Rome Was Not Built in a Day

According to wiktionary.org, this idiomatic expression means "It takes a long time to create something complicated or impressive." And after spending just three days in Rome, I must say I have a new appreciation for the truth of this expression. It is absolutely mind-boggling to see the sheer volume of incredible arches and architecture within a few square miles. We walked through the Coliseum, the first domed stadium, which would seat 55,000 spectators. It took just eight years to build starting in 72 A.D. (Having a lot of Jewish slave labor sped things along it seems.) Still 2000 years later parts of the original structure stand as a testimony to Roman ingenuity.

We wandered up Palantine Hill where the rulers of Rome built palaces that now lie in ruins. We strolled the Forum across the same paving stones where Julius Cesar walked. We studied the Rostrum, ten feet high and 80 feet long, where debaters debated and rising politicians and purveyors of ideas preached and persuaded. We saw the Borghese Gallery and Gardens and it's treasures of art and sculpture and horticulture. We made our way through the Vatican museum and drank in Michelangelo's paintings in the Sistine Chapel. We saw Michelangelo's Pieta in St. Peter's Basillica and marveled at the sheer grandeur of Bernini's seven-story high altar canopy. We experienced the Pantheon and watched the sunlight stream through the giant oculus at the top of the dome. We climbed up the Spanish Steps and took a night hike to the Trevi Fountain (tossing in our coins and making our wishes). And, after all this and more - it is strikingly obvious - Rome wasn't built in a day. No, rather, Rome is an amazing maze of immensely complex art and architecture and street designs and cathedrals and aqueducts and engineering! Can you tell I am impressed? I have seen in these three days many of the greatest symbols of civilization.

So tonight we will have dinner in a restaurant recommended by our friends, David and Debbie Scobey. It's our last night on our journey. Then we'll pack up and be ready to head to the airport tomorrow morning for the trip home. I am glad we're ending our trip here in Rome. As I look around I am awed at the accomplishments of mankind. Rome has given the world many of its greatest man-made treasures. And, yet I am also struck by the reality of just how much we still need. There are just too many important things we can't do for ourselves. We need God's presence to satisfy our loneliness. We need h

is comfort to ease our pain and fear. We need his purpose to fill our lives with meaning. We need his grace to mend our irreparable brokenness. And, we need his love to calm us in our helplessness. It took hundreds

 of years to build Rome to it's glorious grandeur (and a few hundred years for men to destroy most of it). And Rome gave many gifts to mankind. But, perhaps the best thing Rome gave us was a Roman-built cross, for on it the Father gave us all we really needed - a messiah who died in our place.

We came to Italy. We laughed! We Sang! We head home filled by the multitude of experiences we've had. And we find our hope still ---

Because of that cross!

Ciao! Firenze!

As I write it is Wednesday and Susan and I are on the fast train to Rome. On Monday we left Lake Garda and drove to Sesto Fiorentino, a city just northwest of Florence and convenient to the airport and rental car return location. We found accommodations in a beautiful bed and breakfast located in a olive grove. It was such a peaceful, welcoming and relaxing place. When we arrived in the afternoon, workers were harvesting olives - a process I had never seen. With netting under the trees and ladders positioned in the upper branches, the workers literally rake the olives off the flexible tree limbs, dropping them into the netting below. Then they gather up the netting and pour the olives into plastic bins. It was fascinating to watch them work, relieving tree after tree of it's ripened olives.

We were up early on Tuesday because Whitney had an early flight home. We so enjoyed our visit with her and celebrating her 25th birthday in Italy.
After getting Whitney to the airport, we enjoyed a delicious cup of Italian coffee back at the B&B. I especially enjoyed having my cup of coffee out on the veranda. It was so relaxing to read about Dante in my book, while looking out at the valley below. The cool morning was beautiful and the setting was serene. I enjoyed listening to the birds singing and the gentle rustling of the olive trees in the breeze and smelling the sweet smell of rosemary in the air. I could also hear the sounds of the olive reapers moving their ladders and raking the branches and having conversation as they worked. It was one of those glorious moments that I will remember forever!
After a delicious breakfast we got ready and headed into town and caught a train into Florence. We needed to do a bit of shopping and we also wanted to climb the Duomo. Seeing Florence from the top of the Duomo was beyond spectacular!! And seeing the paintings at the top of the dome from within arms reach was indescribable!
It began to rain as we boarded the train back to Sesto Fiorentino. We went to the supermarket and bought our dinner of bread and meat, cheese and olives which we enjoyed back at Casavaliversi.

