Marco is on Spring break and we are off to Italy to visit two churches: one in the far north, the other in Rome. I won't write much for now. We'll be driving across the Alps, so I hope we don't have car problems because I'm useless when it comes to cars. I guess the Alps wouldn't be a bad place to be stranded, except we would freeze to death. I guess the final views would be lovely. We'll be driving a lot on this trip. The scenery should be absolutely amazing the entire trip through Austria and Italy.

Our internet service will most likely be spotty. I don't think we'll have it very often, so it may be a matter of finding an internet cafe every once in a while. So sorry if there's lags in the posts.

This will be Marco's 2nd time to Italy. The first time he went he was still in a stroller. We saw the Pope. The new creepy one...Benedict. Sorry to my Catholic friends, but I'm just not a fan. This time Marco will be able to remember a lot more, although when he was small, he loved the Sistine Chapel.

I don't think I'm speaking this Sunday...but I always have to be prepared. I've gotten 15 minutes notice before. Had to think of a sermon on the spot. We will be having a special Easter Sunrise service in Rome and I'll be giving a short homily there. And a week from Saturday I'll be giving a lecture. On our way back, we hope to have a relaxing break as a family. I dread the amount of work that is going to pile-up as we go off-line here for a while. I'll have 4 days before going to Canada for the Theologue at Gardner College to catch up on a lot of it.

Italy is gorgeous. It's also an easy place to get robbed. Near the top of my "beware of thieves" list. So hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the beauty without a mugging, a stolen car, or something else. It's always an adventura.

Ciao paisano.