Mary was sitting there at her desk when I stepped into the little back room adjoining the chapel at Milano’s Cimitero Monumentale – the Monumental Cemetery. Now 87, she’s given her time for close to 20 years, assisting Padre Francesco with the mass, altar flowers and little details. We spent close to 2 hours chatting [...]

Warmest congratulations to Glenda and Massimo! Congratulazioni! The two were wed on Saturday, June 9, 2012 on the hill of Cimiez, in the city of Nice, France, along the jewel-toned Côte d’Azur of the French Riviera. It was a fairytale wedding with a nuptial mass at the Monastery at Cimiez, during which the bride laid a special bouquet [...]

I saw the Pope today. Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Milano yesterday for an evening greeting to the citizens that welcomed him at the Piazza del Duomo (Milano’s central cathedral). The event had slipped my mind, so I didn’t make it, but heard the huge piazza had been filled with thousands of people. This morning [...]

After sitting inside all day working, by 6:00 p.m. I had to get out and take a walk from here to my beloved Duomo. I had arrived late Tuesday evening, spent Wednesday getting settled and hadn’t yet been to my favorite landmark in town, 2 miles away from my apartment. I must always go to [...]

A couple of days ago I went to Venice for the day just because I could. In a few days it’ll no longer be so simple to do. My fourth or fifth time there, this visit was entirely different. I wasn’t on a mission, I wasn’t in a mad dash to fill the memory card [...]

It would have been impossible to leave Milano without saying “goodbye” to Mary. Our first meeting is a story in itself, finally happening last March after much anticipation. We’ve seen each other a few times since then, meeting in the little office behind the cemetery chapel. Today I showed up in the afternoon, after the [...]

Two years ago, in exploring one church after another, I noticed cathedral walls laden with silver framed medallions bearing the letters “GR”. Some were tied with a pink or a blue ribbon. There may have been 50 in some churches, or hundreds in others. Here’s a wall in the Duomo of Sienna (from 2008). With [...]

The excitement of a college-time trek through Europe! Hannah & Zibby started together on June 8, in Newcastle Under Lyme. They went on to Amsterdam and Berlin, took a wrong train into Switzerland, and arrived in Milano yesterday. They’ll go on to Venezia, Firenze, Roma, then Athens and Santorini. A time to discover themselves and [...]

Venezia – Venice – will always remain, for me, one of the great and marvel-filled cities of the world. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The visual lushness in Italy thrills me. Architectural details. Signage. The artistic sense. And the character of the people. As an artist, I am fed deeply as I explore this country. I expect that the inspiration and imagery I’ve found here will propel me for years to come. . . . . . . . [...]

A sunny holiday in the middle of the week calls for a bike ride. Apparently every family in Milano had the same thought; the bike path along the canal was crowded with those rolling tra-la-la along. I, on the other hand, felt full of vim and vigor so I pushed myself hard for an hour [...]

A month ago I was given a hot lead from a girlfriend in Seattle about flea markets in Firenze. What I uncovered through some digging was that the “hottest” market happens on the last Sunday of the month, in the Piazza dei Ciompi, just a few blocks’ walk east of the Piazza del Duomo. OK. [...]

Last June, just a few days after I had arrived here in Milano, I went to the Cimitero Monumentale – the Monumental Cemetery - to look around. It is, indeed, “monumental” and every bit worth an afternoon of strolling and looking. As they say, it is WAY over the top! One can study architecture, sculpture, typography [...]

After rising up from the valley floor in the funiculare tram, a short walk brings you to the old plaza, la Piazza Vecchia. Encircled by palaces, a bell tower and a colonnaded portico, the space is punctuated at its center by a Baroque fountain from the late 1700s. The piazza is the heart of the city.Those palaces [...]

“I was born in 1945 during the war years and I grew up with family members all around me talking about politics and The War. They didn’t always agree. I think that being surrounded by these discussions as a child is why I love history so much today.” Today Angelo became my second personal tour [...]

Gotta love these Italians. They had two national, Catholic holidays at the beginning of December. Then two weeks off for Christmas and New Years. Then, today is the Feast of the Epiphany, also a national holiday. (Italy is about 98% Catholic.) A lot of people took this whole week off since they were already on [...]

From my journal entry, New Year’s Day 2010: I took off walking toward the Duomo at 4:10 today. It’s New Year’s Day. I needed to get out of the house and get my body moving. I decided to zig zag through the “neighborhood” on streets I’ve never seen before, rather than take the sure, known [...]

It seemed to me that the ultimate Parisian, Catholic experience would be attending Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. (And it seemed the thought occurred to thousands of others, too.) It was raining last night at 8:00 as I walked from my hotel, across the bridge and toward the cathedral. What a sight with the church [...]

La Chiesa della Madonna del Soccorso – The Church of the Madonna of Help is located at the edge of a prominent cliff in Forio, at the west edge of the island of Ischia. I had seen it in the daytime from the window of the bus crowded with tourists, but was in no position [...]