It rained all night long and continued this morning, adding a morning fog to the scenery. We said goodbye to our hostess, Simona, and turned in the rental car and took a taxi to Santa Maria Novella - the central train station in Florence. And, now we are headed to Rome. We look forward to meeting up with our friends, Gary and Karen Chamblee, in Rome in another hour or so and finishing our trip seeing the sights if Rome with them.

We have learned so much on this trip and had so many new experiences. We have navigated planes, trains, automobiles, buses, taxis, boats and on foot. We have eaten new foods, seen so many new sights, learned a few Italian words, like "grazie" and "ciao," and been blessed beyond measure to meet such wonderful people! I can't wait to share pictures and stories with all of you when we get home! Until then, ciao!

From Venice to Verona to Lake Garda

Today, 7000 runners participated in the Venice Marathon! The course took the runners right through the city of Mestre where we stayed. So, I got up and went for a run just so I could say I ran on the same morning, in the same city, about one-tenth of the Venice Marathon. Needless to say, you didn't see me on tv!

We left Mestre and drove the autostrade and arrived in Verona for lunch. Verona is, of course, the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette - a fictional story that apparently many tourists think is real. I am just guessing that's the case since we saw them getting their pictures made beside the "fictional" home of Romeo. (We did not look for Juliette's "fictional" balcony.) I indulged my interest in seeing churches - popping into the ones that were open and either free or cost just a few euros. Since the art seems to be mostly from the same 150 year span, 1450 - 1600, I like to see how the churches feel. Some are more depressing, while some seem more inviting, more worshipful. One I visited today is still an active church and the lady who was the host invited me to go into the basement to check out the "lower church." I felt right at home! It was simple, had great acoustics, and had just the basic benches and a simple altar. I read in a brochure that the church meets down in the lower church during the winter. I bet they do that so they don't have to heat the upper church. Anyway, we loved Verona! It was a city with a family feeling.

Perhaps the highlight of the day for me was getting to go inside the Arena of Verona. This Arena was built in 30 A.D. - the same year Jesus began his ministry. It held 30,000 spectators who watched all kinds of contests, including gladiators battling wild beasts. It is the third largest Roman Arena (the Colosseum in Rome is larger) and, remarkably, is still used as a venue for opera and other musical performances today! After seeing the highlights of Verona (and eating a gelato) we drove about an hour to the small town of Torri del Benaco on the edge of beautiful Lake Garda. I had looked for a place where we could go to experience a different side of Italy - up in the lakes and mountains region. So - we just poked our finger on the map and drove to Lake Garda. And I have to say - we could not have chosen a more magnificent sunset view if we had researched for weeks. (We also stepped out of character and came here without

hotel reservations, but that worked out too. We are in a hotel that has had many famous guests including Winston Churchill, Vivian Leigh, and Maria Callas, and the King of Spain.)

Now, I must say, I do love the churches of Italy. I find them fascinating and awe-inspiring and I can sense that God has been there. But there is nothing in any church I have seen in all of Italy that can     

hold a candle to just one of God's sunsets!!

And when I saw this sunset on Lake Garda I knew for sure that God is indeed here right now!!!

Venezia! City of Water and Churches!

Today we visited Venice! We arrived at this island city after a short bus ride and stopped for breakfast - cannoli and caffe macchiato. Yum! We have decided that a very small little cup of very strong espresso coffee is perfect. You get all the caffeine you need but have very little liquid to slow you down - if you get my drift. We made our way toward the center of the city, stopping at three or four churches along the way. Each church was filled with art and unbelievable woodwork and sculpture. One church we wanted to see was Frari Church. However, guards at the door turned us away because there was a wedding in progress. That was one wedding I really wanted to crash. But we just moved on because there is always more to see than you can possibly absorb. At St. John the Evangelist Church and School, I stopped to listen in to a college professor quiz his students on the scene carved in stone on the side of the building. It depicted the an old man standing before small children in hooded robes. The professor explained that the man was John and he was teaching the children of the school. I imagined that I might learn more if I would read the Bible as if the writers were my teachers - because I think we always learn best from people - not books.
We rode in Vaporettos - shuttle boats - up and down the Grand Canal. We rode to the island of Murano and saw the glass-blowing furnaces and browsed dozens of shops filled with beautifully designed glass items.
We visited Piazza San Marco. We stood on the Rialto Bridge at sunset. We wandered through more churches and strolled along centuries old streets and watched the gondoliers expertly maneuver their gondolas, just trying to take it all in. We commented that it was like walking through a fairy tale. When we got back to Piazzale Roma to catch the bus back to the mainland, we felt like we were leaving Disney World at the end of a magical day.
We are living out a dream! Thanks for traveling with us!

