Category Archives: Travel

Rome to Salerno

Italy, Travel, , ,

10/31 – wow! Today we took a high speed train that went over 300 kph, about 185 miles an hour. The scenery just zipped by, and we were in Salerno in less than two hours.

Salerno is a city with a busy port, a long boardwalk for sightseeing, and an upscale shopping area for tourists. The downtown streets are decorated with tinsel year round.

Our quest today is to visit the Salerno Cathedral, called the Duomo, to see the tomb of St. Matthew.

Jim scored another wonderful apartment with a full kitchen, so we will be eating well for the next few days. The only hitch is that, not only does it not have wifi as promised, but it is in a dead zone where our phone doesn’t work either. You don’t realize how much you rely on technology until you don’t have it! Even when we walk down the block there is no phone reception, but the apartment is nice, despite what it says on the door: image

We found the Cathedral, which dates from 1058. There is an outer courtyard:

Inside there are three altars in the front, and chapels along both sides.image

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We read the plaque for each chapel and sarcophagus, but found no mention of Matthew. Then we found the stairway down to the Crypt.

As big as the Cathedral was above, the crypt stretched out below, totally covered with frescos depicting scenes from the life of Christ, and edged in gold.

In the center was another staircase down to an altar with a window in the middle, showing the dirt on which the church was built. This is the tomb of Matthew. image

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Although it didn’t rival the churches of Rome in size or splendor, the crypt was one of the prettiest places we’ve seen. A good day.

As an added bonus, here are Halloween pix of my two favorite girls – a Kitty and a Cat:

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Rejoice in the way things are

Italy, Travel

From Jim…

beinghere2014's avatarBeinghere

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We arrive in Salerno to visit the bones of St. Matthew, apostle of Jesus and (supposed) author of the Gospel of Matthew. Scholars are very doubtful that Matthew wrote this gospel.

Based on her reading, Karen says that the Christmas story, as told in the Gospels, was added hundreds of years later and that there was no census requiring Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem. “It doesn’t make any sense to force people to go somewhere for a census,” she says. “There’s no historical record of a census.”

I agree that a Roman census would have resulted in documents that could be studied by modern historians. I tell her that the story is what counts.

“Stories have power,” I tell her.

We walk to the Basilica of St. Matthew and view it from its inner courtyard.
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We view the main altar at the Basilica of St. Matthew.

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We visit…

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Thursday in Rome – the Vatican

Italy, Travel, , , , , , , , ,

10/30 – we saved the trip to the Vatican for our last day in Rome, so we could spend it cheek to cheek with 14,000 of our closest friends. We took the Metro to get there. In Rome, there are two Metro lines that go around the edges of the city, to avoid disrupting all the historic places within, so we had a long walk in addition to our cross-town ride.

The Vatican is both a huge place and a small country. Our primary goal is to see St. Peter’s Basilica, where the tombs of Peter, Simon the Zealot, and Thaddeus, also called Jude, are found. But while we are there, shouldn’t we also see the Sistine Chapel, recently cleaned and restored, with ceiling painted by my fave, Michelangelo? Yes, we should! The catch is that you cannot see the Chapel without purchasing a ticket to the Vatican Museums, so that is what we did.

We pre-booked a time to enter the Museums, to avoid the long lines, and this works well, although we still had to queue to get through an airport-like security screening. The Museums are diverse and wonderful, containing Egytian and Etruscan artifacts, tapestries, ancient maps and coins, frescos, loads of paintings, sculpture, and a room full of papal carriages, including the famous Popemobile. You could stay here a week and not see everything. The challenge is, with so many people, it’s hard to see ANYthing. Here’s some pix,mainly of ceilings and what I could shoot over the heads of others:

All the corridors of the museum have signs pointing to the Sistine Chapel. It is everyone’s goal. When we finally get there, guards are posted every few feet to push us onward. “No stopping, no pictures, no speaking. Silenzio!”. We are all craning our heads upward, trying to take in the details of all the stories. There is a low buzz from the people, admiring and exclaiming, that is interrupted every few minutes by another Silenzio! And a hiss… in Italy, they don’t shush, they hiss.

