Off to Pesaro

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This morning was particularly blessed, as we were able to attend morning mass at San Francesco. Once again I sat and marveled at how many Friars were there and how young they were. The choir consisted of about 10 young men, there were 8 priests in the sanctuary and everyone from the readers to the servers where all friars. Wow! It actually made me think about what it would be like if the Companions of the Cross started all their seminarians at St. Mary’s and then sent them out from there. What would it be like to see the sanctuary filled with men who are deacons, priests and seminarians? The mass was beautiful.

After mass we decided to head to the art gallery but when we got to where Sue thought it was it wasn’t there or was closed. So, we decided to go to the Museo Civico, which was a really neat museum that had many artifacts and models from the original city. It was really interesting to see what the city used to look like and how much it had changed.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at the little sandwich shop that we had been to earlier in the trip. Had a nice lunch and went to the hotel to collect our bags.

The fun was that it was Sunday and most everything was closed in Assisi, we had to be out of our room by 10am and the train to Pesaro didn’t come until about 3pm. So we decided to just go down to the train station, sit and wait the 2 hours for the train.

When we arrived in Pesaro, grabbed a taxi and headed over to the hotel. We checked in and went up to our room. The room was HUGE. I’m talking suite. We actually checked to make sure they gave us the right room. The main room was very big and it had a second room off the main along with a major sitting area and nice bathroom.

By the time we arrived in Pesaro it had become very overcast and very dull and grey. We went out for a walk to get our bearings only to find out again that everything was closed. The cool thing about our hotel was the fact that we were right on the Mediterranean Sea. There was a very cool pedestrian area across the street from the hotel as well and so we walked through the park and watched the waves crashing into the shoreline. By this point it had become very cold and we just decided to call it a day.

At 7:30pm we headed down from our room to the restaurant next door called Polo Pasta e Pizza. Sue and I both had pizza and we enjoyed a nice dinner. The day ended pretty low key.

The adventure continues…

A day of pilgrimage

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Today we wanted to make a day to see the holy sites of Assisi. There was definitely a holy presence in the town that is hard to put your finger on.

We started our day at St. Francis’s church and monastery. Wow! What a place. Sue and I split up and I slowly wandered around looking at every part of the church, his tomb and the parts of the monastery we could see. I was blown away to see so many monks on site and spoke to one of them who couldn’t tell me how many exactly there were but that there were a lot of them.

I grabbed every piece of literature I could find and was becoming so excited as I read everything about St. Francis and his life. What an amazing man. The order actually really made me think of the Companions of the Cross back home. The order, hundred’s of years old was attracting a lot of young men and I don’t think I was prepared for how vibrant the community was.

I was very moved by the whole experience and purchased a book about St. Francis. Now, if you know me you know I don’t read. Well, that’s not entirely true, I can read I just don’t care too much for it. The book and this Saint just captured me. I haven’t been able to put the book down and am really enjoying reading about his philosophy and how we transformed his life to follow the Lord.

Once we finished up there we headed down to Santa Chiara (St. Claire’s Church). When we got there we were very disappointed to find out that it was closed and thus the rest of the town was closing. We stopped at the grocery store, picked up a bottle of wine and come food and went back to the hotel. It was so nice outside. The sun was shinning, it was about 21º and not a cloud in the sky. We sat on the patio at the hotel and ate, drank and played some cards until about 3pm at which time we headed back to St. Claire’s.

What a beautiful church. There was a sign saying no photos so I decided to leave my camera at the hotel, what a mistake!

The church housed the body of St. Claire who along side St. Francis played a major role in development of the Catholic faith in the people of the area.

After we had finished at the church we sat in a little café and had a gelato. As we planned out the remainder of our day I could see that Sue was disappointed we weren’t going to see San Damiano. The reason for not seeing it was the 1.5km walk that we would incur.

We hopped up and as we were leaving I said, “Come on, lets go”. Sue was very excited and we started our long walk to the little church just outside the town. This was a significant church for a few reasons. St. Francis helped in rebuilding it when he had a vision of the Lord telling him to build his church (God didn’t mean the physical church) and this is also were he hid some his father when he first made his conversion and his father thought he had gone mad.