Italy - Florence and Beyond

We spent our last day in Florence scurrying around in the rain going to museums. We started with the Academia in the morning. It is largely a sculpture museum with ancient statues and plaster casts. Of course, the highlight is Michelangelo's 17 foot tall statue of David. It truly is magnificent!
As I circled around this marble masterpiece, I was struck by the fact that Michelangelo portrays David as the real giant, not Goliath. I like to think he meant to convey the truth that a boy, with God on his side, is bigger than any giant. After lunch, we stood in the rain to tour the Duomo. So much art, so much opulence, such amazing engineering! Then, in the afternoon, we toured the Ufizzi Gallery. This is supposed to be the finest collection of Renaissance art in the world. And, it lived up to it's reputation. As we went from room to room, each featuring different artists, it was easy to see the evolution of art from century to century and also interesting to notice how the subject seemed to change, from religious art to more secular art. We enjoyed the day.
Today, we checked out of our Florence accommodations and picked up our rental car and headed in the direction of Venice. We stopped for lunch in Bologna and had the best bread in the world! We saw a bit of Bologna and found it to be a lot like Athens, Georgia, just bigger. It is definitely a college town and we saw the University of Bologna, the world's first university, which still trains doctors today. Then we drove on, stopping for a couple of hours in Ferrara. Since I had spent a week in Ferrara while on a a summer mission trip while I was in college, I wanted to go back! We toured the Castlello Estense that sits in the center of town and is protected by a large moat and drawbridges. I was particularly fascinated by the dungeons where the walls are still covered with graffiti from prisoners who were held there in the fifteenth century. Kneeling down to step through the four-foot high doorways into these dungeon rooms gave me some sense of just how hopeless these prisoners must have felt. It was good to get back out into daylight. Then, as we walked back toward our car, we paused to snap a picture in front of the oldest wine bar in the world - a place listed in the Guinness record book. This is the same bar where Copernicus, while studying and formulating his theory about the earth revolving around the sun, stayed and likely knocked down a glass or two of Vino.
We got back in the car and made our way on to our hotel for tonight - just across the bridge from Venice. Tomorrow promises to be another interesting day!

Burnt Siena

"Burnt Sienna" was introduced as a color in Crayola's standard crayons in 1949. Whoever made that call had surely visited Siena, Italy. (They added an extra n). The color is everywhere, especially in il Campo - the huge piazza where thousands of people gather on August 16 each year for The Palio - a horse race that has been held every year since 1310. We traveled to Siena on Wednesday by train and strolled through the city, stopping in shops, and visiting churches.
I had read about Saint Catherine of Siena in "Sprezzatura" - a book about the fifty most significant contributions Italians have made to the world. (This book was given to me by my friend, Joel Reed, and I have really enjoyed it!) Catherine was quite a forceful young lady who wrote letters to the Pope and was influential in getting the papacy moved back to Rome from France. So, before we left Siena I made sure we went to see the San Domenico church which is now associated with Saint Catherine. In fact, the church has several items associated with Catherine and a couple of pieces of her - her thumb and her head - under glass. (Other parts are scattered around Italy.) Pretty creepy, but true. However, the items that seemed the most unusual to me were the chains Catherine used to scourge herself.
What was she thinking or feeling as she punished herself? Did the chains draw blood? Did she fear hell and did she feel absolved of deep guilt after her self-flagellation? The whole experience made me so very grateful for the grace of God! I kept thinking - by his stripes we are healed!! Praise God! Oh, and by the way, we also ate a fabulous meal in a restaurant in a cave which was dug out of the soft volcanic soil under Siena around 400 B.C. I am still shaking my head in disbelief!