There are so many panels, and I only recognize some – Adam and Eve, the Last Supper, Noah, God touching Man. They are indeed clean, bright and pastel, not the smoky images remembered from my books. But my first impression is that they are so small – in my mind, God touching Man is huge, but in fact it is only one panel amidst many others, packed together like frames on a page of comic book. No photos were permitted, so here is a pic from a postcard in the gift shop:IMG_3438

After several tries, we found our way out of the museum and back on the road for the 10 minute walk to St. Peter’s Basilica, again with thousands of friends.

There was another security screening before we could enter the basilica, and the long line gave us plenty of time to take pix of the exterior. It is said that the two wings of the Basilica represent St. Peter reaching out his arms to embrace humanity.

We met an American couple, who had also been visiting churches. When we compared notes, we hadn’t been to any of the same places! I’m glad our Apostle quest is giving us a focus, or we could be here forever. Rome has no shortage of churches!

St. Peter’s is the biggest basilica in Rome, and is stunning. Peter’s tomb holds pride of place under the main altar,behind a gate, so we can’t approach too closely. The pic on the left is magnified – can you see the ossuary?

The left transept contains the Altar of St. Joseph, which is where the remains of Simon the Zealot and Thaddeus/Jude reside:

And then there was Michelangelo’s Pieta, just as beautiful as when I saw it in New York at the Worlds Fair in 1964:image

On our way out, we caught a glimpse of the Swiss guards: image

All in all, a lovely day!image

Wednesday in Rome – More Apostles

Italy, Travel, , , , , ,

10/29 – yesterday we walked to sights that were near our B and B (near the Roma Termini train station). Today our goals are farther away, so we had to navigate the bus system. We prefer to travel by Metro if we can, as the routes are fixed, and the maps and signs make it easy to identify where to get off. Buses are another matter. We can’t tell where we’re going, and are never sure if we are at a stop or just a traffic light. Our smartphone has been a godsend on this trip – we just program the GPS, and it tells us when to jump off!

Our first destination is Tiber, a tiny little island right in the middle of the city.

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On the island is the church of San Bartolomeo all’Isolla, which houses the remains of St. Bartholomew (also referred to as Nathaniel in the book of John). Here is the church, and the statue of Bartholomew outside:

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The body of St. Bartholomew (or parts of it) lies in a Roman bathtub that serves as the base of the central altar:

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The eastern iconography at the altar reminds us that he is the patron saint of Armenia.

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Bartholomew is said to have been flayed, so is often shown in art holding a tanner’s knife.

We hopped on another bus to get to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the oldest basilica in Rome, dating back to the year 193. This place will knock your socks off, and my pix won’t begin to do it justice. Here is the main door – even from across the street, the building was too huge to capture.

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We are here to see the skulls of St. Peter and St. Paul, which found their way here around the year 900. They are the focal point of the main sanctuary. The golden reliquary for Paul, holding a sword, is on the left, and Peter, holding the keys to heaven, is on the right:

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This sanctuary also displays life size marble statues of the 12 Apostles, leaving out Matthias (everyone leaves out poor Judas), and showing Paul as the twelfth apostle. Paul wasn’t on our initial list, but we added him on. The statues show each Apostle with his emblem. Here are Peter and Paul:

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Here is Bartholomew, holding his skin:

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And for the folks back home, here is Thomas, with his carpenter’s square:

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This church also boasts the marble steps that Jesus walked up when he came before Pilate. These have been covered over in wood to preserve the blood stains on them. We didn’t get the steps, but here are a few more images of a beautiful place:

Tuesday in Rome – the Colosseum

Italy, Travel, ,

10/28 – no trip to Rome would be complete without seeing the Colosseum. It’s really old, and really big. It was built in the first century, to provide entertainment for Roman citizens, and ended up being a neat way to get rid of prisoners, malcontents and pesky Christians. Contrary to popular belief, we were informed that contests seldom ended in death.

Once inside, you can see the galleries, the floor where the action took place, and the warren of small cages and enclosures under the floor where the animals and prisoners were kept.

Part of a mosaic floor:

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There were four underground tunnels that used to connect the Colosseum to other parts of the city, but as the city encroached, they were disabled so that new roads and the Metro could be built.

There are so many old things to see in Rome, that I had to restrain myself from snapping at every structure we passed.