The church is beautiful and very simple. As I walked more and more in the footsteps of St. Francis I really started to feel much closer to him. I was moved to see what he went through in order to keep true to what he believed and what he felt God calling him to.

Once we finished up we started the long walk back. We took a different route on the way back in order to stop at San Pietro. There was a museum there but again, was closed on the weekends. The church was open and we did get to walk through it, keeping to our pilgrim style day. Our last stop was Santa Maria Maggiore which Sue wanted to see and again, unfortunately it was closed and they were about to have mass.

So we went back to the hotel. Our feet and legs were killing us. When we got back I was feeling a little hungry and Sue was wiped out. She laid down for a minute and well, seconds later was snoring away.

I decided to head out on my own for dinner and ended up at a wonderful little place called Buca di San Francesco. This is a nicer place but the prices didn’t reflect that. I was seated and enjoyed a wonderful meal. The meal consisted of a wonderful house wine and started with a nice pasta with a mix of meats (bore, beef and something else) then went onto a nice pork dish and ending off with a cheese and bread plate. The meal was divine.

After dinner I rolled myself back to the hotel and passed out. I figure we walked anywhere from 7 to 10 kms today and that was enough

The adventure continues…

On to Assisi

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This morning started like all the other but today we had but one mission. We needed to get to the Collegio del Cambio. After walking for about 45 minutes we got up to the historic center and to our destination.

It was an amazing place. The first room, the Sala dei Legisti (lawyers room), contains inlaid furniture and wood panellings against the walls by Giampietro Zuccari (1615-21). This room leads to the Sala dell’Udienza (council room), which is the finest and best-preserved 15th century secular room in Italy. The wooden furniture is by Domenico del Tasso and Antonio da Mercatello (1490-93). The furniture highlights well the frescoes by Perugino (1498-1500) that adorn the walls and crossbow vaulting. The theme of the frescoes is a result of the influence of the humanist Francesco Maturanzio, a teacher at the Studium Perusinum University. The paintings represent the four Cardinal Virtues along with well-known ancient figures. One of the dividing pillars features a self-portrait of Perugino. The niche above what is known as the Court contains a statue of Justice attributed to Benedetto da Maiano. The passageway in the right hand corner leads to the chapel of St John the Baptist, which was restored in the 16th century and was decorated with frescoes by Giannicola di Paolo, an apprentice of Perugino (vault: 1511 and walls: 1528-29).

After we finished up there we headed over to the cathedral where Sue got permission to photograph the sanctuary, which was beautifully painted with grotesques and beautiful frescos. Then we headed down the hillside to the hotel to get our stuff and headed off to Assisi.

 

When we arrived in Assisi we walked out of the train station and it take your breath away. It’s such a gorgeous town. We hopped into a taxi and headed up to our hotel. I didn’t know much about Assisi other then that St. Francis was from there. I was about to learn a lot more. We checked in at our hotel (Hotel Hermitage) and relaxed for a few minutes. The view from our hotel room window was amazing. It looked out over the countryside and really was beautiful. The sun was out, it was about 18º and we decided to start walking. Trying to learn from our mistakes and out of pure convenience we stopped for lunch at this wonderful little sandwich shop called La tana dei Birchini. I haven’t seen anything like this so far in Italy. It was a small shop that offered a wide variety of wines and beers and you could order a wider variety of sandwiches. Needless to say we had a wonderful lunch Sue having a tomato, goat cheese and olive paste sandwich and me a goats cheese, prosciutto and tomato sandwich. It was cheap and delicious.

After we ate we started the trek up the hill, Sue needed to see Volta Pinta, which is an outdoor walkway with frescos all over. It was awesome and to see Sue light up made my day. After we finished up photographing it we decided to just start walking.

It’s important to note that I thought that Perugia was high and a rough walk. Assisi makes Perugia look flat. There isn’t 1 flat street in Assisi and its no wonder that all the Italians are so skinny.

Our first destination was the Temple of Minerva, which was right across from the Volta. It was a very cool church. Then we walked over to San Rufino. This is the main Cathedral in Assisi. This is the church where St. Francis was baptized, and there was a very cool wing dedicated to JPII. After walking through the Cathedral we went to St. Claire’s house. They don’t actually let you in but there is a nice shrine set up there.   Then we decided to make our way up to the castle on the top of the hill. What a hike. The castle (Rocco Maggiore) was at the highest point of the town and was the main source of protection back in the day. We got up there about 5:30pm to find once again it was closed. A little disappointed we strolled around enjoying the view of Assisi and beyond. Then it hit us that we had triumphantly made this 45-minute walk, up the side of this hill and now we had to walk down. LOL!