Fashion Monday, Tuscan Tuesday

Yes, it is Tuesday. I did not write yesterday because we spent the day just relaxing, walking around Florence, snapping photos and getting acquainted with this amazing city. And, the highlight of our day was the arrival of our daughter, Whitney, about 2 pm from Austin, TX. She arranged her vacation to coincide with our trip to Italy so she could join us and we are so glad she did! We enjoyed some great food (see the picture of me with my delicious pizza) and spent hours at the market looking at the fine leather jackets, handbags and briefcases. My brother and I began to notice (especially when our wives pointed it out to us) that many of the cooler, more fashionable men here in Italy wear scarves. Yes, it is true. And we also noticed that our wives generally find these fashion accessories quite attractive. Whether in the train station or just walking down the street, one or both of our spouses could be heard ohh-ing or ahh-ing over some man's scarf. (At least, they said it was just the scarves they were ogling.) In fact, it happened so frequently we began to refer to these as "marf" sightings (code for man scarf). Finally, Jonathan and I decided to join the fashion rage and we both broke down and got our own marfs! Funny what you will do to just fit in sometimes, I guess. ( I have also added a marf picture below.)
Today was "Tuscan Tuesday." Today is Whitney's 25th birthday. We decided to celebrate with a trip to Tuscany. We were up early to catch the train to Cortona. What a beautiful vista!! We were in awe when we finally stood in the Piazza Garibaldi and looked out over the valley. Just over the ridge is Assisi, and to the north you can see Montepulciano. We strolled through this beautiful Tuscan hill town that is home to 2500 residents and serves as one of the study-abroad locations for the University of Georgia. We could easily see why students would want to study here. We stopped for lunch at a small cafe (a delicious pizza with truffle sauce) and were just finishing a wonderful meal when in walked the President of UGA, Michael Adams! Whitney and I went over to his table and introduced ourselves. Dr. Adams was was kind enough ask Whitney what she is doing now (she has both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from UGA) and he also wished her a happy birthday! Remarkable!
We continued our stroll through Cortona, saw more sights, stared at the view, photographed narrow alley-ways and, just before catching the train back to Florence, we did a self-guided tour of the Church of St. Francis. Since Francesco of Assisi is someone I greatly appreciate, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing his tunic and pillow and gospel book that are preserved in this simple but magnificent old church from the 13th century. This church was built by St. Francis' best friend, Brother Elias, and is also said to hold, in a protected glass case over the altar, a piece of the cross of Jesus. Brother Elias brought this important relic back to Cortona from Constantinople when he travelled there to visit St. Francis. I was fascinated!
We ended our day back in Florence with a simple dinner (purchased from the market) which we ate in the Piazza of Michelangelo, high up over the city of Florence at sunset. And it's only Tuesday!

"Leaning, Leaning"

Yesterday we said goodbye to Cinque Terre and boarded the train for Tuscany. Along the way we saw the rock candy mountains of Carrara that gave marble to Michelangelo so he could carve David and also supplied marble for the amazing Duomo in Pisa. (I wondered if the mountains might feel just a bit disappointed that now they mostly just give up marble for countertops.) We arrived in Pisa and made the one-hour stroll across the Arno river and through the streets, stopping to have a panini for lunch.
When we first rounded the corner and saw the most famous tower in the world I thought it didn't look too bad - but that's because it was leaning toward me. After getting a better view it was apparent somebody had miscalculated. The tower was begun in 1173 and had three different architects before it was finally finished 200 years later. It leans 15 feet off of vertical. It really is an incredible sight! I wondered why the leaning tower is so famous? Why so many people come to see it? I suspect it may have something to do with the fact that we have all been where those first tower builders were - doing something that, once we got started, we realized we'd made some serious error but we couldn't turn back. And, I suppose, we also love to look at the Leaning Tower of Pisa because - even with some serious miscalculations - it is still standing after 850 years! (Granted, many engineers have made nice livings on the constant efforts required to try and stabilize it so it won't fall down.)
After making goofy pictures where you try to line up the camera and make it seem as if you are either holding the tower up or pushing it down, we went inside the Duomo. Spectacular! It is hard to describe but it is a magnificent work of art! The gilded ceiling is breathtaking and the mosaic floor is indescribable. And everything in between is awe-inspiring! It is truly inspiring to imagine the time and talent and meticulous attention to detail that was poured into this amazing space for worship!
Well, after suffering from serious impression fatigue, we headed back to the train and made our way to Florence. We settled in to the apartment we'll call home for a few days. It is in a building built in 1400!! We walked out to have dinner and gelato, and walked around the Duomo to get a night view of what we plan to try and absorb in more detail today. But, for all the sights we've seen so far, none compares to the one we plan to see today at noon. That's when we will see our daughter, Whitney, as she arrives here in Florence to spend the next week with us!! We are beside ourselves with anticipation!!! Thanks for joining us on our journey!!!