Whoops – almost forgot these two old things:

Our Quest in Rome

Italy, Travel, , , , ,

10/28 – so now we are in Rome, the Eternal City. We have come here primarily to see beautiful old things, and to track down the tombs of Jesus’ Apostles. Here is our story.

When we visited India in 2008, our tuk-tuk driver took us, unbidden, to the Cathedral of St. Thomas, to see the tomb of Doubting Thomas, the twin, in Chennai.

Then in 2011, we walked our first Camino to Santiago, to the Cathedral containing the bones of St. James the Greater, son of Zebedee. At the time, we joked, “two down, only 10 more to go!”

As we contemplated this year’s trip, we realized we could actually plan to visit the rest of the Apostles’ tombs, to the extent that they are known, so we decided to do just that. There are many challenges with this quest. Saint bones have been traded throughout Christendom for two thousand years, and the more important the saint, the more pieces were distributed. Many churches have parts of so many saints (and popes and bishops) their names aren’t even identified. Tombs were raided and artifacts were captured or hidden or smuggled out in wartime. Many bones, like St. James, were discovered miraculously, hundreds of years and hundreds of miles from their previous location, so there’s no chain of custody that would hold up in court. And we have not done scholarly research on the various claims; we are accepting information found online from various sources. So…

So, this morning we started out for the basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, which is purported to have been built on the site of the tomb of St. Matthias, the Apostle who replaced Judas after the betrayal. Here is the church:IMG_3303.JPG

This church’s most sacred relic is several pieces of wood from the manger used by baby Jesus, kept under the main altar:

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The tomb of St. Jerome is here also:

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We found nothing about St. Matthias, so we asked at the museum and in the bookshop. Yes, we were told, his bones are under the church. No marker, crypt or plaque. Nothing to see. Not a very satisfying response! There are two other places that claim St. Matthias: one in Germany, and one in Georgia. We may have to keep looking.

Right down the road is the basilica of St. Peter in Chains, San Pietro in Vincoli. Under the altar are the chains that miraculously fell away from Peter when he was imprisoned:

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There are no Apostles here, but church is best known for displaying Michelangelo’s Moses, and Michelangelo is one of my favorite people, so I didn’t want to miss out:

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Our last stop for the day was Santi Apostoli, the Church of the 12 Apostles, where St. Philip and St. James the Just (or the Less, or the Younger), brother (or cousin) of Jesus, are entombed. We got to the church at 2pm, to find that the doors would not open until 4. We had lunch and waited. Here is the outside of the church, and a statue dedicated to Michelangelo:

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A little after 4, the doors opened, and the six of us who were waiting were ushered in. Right below the main altar, clearly marked, was the combined tomb of Philip and James:

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As we gazed, the young woman who entered with us started singing a simple hymn in a Scandinavian language, in the clearest, purest soprano you can imagine, her notes echoing through the silent space. It was a goosebumps and tears moment. We sat, and listened, and were thankful.

Nice to Rome

France, Italy, Travel, , ,

10/27 – we were scheduled on the morning train out of Nice for an hour’s ride over the border to Ventimiglia, Italy. The train was late, so I took some pix of the station.

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The train was packed, and we had to stand the whole way. When I looked at our next ticket, I realized that our 20 minute cushion between trains was now only 5 minutes. We would have to run an OJ through the station, find the right track and throw ourselves on the train to Genova. By the time we pulled into the station, our 5 minutes was down to 3. We positioned ourselves at the door, and jumped out as soon as the train rolled to a stop. As we ran for the steps, we saw others running too. There’s the display board! We yelled out the train number. Track 4! Track 4! We all ran for Track 4. An Asian couple in front of us was struggling with two huge rolling suitcases. As the man tried to lift one, Jim grabbed the other – go! Go! Go!

Do you think we made it? Yes, we did. Wasn’t that an exciting story?

We got to Genova by lunchtime, and had an hour to spare, so we walked out in the sunshine. Here is a statue of Christopher Columbus, beloved in his home town.

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And now we are in Rome! A huge, gritty city. The Roma Termini train station must be a mile long, and has clothing stores, restaurants, and supermarket inside. Our debit card doesn’t work in the ATM here, and our European adapter plug doesn’t fit in the wall socket here. What have we done? But this city is a big part of our next pilgrimage, and we’ve got work to do. Stay tuned!