By the time we hit the bottom we were ready for bed. We made one more stop and that was at Chiesa Nuova. This is a church that they created on St. Francis’s home. You saw where he grew up and where his father locked him up to try and break his spirit when we converted his life to God.

After all was said and done we walked by a little pizza place called Ristorante Pizzeria I Monaci. We were a little early for dinner (Again, Italians don’t eat until 7:30pm) but they seated us and we really just enjoyed not having to move or be on our feet. Finally they came over and took our order. Sue grabbed a pizza and I grabbed a plate of Carbonara. Everything was great until we wanted to leave and, well trying to get the attention of anyone to get a cheque was horrible. After 20 minutes of sitting there we stood up and paid and went back to the hotel.

We were pretty much beat and went to bed early. We knew that tomorrow was going to be a long day.

The Adventure continues…

 

The adventures are coming to an end

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The last big road trip has begun. Our first stop Perugia.

The next week to 10 days are all about going to these small, picturesque towns that have one or two historic sites Sue needs to see and photograph for her studies.

Perugia was a beautiful town and we flashed in and flashed out.

Perugia was built on a hillside and from a far was very cool to look at. We checked into the Hotel Grifone and tried to find some lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day 18º and blue skies, what more could you ask for? We hadn’t planned our day very well and the reason I say that is because we arrived at 1:30pm. Italy closes between 1pm and 3pm daily and today was no exception.

So we ended up at the supermarket and picked up some cheese, bread and juice. We headed back to the outdoor patio at the hotel and ate.

After we were all finished we started to make our way up to the Palazzo dei Priori. Again, I have to stress that the roads in this town only went up and on a 45º angle. The fun part was finding 4 sets of outdoor escalators. I couldn’t help but laugh. The city had installed them to make it easier to get to the top of the town, which happens to be the historic district.

We made it to the top with about 2 hours to spare. We got our tickets and started walking through the Palazzo. It was awesome. It really is amazing to think that people used to live in palaces like this. There were beautiful byzantine icons, paintings, relics, and furniture. Then it happened, we made it to the room Sue needed to see. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos. As we walked through Sue realized that no, it actually wasn’t the room and she was confused where it was. When we hit the entrance we asked where this room was and they told us it was room 17 and allowed us reentry. Room 17 was wrong. We jumped on our IPhones (which has been a Godsend) and after further investigation we found out we were in the wrong building. Well, not quiet. The place we needed to see was in the palace but a different entrance and from the outside you would think different building.

We raced outside only to find out that they were closing the doors and we had missed our opportunity. Sue was bummed out, but there was always tomorrow morning. Instead we decided to just wander around the historic center. It was very interesting to see how the new town had built on and incorporated the old town. After walking for a while Sue (the most awesome woman ever) noticed a bar with a Guinness sign and we stopped for a nice cold beer. This was a very cool little place. I can’t remember the name of it and it is pretty new because there is a different place on Google street view.

The bar owner was very friendly and we chatted about all kinds of things. He even made us some really nifty bread. If I were to guess it was toasted baguette with a little basil, olive oil and he must had spritzed on the vinegar because it was very light, barely noticeable but very yummy.

After all this fun we made our way down to hotel. We chilled out in the hotel room and at 7:30pm made our way to the hotel restaurant. The food was very well priced and we had an excellent meal. Sue had Franciscan soup and a side of potatoes and I had a nice ½ liter of house wine along with the tourist menu. The tourist menus at most of these places are great. They give you a first and second course along with a drink and dessert. I had a wonderful plate of pasta, followed by a pork cutlet with some potatoes and a really yummy chocolate pie.

We ended the day early because tomorrow we would need to head back up the hill to get into the room we missed.

The adventure continues…

The passing of a friend

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On Monday morning my friend’s mother passed away very suddenly. On Tuesday I received a call from her husband, my best friend, to let me know what had happened. You could see on Skype that he was very upset (rightfully so) and really just wanted to talk.