Hiking Cinque Terre

We hiked 10 miles today!!
The plan was to travel by boat from Monterosso (town #5) to Riomaggiore (town #1) and then hike back - stopping in each of the towns along the way. We intended to hike a bit, see the scenery and then take the boat or train to the next town when we could not hike or did not wish to hike. (The trail is actually out of order between town #2 - Manarola and town #3 - Corniglia.)
The boat ride was a nice start and we made it to the southernmost village, Riomaggiore. We enjoyed the city and struck out to hike to the next town. This part of the Cinque Terre National Park trail is named "Via dell'Amore" - the trail of love. The path was level and the hike to the next town was an easy twenty-minute stroll which we turned into forty minutes. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed imagining all the lovers who had hiked here before us. We enjoyed lunch in Manarola (town #2) and took the train to town three - Corniglia. We saw the town and here's where we made our mistake. That first hike was so easy. We imagined the hike from #3 - Corniglia to Vernazza (town #4) would be longer and maybe a bit of a challenge - but we'd be ok. Well...almost 2 hours later we finally made it to Vernazza - after navigating some of the very steepest, most narrow, rough and torturous paths I have seen. Needless to say, this hike bore no resemblance to Via dell'Amore! But - we did make it. We saw Vernazza. We took the train to Monterosso - our home base - and we were glad to get dinner and a shower.
Yes - counting all our steps today we logged ten miles. And along the way we saw one of the most beautiful places on earth! Enjoy some of the sights we saw....

A Room with a View

Tonight we will sleep in the town of Monterosso al Mare, one of the five beautiful seaside villages that make up the Cinque Terre. We arrived from
Milano by train - an altogether wonderful three-hour experience! We enjoyed having our own compartment so we could "laugh and sing" (the title theme of this blog) without disturbing the other passengers. With six seats in our compartment and five of us traveling together we imagined we would have the room all to ourselves. However, just before the train pulled away from the station, Chiara came to our compartment. She had the ticket for the sixth seat. What a blessing! Chiara is a young lady from near Milan who is almost 30 years old. She was on her way to a city past Monterosso where she is giving a bachelorette party tonight for one of her friends. We learned that this is the ninth one of these wedding parties she has attended for friends in the last year! Chiara is a graphic/web/product designer. She speaks excellent English and was a delight to visit with as we travelled. She told us of some of the "jokes" she has planned for the bride, shared about her family, spoke of her discouragement with the state of political affairs in Italy, and recounted the many things she enjoyed about her trip to San Diego this summer for free-lance design work. We exchanged contact information with Chiara. She will help us find some places to have great meals during our trip and we've invited her to come and visit us in Atlanta so we can introduce her to southern hospitality.
We said goodbye to Chiara and got off the train in Monterosso - population, 1521. We delivered our luggage to Manuel's Guest House - over 100 steps up near the top of the town. Whew! We spent the afternoon strolling along the streets, photographing the beautiful blue Ligurian Sea and just marveling at God's magnificent creation! We made it back to our room just as the sun was setting and this was our view. We definitely have a room with a view! In fact, we've had two rooms today - both with great views! One on a train with a wonderful view of the life of our new friend, Chiara, and this view from Manuel's in Monterosso. Both are quite spectacular!

Rejoice!

We are here! It is Thursday night in Milano and we are in our hotel and ready to get some rest. We had a smooth 9 hour flight from Atlanta but, of course, we struggled to get any sleep. And, I also struggled to obey Paul's instruction to "rejoice with those who rejoice" - when I saw those well-rested Business Class passengers just waking up in their plush reclining seats as we de-boarded the plane. But then I decided that must be one of the lessons for my "pilgrim training" so I decided not even make any sarcastic remarks.
We made it to the Central Train station from the airport, dropped our luggage at the hotel and had our first real Italian pizza. Then we navigated the Metro and went to see the castle - incredible! Then we became true tourists and took a sight-seeing tour bus that made stops at the main points of interest around the city. Our one disappointment was not getting to see DaVinci's Last Supper since the tickets had been sold out for today's date - even before we knew the dates of our trip. But, I had seen it during my summer mission trip here in 1973, and I suppose we need to leave one or two things to do when we come back some day.
One of the great blessings of this trip is that Susan and I are getting to travel with my brother, Jonathan, and his wife, Lea, and their daughter, Jessica. They converged on Atlanta from Huntsville and Dallas and we made the flight with them. They will be with us a week and, in a few days our daughter, Whitney, will join us for several days. We love traveling with them because they are all world travelers and - well, because we love them!
Tomorrow we will take the train from Milano to Cinque Terra. Thanks for riding along with us!