A Weekend in Nice

France, Travel, , , ,

Well, if this isn’t Nice, I don’t know what is – apologies to Kurt Vonnegut

10/25 – Nice is a beautiful city, the largest on the French Riviera, or Côte d’Azur. Our resources tell us that this is a place to be enjoyed at leisure, so we are just relaxing and strolling this weekend.

There are many ways to get around here:

Lots to see in the plaza on our street:

La Promenade du Paillon has jumping fountains and mists for kids of all ages, as well as playgrounds for the younger set. While we strolled, we bopped to Big Band music, rock, and watched couples dance the Tango:

One block farther is Promenade des Anglais and the blue-green Mediterranean, which is crystal clear and swimmingly warm at the end of October:

10/26 – on Sunday, we climbed to Parc de la Colline du Chateau, where an old fort held the remains of a medieval cathedral, a waterfall, and gorgeous views of the ocean below:

Then we walked through the winding streets of the old town, and savored the offerings in the open market. Have you ever seen tomatoes like these?

Cool tomatoes in Nice
Marzipan critters

When we returned to our hotel, we were concerned with this sign posted on the lift. Why do you think they posted the English first? Do you comprehend? image

Nice is a place where I could be happy for a long time, but tomorrow, we must move along. Where to next? You’ll have to read the next blog to find out!

Lourdes to Nice

Backpacking, France, Travel, , , , ,

10/23 – right outside our window is a castle, and we noticed it brightly lit up during the procession at the Grotto last night. It turns out to be the Château Fort, a 1000 year old fortress that has never been conquered, so this morning we walked over for a visit. If nothing else, we figured that the tall tower would provide us some great shots of the city.

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A fool and her euros are soon parted – we climbed to the top of the tower only to find that all the windows were covered in scratched up, milky plexiglass, so our photographic aspirations were thwarted. Oh well! We got some nice views anyway:

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The place was full of schoolchildren much more interested in taking selfies than in listening to their teacher describe costumes worn in the Pyrenees: IMG_3075-0

What we did see was another church, so we crossed over to see what it was. The Sacred Heart, Sacré-Cœur, is the Lourdes parish church.

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It had a Black Madonna, as well as some tributes to Bernadette:

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I haven’t mentioned that Jim made full use of our little kitchen, cooking up a chicken stew from scratch the first night, and a killer pasta and veg with homemade sauce the second. It sure is nice to have a kitchen, and a husband who knows how to use it! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

10/24 – This morning we took the express train from Lourdes to Toulouse, and used the hour layover to eat our lunch outside the Toulouse station. Here is what we saw:

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Q: Why are there so many accidents on the French railway?
A: Toulouse Lautrec! (Too loose la track!) ha!

I’ve been waiting all my life to use that awful pun. Please forgive me.

Our second train from Toulouse to Nice was the one that was too full to enable us to use our EuRail Pass. Sure enough, we were packed cheek to jowl in second class, with not a seat to spare. If that was not indignity enough, there were two dogs in our car, one sitting directly across from me, who growled at one another in a threatening manner throughout the 7 hour trip. Here is the killer chien:

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The last two stops on our ride were Cannes and Antibes, which both looked gorgeous from the window. Maybe next trip we will bring our yacht and visit…

And now we are in our beautiful Residencial in Nice, where the weather is warm, and the French Riviera is just down the street. We are concerned with the sign posted on our window:

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What are we to do with our stumps?

Tomorrow, we will explore!

He dwells in reality

France, Travel

From Jim…

beinghere2014's avatarBeinghere

In Lourdes, France, people assemble at the Grotto (where Bernadette saw the lady who was later identified as the Virgin Mary) for a candlelight procession.

We join the crowd.

I walk beside a man in a motorized wheel chair.

We sing in front of the basilica.

Karen and I return to the Grotto, the place from which the healing water energes. I pray that you will experience inner peace.

I meditate before the candles.

Lao tsu writes (chapter38):

“The Master doesn’t try to be powerful.
The ordinary man keeps reaching for power.
Thus, he never has enough.
The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more things are left to be done.
The kind man does something,
yet something remains undone.
The just man does something
and leaves many things to be done.
The moral man does something
and when…

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