We spoke briefly and he explained how his past 24hours had played out. I didn’t really know how to react. I’m not very good at dealing with death and praise God haven’t had to deal with it in my immediate family. After hanging up the phone with him Sue and I spoke about what we could do. Should I changed my flight and come back to Ottawa 3 weeks early? If I did could I offer any other help that wouldn’t already be there? There were lots of questions and after it was all said and done we decided that me being there, as nice as it would be, wouldn’t change things on the grand scale.

So, after sitting with it for about half and hour we decided to make a donation in honor of the deceased, to send flowers and to have a mass said at St. Mary’s church at 9am on Saturday morning. We jumped on the internet, found the Canadian Cancer Society’s website and made our donation. It couldn’t have been easier. Finding flowers on the other hand was a little trickier. There are many sites but the best one was by far FTD. We had them picked and they were delivered with in 24 hours. I was very impressed. The last thing was to contact St. Mary’s parish (my home) and we are having a mass said in her honor at 9am on Saturday morning.

The past two days all I have been able to think about is my friends and their loss. They are like family to me and seeing it affect my friend on Skype really affected me. I had an almost 3 hour train ride Thursday and as I sat quietly watching the Italian countryside whiz by I started to think about the first time I met Jane. It’s a lot of muddy memories from my later teenage years. The memories start to clear up in my early 20s when we all used to flock to Lisa’s home in Barrhaven. Jane would open up her home and we would sit on the back porch and sing, drink and have a few laughs. There were lots of occasions for us being there at the house whether it be New Years, Christmas, the awesome Halloween parties or just to come and hang out and watch a movie.

Most recently in the past few years Sue and I have had the honor of spending extended amounts of time with her at their family cottage up in Muskoka. We would have so much fun with her. She would make us eggs benedict from scratch for breakfast which I always told her was the reason I came to the cottage. :) We also shared an interest in Scotch. We would sit every evening and enjoy a nice dram and play cards or whatever board game was hanging around. Most recently we got her into the Settler’s of Catan. As much as she said she hated it during the game, she actually loved it.

Sarah and Dave, Lisa and Pat, Matt and Allison, Chris and James I am so sorry for your loss. You are in my thoughts and my prayers this week as you deal with the loss of your mother. I’m certain she is in heaven looking down on each of you right now.

Jane, you will be forever missed.

Off to Buonconvento

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Ahhh… The sun is out, the sky is blue and we are taking a day trip to Buonconvento.

We headed to the station and jumped on a train and started our adventure. It still boggles my mind that for €10 you can get on train and end up 130kms away in a new town. The train ride was almost three hours on the way there and we had to transfer in Siena.

When we got off the train it was like walking back in time. The train station was closed and had chains on the doors. We walked down the street directly in front of the station and kept going about two blocks. The town was very quiet but very clean and quaint at the same time.

We turned right on what looked like the main street and then realized that we couldn’t see over the buildings. As we got to the end of the road we both smiled as we walked out a drawbridge. The north end of town was surrounded by the original stonewalls. I’m not talking about something we would build today, I’m talking about very cool, castle like walls.

We were having so much fun letting our imaginations run away with us as we walked around the walls and through the small walkways. It was really neat.

Then we headed back to the train station and to call a taxi to take us to our final destination, Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore. This was a Benedictine monastery hidden away in the hills about 13 kms from Buonconvento. Sue had two numbers of different taxi services, neither of which worked. We went into the restaurant across the street and asked for help. They called us a taxi and we were driven up to the monastery. Two things of note here, the “taxi” was an older gentleman (Signore Mancini) who just drove people around town. No cab sign, no camera, and no meter. You agreed on a price and he drove you. The second item is the road you had to take to get there. Very windy roads, a lot of sharp corners and by the time we reached the monastery we were both a little carsick. He let us out and agreed to come back at 5pm to pick us back up.

The monastery was beautiful. We started out long walk down to the Abby. I wish I had a good picture to show the entire complex. The monastery was built on a hillside. It was amazing to drive up to it but you didn’t want to get too close to the edge of the hill as you were walking because it was a straight drop down.