From Tourist to Pilgrim

This is it!! We are awake and today is the day!! We'll drink our coffee and then finish packing, get those last minute chores done, and catch a ride to the airport with our friend Karen. Can you tell I'm excited?
But, I've been thinking how this trip to Italy seems so different from our typical vacations.  Usually, on a vacation we head to the beach and the plan is to relax - eat seafood, read books, sit in the sun, listen to the waves, fish a little, golf a few rounds and watch the sunset. (There is also usually some shopping thrown in there somewhere.) It doesn't take a lot of preparation. We just load the car and take off. But, this trip is different. We've been seriously planning for weeks. We have studied travel books until we can recite the key sites from memory. We have visited with friends who have traveled to Italy and listened to advice, looked at pictures, and learned the ropes. We have searched and researched. And, I think we are ready. Ready to experience Italy, it's history and art and culture and cathedrals and countryside and cuisine. We are not just vacationers, we are about to be tourists. And, this brings me back to one of my favorite authors, Eugene Peterson, and his fabulous little book, A Long Obedience. Peterson suggests that too often in our faith walk we have "adopted the mindset of a tourist and only want the high points." We spend our time looking "for a religious experience" but we seem to have "little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue."
Hm mm. I have to contemplate that.
Peterson wants us - in our faith walk - to be "pilgrims...people who spend our lives going someplace..." and "disciples...people who spend our lives apprenticed to our master, Jesus Christ."  Not tourists. 
Well - we are definitely about to be tourists for the next 17 days. But, as a tourist in one of the most fascinating and historical places in the world - I hope to learn a few things about being a pilgrim. I want to walk in the footsteps of Paul and visit the ancient forum in Rome and imagine what it meant to be a disciple. I want to re-trace the steps of Francesco of Assisi and imagine what it meant to take a vow of poverty. And I want to stand in the places where Catherine of Sienna and Copernicus and Galileo and Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo walked and learned and confronted and created and suffered and changed the world. I want to learn what it means to become a pilgrim. And - I also want to do a little shopping along the way! Arrivederci!!

Like a Dream, Too Good to be True

One of the most transformitive books I've read is Eugene Peterson's, "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction." It's one of his first books and a very thought-provoking look at Psalms 120 - 134.  Peterson aims to help us learn - using these Psalms - to become dependable disciples in a society that seems to be consumed with instant gratification. I took the title of his chapter on Psalm 126, "We Laughed, We Sang" for this blog.

Now, you need to know a couple of things before we start: I have never blogged before. I haven't because I don't really think I have a lot of wise or witty things to say, and wise and witty are two important qualities of the blogs I like to read. However, and you need to know this too, I decided to do this blog because Susan and I are about to leave for a long-anticipated sabbatical trip to Italy. Our trip, which has been provided by the North Atlanta elders (and the generosity of one  family in particular), is on the occasion of our completion of 20 years of ministry with this church family. We are thrilled to have this wonderful privilege and so appreciative for this opportunity.

We have often longed to travel to Italy - I, because of fond memories of the sights and sounds and people I met when I spent the summer of 1973 traveling around the country with Project Italy, and Susan, because of her unquenchable love of art and architecture (and wine).  We are leaving home in a few days and will arrive in Milan and begin a 17-day tour of Northern Italy - places like Cinque Terre, Pisa, Lucca, Florence, Sienna, Venice, Ferrara, Assisi, and Rome.  We have bought plane tickets, read travel books, watched Rick Steves, downloaded Rick Steves, reserved hotels and apartments and rental cars, purchased a voltage converter, stopped the mail, gone to the bank, changed our phones to international settings, laid out clothes, downloaded maps and currency converters and translation aids, and, and - what are we forgetting???

So - as we are almost ready for our trip (we leave on October 12) I am drawn again to the first phrases of Psalm 126: "It seemed like a dream, too good to be true, when God returned Zion's exiles. We laughed, we sang, we couldn't believe our good fortune." Truly, we are richly blessed!!

My plan is to try to write about our experiences and perspectives daily. I doubt I will stick to the plan. I hope to include some pictures along the way. If you see places that are familiar because you've been there, I hope this blog will stir pleasant memories. If you see scenes you've never seen, I hope you will be transported there through our friendship. Most of all, I hope you will rejoice with us in our good fortune and that somehow we will be able to use this means to say thank you to those who provided this blessing, and to all of the North Atlanta family, past and present, that we have been privileged to share life with for the last 20 years!

In the words of the psalmist, "God was wonderful to us; we are one happy people."