After our afternoon snack we headed to the basilica cistern. It is a huge cistern also built by Justinian to hold water for the city. The structure, of course, is completely underground and is supported by 336 pillars. They believe that the pillars were taken from different parts of the empire. The pics do not Read more
The first thing we did on day 3, after a short detour to Starbucks, was head to the Haggia Sophia. I’ll give you the abbreviated history of the church and you can look up the rest later. The name Haggis Sophia means holy wisdom. The present church was built between 532 and 537 on the Read more
Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time in Istanbul, Turkey. Today, Istanbul is the capitol of Turkey and was the capitol of the Roman Empire when it was known as Constantinople (They changed the name in 1930). The city is very Muslin and yet very westernized. We arrived somewhat late on Thursday Read more
I started today knowing that it was going to be a long one. We had a 4 hour bus ride to Venice where we would have 4 hours to explore the city and then end the day with a 7 and a 1/2 hour bus ride home. It was well worth it We got off Read more
We spent the day on Lake Como, the home of George Clooney. It’s funny, I thought that only Americans would care about that, but the Italians love the fact that he spends so much time on Lake Como. The boat departed almost immediately after we got on the bus. The scenery was amazing. It is Read more
We started our day with a visit to the Castello Sforzesco to view Michelangelo’s last Pieta, known as the Rondanini Pieta. The castle dates to the 1500’s and today houses some priceless works of art. The most beautiful works of art were the works that were present here when it was built, the frescos on Read more
We headed for Pisa this morning. Hopefully everyone knows what Pisa is known for…its Leaning Tower. As much as I would love to tell you about the grandiose experience I had at Pisa, that would be impossible. There only seem to be 3 things in Pisa; the tower, the cathedral and the baptistry. They are Read more
We started our day at the Cathedral in Siena called Santa Maria Assunta. By American standards the church is beautiful, but by European standards it is just “OK.” My favorite parts of the entire church were the bronze doors. The metal-work was wonderful. You can see what I mean in the pic with a lamb Read more
I began my day in Florence in the Piazza directly outside of the Uffizi Museum. I sat down in a little cafe for a cappuccino and found out the hard way that you should look at a menu first. Because of the prime touristy location of the cafe my cappuccino cost 6.50 Euro or $8.75 Read more
We left for our excursion on Friday and arrived in Arezzo late Friday night. Arezzo is a relatively small town in Northern Italy, but it has a lot of character. On the first weekend of every month most of the city turns into a giant antique market. It was a great time walking through the Read more
Saturday Morning: 8:00 am
Saturday Vigil: 4:30 pm
Sunday: 7:30 am, 9:00 am, 10:45 am,
12:30 pm, 5:30 pm
Saturday Vigil: 6:15pm
Sunday: 9:00am, 7:15pm
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 8:30 am
