At night, it glows.

This is my art shot. It's a long exposure of the city at night. 

And that's it for tonight. It's very late and I need to shut down and get some sleep.

Ciao, Bellas!