Pilgrimage to Italy – Day 1

We are just back from a wonderful trip to Italy.  We were gone 11 days and visited the cities of Assisi, Florence, Siena, and Rome, and saw many beautiful churches, cathedrals, and basilicas.  I will share some of the photos I took while in Italy and, hopefully, a bit about the sites we saw.

I’ll break the trip down into small segments rather than blast you with everything at once.  So, let’s start with a bit about the trip.

Fr. Robert Creagan of the Kalamazoo, MI, diocese let the pilgrimage.  The parish of St. Catherine of Siena is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, so, what better time for a pilgrimage to Italy?

We arrived at the airport in Rome on Wednesday, November 2, and were met by Evan, our tour director, and Adriano, our bus driver.  Our tour started with a two hour drive to Assisi, giving us a chance to either catch up on much needed sleep, or to enjoy the Umbrian countryside.

Umbria is known for its small hill-towns.  We passed by several on our way to Assisi.

We finally came into view of Assisi.  Assisi is composed of the older town on top of the hill, and a newer area in the valley below.  Of course, old and new are relative.

We got a good view of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Saint Mary of the Angels).  The city of Los Angeles is named after this church.  More on Santa Maria in another post.

We finally pulled into the hotel and were able to freshen up before dinner.  I was also able to take several photos of Assisi from the hotel.  This one is of the hillside looking to Assisi.

Well, that wraps up our first day in Italy.  We had a wonderful dinner and got some sleep.  The next day, we toured Assisi, and so, I’ll continue there with the next post.

Mark