Four City's, One Video, And A Whole Lot of Pictures!

The beginning of our journey. Sr. Pat invited all of us long-term (1-2 years) volunteers to attend a conference with the short-term (1 month) Italian volunteers. The conference was to be held in Brescia, which is within an hour or two of Venice.

Rachel and I taking our first car nap of the trip. The first leg up north took about 6 hours of driving, but we got to stop in Assisi and explore!

Here is Assisi from afar, quite a beautiful sight after spending a month in congested Rome. I can see why St. Francis loved it.

In fact, we got to meet the famous man himself. Here is Rach taking a walk just outside the church of San Damiano, where God spoke to St. Francis through a crucifix telling him to rebuild His church.

Here is the actual Crucifix which spoke to Francis. It is now in the Basilica of St. Clare, which is just up the hill. This cross is really special to both Rachel and I. For our wedding we had a copy of this crucifix blessed as the symbol of our marriage, to remind us that Christ is the center of us. We went to Divine Treasures (the Catholic Christian bookstore) in Des Moines and this was the biggest crucifix they had. We didn’t know the story behind it or that we would ever be in Assisi, but we bought it. As always, God knew where we were headed before we did.

Here is the finished product of St. Francis’s handiwork. The Lord then used St. Francis to start a revival of faith in Italy and eventually his Franciscan brothers spread throughout the world, bringing light to places as far away as the Bronx of New York City and California (San Francisco).

Assisi was really a great time, things got really special when my brothers in arms nominated me to become a knight. I politely declined, but they would not let me leave. Sooooo…..

Here I am preparing for the official ceremony.

Here I am after receiving my knighthood, with my fellow knights of the round table as we prepare for battle. (I’m the tall, good looking one on the left)

After Assisi, we were off to Verona, where the founder of the Canossian Sisters lived. St. Magdalene of Canossa was born into a noble family in 1774, impelled by the charismatic spirit of Christ she began her own “volunteer projects”. She began to set up schools for those on the streets, to visit the sick and involve as many people as she could in her work. Her story was one going from riches to rags. She founded the Canossian sisters, who founded VOICA, which is the program that we are in right now.

Her bones are inside of this alter, the face and hands are made of wax. She was moved here in 1988, after Pope John Paul II declared her a saint.

Rachel – “These are the coolest shoes I’ve ever seen!!!! :) ”

The town of Brescia. One of the best little italian city’s around.

The five of us posing on top of the castle. This was our last day with Alex, as she is leaving us for one month to teach in a school by Milan.

After the conference up north, we headed back to Rome. But.....Sr. Pat graciously gave us a chance to see Florence on the way. As we were getting closer and closer to the city there were a bunch of signs for Firenze, but none for Florence. This was confusing, until I learned that Firenze is the Italian name for Florence.

Here is the huge Cathedral of Florence, it was so big I couldn’t get a good picture of it.

A street artist at work, there were many of these around and they are incredible at what they do. It’s a shame that this will disappear when the next batch of rain comes along.

Some pig that the natives trick the tourists into touching for good luck.

Here's a street band that was amazing to listen to, they played great music and attracted a large crowd of onlookers. Rach and I talked things over and we have no idea what kind of instrument that is in the front. If anyone knows, feed our curiousity and tell us!

Our dinner! Pizza, which we found in a romantic, hole in the wall type place. Quite an excellent find by my gorgeous wife.

Our last look at Florence by night, as we headed back to Roma.
It was a journey of mearly 4 days, but will last a lifetime in our memories.
God Bless,
The Egans