Lake Como

Milan

Venice

Day 8

Today we rented a car and drove around Tuscany. We visited the small towns of San Gimignano and Volterra. We had a picnic in a public park overlooking the valley in Volterra. Then, we went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

San Gimignano

The House of Torture Museum - check out the skulls on the walls!!





Our picnic in the Park.

Tuscany.

Days 5, 6 and 7

Sorry we have not been able to write sooner, but we have been exhausted after 12 hours of walking (and some times stair climbing) everyday. Here are some of the pictures from the last 3 days in Florence. As you can see, Ruth has been praying so much; she’s already growing wings! You can also see her buying Daniela a purse at Lorenzo’s Market. We ate at Za-Za Trattoria today. This restaurant was recommended by Silvia, Marylou’s friend. Thanks Silvia! According to George, this is the best food he has had in Italy so far. You can see how much he liked it! He is even eating TOMATOES!!! Tonight, we are getting ready for our day trip to the Tuscan countryside. We bought bread, cheese, ham, and wine for our picnic on our way to the small Tuscan towns and Pisa (if we make it that far). Mario is our designated driver and GPS. We’ll be writing soon.

Love,

The Fortes, the Chavez and the Torres

Day 4

This was our leisure day. From our hotel we walked to San Pietro in Vincoli Church, which contains Peter’s chains and the famous Moses sculpted by Michaelangelo. Then, we went to Villa Borghese and took a small train tour around the gardens. You’ll see one of the fountains the photos. We also visited ‘Il genio de Leonardo DaVinci’ exhibition, which houses some of his inventions. Very cool! We took a ‘Gelato break” and walked around Trastevere.

Tomorrow we head to Florence early in the morning.

Ciao for now.

This was our leisure day. From our hotel we walked to San Pietro in Vincoli Church, which contains Peter’s chains and the famous Moses sculpted by Michaelangelo. Then, we went to Villa Borghese and took a small train tour around the gardens. You’ll see one of the fountains the photos. We also visited ‘Il genio de Leonardo DaVinci’ exhibition, which houses some of his inventions. Very cool!

We took a ‘Gelato break” and walked around Trastevere. Tomorrow we head to Florence early in the morning.

Ciao

Day 3

Wow! What a day we had today. First, we saw the Pope at St. Peters Square. He addressed the audience from his bed chamber. You’ll see him in the viedo. He spoke in Italian most of the time, but he also spoke in Spanish, English, and German. He said October is the month of the Rosary and asked to pray with devotion for faith, hope and peace.

Later, we met Ernesto Fernandez-Travieso, S.J. at Radio Vatican. Ernesto is the head of International Relations - Latin America for Radio Vatican and a friend of the Fortes. We received a private mass from Ernesto at the Chapel inside Radio Vatican. It was a beautiful Mass just for the six of us. Eduardo was the Altar Boy. Ernesto then showed us around Rome. We had lunch at L’insalata Ricca, which is owned by a friend of Ernesto. We ordered several dishes and shared, so we all had a taste of everything. Delicious! After lunch, we had ‘the best Capuccino in the World’ at Sant Eustachie. It was truly the best Capuccino we have ever had. Then, we had Gelato (again) at Giolitti.

Thanks Ernesto for a beautiful Mass and your tour of Rome. We all enjoyed the pleasure of meeting you and spending the afternoon in your company. It was an honor.

The Fortes, The Chavez, and The Torres