A Funny Thing Happened...

A Funny Thing Happened On the way
to the .........Borgheese Gallery actually.
I got pick-pocketed. Roman subways
and buses are noted for their pick-
pockets. I accused a woman, the
authorities got us off the subway and
we spent some time in a police sub-
station but being a good pick pocket,
she had already passed my wallet to a
colleague. I lost the wallet, a liitle
Amer. Cash, 2 credit cards, an ATM
card, drivers license and a little respect
for the Italian police, who seemed to
think that I made the whole thing up
just to inconvience them.

Undaunted, I cancelled the card and
rejoined Cathy and Erin at the ancient
Pantheon (pictured above), now a
Catholic church. After a gellato, we
went on a church visiting spree. We
"hit", St Ignacio, Gesu and Santa Maria
Sopra Minerva before sitting down at
an outdoor cafe for an Itallian dinner.

After dinner Erin brought us back to
her place, The John Felice Rome Cener
operated by Loyola of Chicago. It's old,
nice, safe and small, probably about
250 students. While there, were able
to Skype (video call using the internet)
with Kathleen, Jon & Mary Jo. After
saying goodbye to Erin and borrowing
a little money, Cathy and I made our
way back to our hotel to eagerly await
our 5:15 wakeup call.

Rome from the Bottom Up

Today we took the tour that we had asked for months ago, the Scavi
Tour. In brief, the Scavi tour is an underground tour of Ancient
Rome's necropolis (literal translation - city of death). The ancient
Roman cemetery/mausoleum was covered by the emperor, Constantine. The
current St Peters Bascillica was built upon the site with the main
altar directly above the grave of St Peter.

Erin had to return to school for midterms while Cathy and I spent the
day visiting the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, the Cappuccin
crypt (which is another long story) and St. John Lateran which was
home to the Popes for about 1,000 years! All the Popes had been
"crowned" there up until 1870.

Our last stop of the day was at the Holy Stairs (Santa Scala), brought
from the Holy Land in 326. The steps were from Pontius Pilate,
meaning they are the steps walked by Christ on the day he was
crucified. People still climb these stone steps today - but only on
their knees.

More touring in Rome Tomorrow!

Ciao!

Assisi to Rome

On Thursday, we became pilgrims (religious, not funny hatted
Thanksgining characters) walking the hilly cobblestone streets of
Assisi, seeking to pray at the grave of St. Francis. Other stops in
Assisi included St. Chiara (St Clare), St. Stephano and St Rufino.
All these churches have something for the mind that wants to be
educated and the soul that wants to be fed.

We returned to Rome in time to spend the evening with Erin, making
memories on the famous Spanish Steps and throwing coins into the Trevi
Fountain. Last night's dinner consisted of pizza & gellato at the
Trevi Fountain.

The weather has been warm and my traveling companions have been
wonderful!
Ciao, Ken

See Assisi? Si.

We are in Assisi which is spectacular. It is also spectacularly hilly.

We are only here for a night and internet is sketchy so I will make this as succinct as possible. Being in Assisi is like living in Kasters religious goods store....but with hills. The beauty is exceptional but the internet is not, so..... ciao.

Photo is of St. Clare Basilica.

Art, Art, Everywhere Art

Buongiorno!

Today was another good day in
Florence! It started out with a tour of
the Medici "chapel" of San Lorenzo.
They have just about enough Saint
relics to make themselves one full
saint.

The chapel itself is a testimony to
opulance. The "new" sacristy was
done by a friend of the family,
Michaelangelo. He was architect
builder & sculptor.

Next stop was to the Academia to
See Michaelangelo's "David". The
statue "David" should be on the top of
this page. If not, I'll use it on a later
post and call it "A Self Portrait and
how I lost so much weight by walking
in Florence" by Ken Blaney.

We then walked to the Uffizi Gallery,
probably the most prominent art
gallery in the world, which we toured
with our Rick Steves audio guide.
Unbelievable.

Our last church of the day was Santa
Croche, the final resting place of
Michaelangelo, Galileo & others.

We head for Assisi tomorrow.

Ciao
Ken & Cathy

Florence

Florence - Home of the Renaissance.
After saying arrivederci to Erin (she
does have classes to attend), we took a 1.5 hour train trip to
Florence. The
first thing we learned about Florence
was Florence is Firenze. This is a very
helpful fact when you are looking for
something on a map. I actually found
Firenze on the map a long time ago!

We've toured the Baptistry, the
Duomo and the Duomo museum. We
also walked the Ponte Vecchio.

Stupid thing of the day:
ASK THE PRICE before ordering gelato!
Ciao for now.
Ken and Cathy

Sunday's To Do List

Sunday's to do list:
See the Pope....check
Mass @ St Peter Bascillica......check
Tour the Bascillica...... check
See body of Pope John xxxIII.....check
See Michaelangelo's Pieta.... check
See tomb of pope John Paul II....check
Get view from atop Bascillica.... check
Try Rome's best Gellato (Erin).. check
See St. Peter's @ night... check
Today's funny incident:
While atteding Mass @ St Peter's bascillica, we went up to receive
Communion. For some some reason the usher sommoned me (& only me) to
come to the center aisle to receive. Beimg God's humble servant I
hesitated. He then motioned to me again and I obeyed. While I was
humbled by this honor, I know that the center line just finished first
and the usher was trying to finish the communion distribution as fast
as possible. But hey, it's my blog and I can write what ever I want.
Today' stupid incident:
Let's just say there is a difference between St Peter's Musem and the
Vatican museum. We saw St Peter's Musem.
All in all - a great day!
Ken, Cathy & Erin

We are in Rome

Greetings from the Eternal City of Roma!

We arrived in Rome tired but excited to see this city and even more
excited to see Erin!

Today we visited the colosseum and the Forum. The colosseum sat
50,000 people which is almost the size of Lambeau Field until A few
years ago! Also we learned that Rome was a city of one million people
- 2,000 years ago.

We also toured St. Mary Major which is near our hotel & a huge
Bascillca, st Paul outside the Wall.

His holiness says hi!
Ciao
Ken Cathy & Erin