Our trip to Italy, by Lou Penza
Before we left Terry’s home we went out for breakfast and then stopped by Barns and Noble for more books on Italy. We ran into Roberta and the gang! They were in town for Mike’s wedding. We disrupted the entire store but were thrilled to see Sara, Annis, Molly,
We left Chicago at 5:30 pm on October 14, 2000. We arrived in Germany at 1:30 pm (our time) on the 15th.
8:40 lock tame. We arrived in Rome at 2 PM
Our hotel was the Nova Domus. We joined the rest of the group for dinner at our hotel. Half of the group stayed at the Columbus Hotel near the Vatican. That turned out to be a sore spot with some of the people since they thought they were getting the short end of the stick at the Nova Domus.
We had a nice dinner (pasta). Father Hennessey sat at our table and asked Terry if he could use her wine for the sacramental wine. Felt over bread from the meal was used as the hosts. Father said mass in the lobby of the Nova Domus. We didn’t get to mass earlier because of our flight
We went to the catacombs. It was sued as a burial ground. It was like all ages, the rich had fancy burials with painting and belongings. The early Christens used it as a place to worship in secret. After touring the underground we went above ground in the sanctuary where Father John said mass. A very emotional time! We are so lucky to have freedom of worship. It was a haunting of the saints! After the catacombs we toured the Basilicas. St Peters, St John Lateran and St Mary Major. Some one else did the painting that I thought was done by St Luke. I was disappointed. Dr Francis Connolly of Fordham W was wrong! I was still impressed with the statues of the apostles in St John Latern Basilica. What can I say about St Peters? It is magnificent. The Pieta is more impressive each time I see it. They have marked the floor to show where the larger churches would fit into St Peters. Monday evening we had dinner at the Columbus Hotel. Fr asked Terry to say grace at our table, which she did very graciously.
Tuesday was a free day. Terry and I and the Lazios (Dan and Marge) went to the coliseum. The stairs were perpendicular. I went up suing my hand to crawl up the stairs. It was extremely humid that day. They had partially restored some of the flooring, which gave you a better perspective of how it was originally. Standing on the upper level gave you a feeling of really being there. You could almost see Nero turning his thumbs down and hear the crowd roar for the lions. There were a lot of cats. When we left the coliseum we walked (uphill) to St Peter in Chains church to see the statue of Moses by Michelangelo. During the war the Jewish people were allowed in the church to worship Moses at his statue. We then went to see the Sistine Chapel. It took my breath away to see the ceiling after it had been restored. It was magnificent!
Tuesday evening Terry and I took a Grey line tour of Rome at night. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain. Terry tossed in her coins. I shower her St Vincent’s Church where pope’s innards (intestines) are kept. They had cleaned the church; it looked much better than it did 30 years ago. Coming home we were the last ones on the bus. I was getting a little uneasy because we were way out in the country. Once couple must have stayed at the airport motel. We got back at 11 PM
We got up early to go to St Peters Square to see the Pope. We were in the fourth row! The Pope looked very well considering his age and condition. There was a band that was seated next to the main platform that played music. On the other side there was a vocal group from Japan that sang. A flag group of small boys performed at the end of the audience. They looked so proud! Pope John Pall II greeted everyone in their own language by audiotape. After the blessing (he blessed everyone there plus their families at home and their parishes) he spent the next hour personally greeting various people including about 20 brides and grooms in their wedding attire. Everyone kissed the Pope’s ring except one bride who grabbed his face in her hands and kissed both cheeks! When he first arrived he appeared in the Pope mobile riding through the crowd blessing all and the things they wanted blessed. He left by black limo.
We left Rome on our way to Florence. We stopped at Assisi. Assisi is a beautiful city. St. Francis certainly left his mark on the town. It was very peaceful/ everyone seemed friendlier and happier. We had a very nice lunch at a hotel. The town is on a hill and there was beautiful scenery. It was also where St. Clare worked with St. Francis. We proceeded on to Florence.
The bus let us off at the river Arno From there we went to the Santa Croce church where there was a leather factory established by the monks. Next we went to the Duomo[cathedral] where Michelangelo and Dante are entombed. Then to piazza Signoria. We stayed at Raffaello Hotel. We had dinner at the I Tre Pini restaurant which was out in the country. On the way we stopped at a look out for a beautiful view of Florence and there was a statue of David [copy] we saw the real statue of David. It was magnificent! Any time you see anything by Michelangelo it is magnificent. You just have to get used to me using that word!
We went to Pisa. It is amazing that it is still standing. They had a belt around it connected to weights to keep it from toppling over. The tower is a bell tower for a church. Another beautiful church with a baptismal that had unusual acoustics. Terry and I had an unusual lunch for Italy [hot dog] Dinner that night was at the Ottorino restaurant. First crummy art in Italy. It was early ugh.
After breakfast we left for Stresa. On the way we stopped at Turin to see the shroud. It was hard to believe that it was the cloth that covered our Saviours body. Very humbling!
The restrooms were something else again. Most of the ladies were appalled and skipped them.
We proceeded on to Stresa to the Bristol Hotel for dinner; it was a lovely hotel in the Italian Alps on a very large lake. Lake Maggiore. I walked along the lake while Terry went with the group to Milan. We had dinner at the hotel. and said goodbye to the ones going home
October 24
Went to Padua to visit the Santo a beautiful sanctuary that houses the tomb of saint Anthony
On the alter is displayed his vocal cords and his tongue.
We went to Venice Took a gondola ride with Marge and Dan Terry and I. Our gondolier looked like Bill Clinton. In our gondola was an accordian player and a vocalist who sang Italian songs. We shared a bottle of wine. Delightful! Venice is a very unusual city. When the tide is in they have to put pallets down to walk on because the water comes up from the floor. The city used to have 200,000 inhabitants. It is now down to about 70,000. People are moving out because life is very hard there. It is gradually sinking and the buildings are deteriorating partly from the wake of the powerboats. St Mark’s cathedral was beautiful with all colors of marble and frescoes.
This day was a trip to Verona. We saw Juliet’s balcony of Romeo and Juliet. Had lunch at a nice restaurant with Marge and Dan. Saw another arena that looked in better shape than the coliseum. Then back to the Plaza Hotel for our final night in Italy. The group left an hour later then we did so we had to hire a car to take us to Milan to the Malpensa airport at 3am. Terry was able to get business class going home. It was much more comfortable. We had a good flight home/ and we saw the rest of the group at O'Hare.Oharied!
I spent the night with 'terry had a nice Hot shower with decent plumbing. She was still babying me and hand delivered me to the airport and my trip home to Springfield where Kathy and Seth picked me up.
It was a beautiful trip, one I shall always remember. Terry is so very special; I hope her rewards are great. How can I repay her?