When we got to the Abby we were greeted by two monks who told us to walk the grounds because we couldn’t get in until 4pm. As much as we questioned them he insisted. So, we walked the paths surrounding the Abby and enjoyed the green, warm sunny day we had been blessed with. As we started to head back toward the Abby Sue and I were thinking the same thing, “Check the sign for the opening times”. Sure enough the sign said 3pm. We walked toward the entrance, slowly opened the door and Sue went over to speak with the monk in the window. He smiled and welcomed us and invited us in. 150 photos later we got all of Sue’s grotesques and the reason we had come. After we had checked out the Abby, library and church we headed out and followed the signs to the Cantina.

When we got down to it we met a nice man named Luca. Luca was awesome. We talked with him for about 45 minutes before we made our way back to the entrance. We talked about the 32 monks living there, the way they make wine, olive oil, and other things.

When we got to the entrance our taxi was there and we headed back to the train station. This time we were lucky, the train was a straight shot home. 2 hours later we arrived in Florence. Sue had a craving for fried rice so we went out for dinner at the chinese place by our house.

After which we headed home full and happy the way our day had unfolded.

When we got home things changed, I had a message on my Skype asking me to call my friend. I called him only to find out that his mother-in-law had suddenly died. I know that he is the only one of my friends who reads this so I feel I can share and not step on anyone’s toes. Jane was amazing. She always opened her home and her life for everyone she met. She was a generous, loving and caring lady. Over the years (about 15 or so) I have always enjoyed talking with her, teasing with her and being teased by her. She was a fun loving person. The last 2 summers will be my fondest memories as I learned of her love for fine Scotch and going to the cottage, playing cards, enjoying a scotch and some laughs. Jane, you will be eternally missed.

As the evening continued I thought about the ramifications of changing my flight and coming home for the funeral, but decided against it. We decided to make a donation in memory of Jane to the Canadian Cancer Society and sent Lisa a nice basket of flowers. We went to bed very somber, with heavy hearts.

The adventure continues…

The weeks are just drippin’ away

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I can’t believe that I only have 19 sleeps left in Italy. The weather is beautiful, the sun is out at it is t-shirt weather.

It’s a great time to be in Italy. We’re sitting out on the 3rd floor of the library right now enjoying a cappuccino and a nice bowl of cherry tobacco. I don’t know that I’m crazy about the tobacco but I’ll give its fair shake. Everyone is out and smiling and it just makes you feel good to be alive.

The week has been slow but nice. Sue has been working her butt off frantically calling sites she needs to visit. I was able to pick up my new bag finally from the leather shop. It’s awesome. I’ve got it on me right now and it does exactly what I need it to. We went to see the Brancacci chapel, and I went to mass in the Baptistery here in Florence.

What else happened? I helped Sue find an apartment in London, England and my lovely sister helped Sue in editing her Spanish e-mail she needed to write.

So, Madrid didn’t happen and it looks like it won’t be happening while I’m here which I am a little disappointed about, but there is no use going if Sue can’t get into the places she needs to. So she continues to wait for approvals to come in.

Instead we have 1 last road trip planned. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we are heading to Buonconvento to see a monastery out in the middle of nowhere. We were going to stay there but the monks said they wouldn’t turn the heat on for only 2 people. LOL! Oh well, it will be a nice day trip. Then Wednesday we head out to Perugia, Assisi, Pesaro and Urbino. 7 days of fun.

Then we come home for 5 days and head to Rome for 4 days, meet our friends Nicole and Lisa and then it’s all over. I can’t believe I’ve been here since October and that I’ll be home in 20 days. This all seems like it’s been a dream.

The Lenten observance has been difficult but I’m holding tight and haven’t fallen off the wagon yet. Facebook has become such a part of my life since moving here its weird not being on it every day.

To end the day I jumped on a rollercoaster of emotions when due to a miscommunication with my insurance company they charged my credit card A LOT but then put it back and corrected their mistake. My Iphone 4GS was delivered and my awesome mom set it up for me over skype. Bell gave me 2 months free service and a wack of other promos because they messed me around for 3 weeks and the best was Sue buying me a nice bag of peanut M&Ms and going to see The Artist. If you haven’t seen The Artist you should stop what you are doing and go to the theatre. It’s a silent film set in 1927. It was really neat to see a movie like this. Sue and I really enjoyed it.

Well, the adventure continues…