More of Florence

The English Cemetery, where mostly Protestants from England and other countries are interred. Elizabeth Barrett Browning is buried here. The amazing Cathedral of St. Mary of the Flower, the Duomo, was completed in the 1400s. Different shades of marble give the...

Florence

Then it was time to hug my friend, bid her a teary goodbye, say Arrivederci, Roma, and take the short train ride to Florence. With a population of 360,000, Florence, or Firenze, is a tenth the size of Rome, and it feels very accessible. While it is old (founded as a...

Last Day Surprise in Rome

One more from Rome. I needed a bathing suit, and a young woman at the front desk of the pensione gave me directions to a shopping area a few blocks away. Her directions were, turn right at the front door, walk past the ruins, turn left… Wait? What ruins? Oh, just some...

Downtown Rome

For the second half of our week in Rome, we moved downtown to the pensione owned by the Sisters of St. Filippini, the order of which my friend Sr. MaryBeth Lloyd is a member. They’re dedicated to working with women and children in need, in a number of countries....

Pompeii

We took the train to Naples, and from there transferred to the local train that took us to Pompeii. After our tour there, we reversed course to Ercolano to see the ruins at Herculaneum. It was awe-inspiring to look up at Mt. Vesuvius, which erupted in 79 A.D., killing...

Rome, a Modern City Built on Antiquity

As we’ve seen over and over in Europe, different eras of history coexist side by side, and nowhere is that truer than in Rome. https://journeywithjillian.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/242196253_613186093185456_6398080661576413225_n.mp4 This church was built on a...