Bonjourn tout le monde!
sorry all for the such such lack of email. You know how it goes when you
actually have to pay for your internet access. My trip has been so wow! I
left two weeks ago and came into paris. I have pretty much been on my own
here so i work by the mike schedule. what that means is lots of parks for
reading, churches for praying and museums for contemplation. Also have no
fear, I am eating and well at that. I have decided if i am going to be in
europe i am at least going to enjoy the food i eat and spend a little
extra on it. Well anyways, back to the trip. Paris was great. I hit up
notre dame for mass on that sunday and then continued on to the Louvre and
the musee d'orsee (seperate days thank god) My way of going to a museum is
to get all invigorated for the first 20 minutes then take long
"contemplative" moments on benches in front of pieces of art. after a
whirlwind trip through paris i made my way to Rome. I stayed there with
Carly Diaz and had my fill of the Vatican and more churches. Churches
indeed make the best museums because the art work is often in its
origional intended context, there are less people to get in the way, the
art has a way of helping you trancsend and above all it is free. I loved
the Vatican Museum and the Borgehesse gallery (where i rededicated my
passion for caravagio and berninni paintings) but then I walked on to see
those same two artist as well as Michelangelo in the select churches
about. I walked in the Vatican gardens of rome for 3 sureal hours. It was
such a trip to think i was walking the gardens that popes have walked to
relax! I also made it to the excavation tour underneath saint peters
basillica. THIS WAS WORTH THE TRIP TO ROME ALONE! wow i was stunned. I not
only saw very well presereved family chapels from the 2nd century of the
roman religions and i walked by the tombs of popes, but on top of that I
saw the tomb of st. Peter and his bones. WOW! Rome has much better water
than paris by the way. Paris doesn't even have public water fountains.
Anyways, after rome i went to the adriatic sea to kick it with my sister
for 3 days and after my trip to bosnia fell through i made my way to
Assisi in Italy. The city is simply romantic. I just spent my first day in
florence today and climbed some 472 stairs to the top of the main
basillica here. they call it michelangelo's lantern. well i have near
exhausted my bought internet time and my fungers at that. I miss you all
good friends. keep me in some corner of your thoughts as i treck through
this whole of western europe.
ciau ciau,
Mike