Vatican, Stares & Memory Loss

Orbotello wasn't supposed to be one of my stopping points, however, on this warm Saturday evening, hello from Orbotello on the Italian Mediteranean coastline. On Monday I was scheduled to visit the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity for nothing more than a quick hello before heading off towards France. What I had failed to take into account though was that the men & women I would be meeting with that morning don't simply work in a place that deals with the issues of unity, they live it. The unity of christians is their passion & their mission. Ergo, I was offered a very warm welcome & what I thought would be a 30min wave hello & goodbye turned into nearly a full day. I was greeted at the door by the secretary I had been in contact with prior to my arrival & was quicly introduced to Monsignor Bollen who is in charge of the Catholic/Anglican dialouge. After a considerable chat I was asked to sign copy of the International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity booklet & then introduced over time with the priests in charge of dialouge with the Greek Orthodox, Lutherans, Jews & the World Coucil of Churches, respectively. I then had the oppurtunity to meet with both Bishop Brian Farrell (secretary) & Walter Cardinal Kasper, who leads the 'team'. That meeting was very quick as the Cardinal had asked to say hello in between two meetings but we did quickly pose for a photo together. I blinked. Sorry. There were a number of points to come from all the meetings & conversation though. Firstly, that Christ's prayer (John 17) & St Paul's exhortations call for a 'visible' unity & that the lack of it is in direct conflict with our calling to live as christians. And secondly, what really struck me, was their incredible joy & love of what they did, or more to the point, of what God does are they are privileged to be a part of. The place was litterally bursting with smiles & gentle humour. I asked one of the priests what he did at the council but before he could answer, a Tanzanian priest in charge of dialouge with the WCC called out from down the hallway, "As little as possible!" There where a few laughs before he finally had the oppurtunity to answer the question, but the mood was the same the whole day. There were people bouncing around everywhere. They all enjoyed what they did & had such incredible admiration for all the denominations they each worked alongside. The young Dominican in charge of the Greek Orthodox dialouge spoke about the Greek Orthodox Church with greater affection than I've heard any Greek Orthodox speak about it! The Monsignor called me aside at one point & apologised because he had organised some interviews for me for that day & so I was then off across the street to Vatican Radio before dashing up to CNS (Catholic News Service), then across town to the Franciscan run Centre For Unity & then a rest over night before meeting with Zenit TV for an interview the next morning. The young Dominican priest, Fr Vladimir, invited me to stay in their spare appartment just outside the Vatican walls. Not long after arriving there, Fr Oliver (Catholic/Lutheran dialouge) showed up with a gift from Bishop Brian Farrell; a tour of the excavations of the tombs of the first christian matyrs underneath St Peter's Basilica. Now that's a gift! And so after sharing a meal with 4 Dominicans I was off to bed in readiness for the tour of the crypt & the final interview the next morning. As it would be though, there was confusion the next day at the Vatican gates & the guards directed me to the wrong place & to cut a complicated & frustrating 2hr story short, I didn't make it under St Peter's. I have to be honest, I was bitterly disappointed for about half an hour but eventually managed to refocus & set my mind on what really mattered as Zenit TV showed up for their interview. Eventually hitting the road again after lunch on Tuesday was a breath of fresh air. I felt a lot more comfortable just walking & praying. I've fallen one day behind schedule over the last 2days due a variety of factors but I'll try to catch that day later in the week. I've been taunted for the last few days by 2 old problems that have flaired up badly. I have been walking with a corn on the bottom of my right foot since Mexico & with severe muscle soarness in my right shoulder-blade since Poland. Niether has been too unbearable until this week & I really had to consentrate on not letting out grunts & groans while people were walking past me. My foot feels like it's on fire & my back feels like it has a knife shoved up between the shoulder-blade & ribs. I've had two shoulder reconstructions ('96 & '03) and so that shoulder is a lot tighter than normal & requires particular attention. Obviously more than I've been giving it! I'm pleased to report though that my split heal has healed. Next! Hmmm, you know, I actually thought that by the time I made it to this part of the world I'd be cruising. Oh the ignorence! My reception in many towns hasn't changed a great deal. I arrived in a particular seaside town earlier in the week but hadn't seen any signs showing the name of the place & so I went to ask a lady walking past me what the name of the town was. I only managed, "Excuse me" in Italian before she tucked her handbag under her arm & ran like blazes all the way up the street. Wow, am I that ugly?? While still contemplating the dashing women, a young man exited his front gate right beside me. He looked up at me, I smiled & said hello, he continued to stare for a while & then returned the greeting before heading back inside through a second gate. I walked on into the town & passed an elderly lady sitting outside a cafe. She was fixated on me. She did not break her stare for a second. It was very unnerving & I felt a tad uncomfortable so I simply nodded & said good afternoon to her but she didn't waver. No return of greeting, no break in the stare. Walk on. Unfortunatky it is pretty common in town after town & it's had me very needlessly contemplating what's wrong with my appearence. Perhaps it's my height (196cm), perhaps it's because I'm carrying a backpack & two walking poles. I don't know. Maybe I just look like Shrek :-) While being interviewed by Vatican Radio on Monday, the interviewer looked at my itineary & pointed out that I was passing by her mother's place where I could stay if I wanted to. I took up the offer & so last night stayed with 81 year old Josette in her country home. It was a stay with a difference. Josette lives by herself & fends for herself pretty well in spight of suffering from short-term memory loss. The thing is, I didn't know this(that information hadn't been passed on) so the first few minutes of our conversation was oh-so painful! Eventually I figured out what was going on & I was quiet happy to have the same conversation 4 times over. I had to stop myself from laughing at one point though. Josette was talking on & on about her cats before she stopped suddenly & asked of me, "Do you murder cats?" I laughed inside but kept a straight face as replied, "No, no not at all." "Good" she said, and the conversation went elsewhere. Do I murder cats? What did concern me though was that at one stage she began to talk about her daughter who works with the Vatican Radio & after I'd pointed out that I met her on Monday she began to laugh at how small the world is that I'd meet 'her' daughter in Rome. She couldn't believe that I'd run into her daughter, but it left me thinking, "Well, how does she think I ended up here?" What was concerning me was what was going to happen the next morning when I walked down the stairs into the kitchen? Would she remember me or think I was a robber? Firstly though we had to get through dinner but because there were 3 options available for dinner, the 3rd was too far away from the 1st & so we'd recycle through this endless cycle of options. Three options was quickly turning into 22options & counting. I eventually stopped the endless cycle of options by offering to cook for her & so sat her down at the table & set to work. It wasn't the best meal I've ever prepared but it did us fine & we eventually tapped into a topic on which her memory was not faulting - the war. She talked for 3hours straight without drawing breath & though she repeated some topics, it was always with a little extra information or from a slightly different perspective. It was a brilliant dinner conversation. This morning I waited anxiously for Josette to make an appearence, wondering if she'd recognise me. When she did walk out, there was a look of complete confusion on her face for a few seconds before she finally relaxed & commented, "So you're off then! Where to today?" Argh, thank the Lord, she remembers me. She sat me down & offered me the last few pieces of bread & some home made marmelade. As I finished the last piece of bread she walked over towards the table & announced, "Now! I have a couple of pieces of bread here. You can have it if you like." She flicked over the tea towel that had been covering the bread but of course it was now empty. "Now where the Dickens has that bread gone!" Oh dear, her we go again... It took a long time to say goodbye but it was a fabulous stay. Her memory has faded badly but her hospitality was as good as gold. Please continue to pray for the unity of christians & hopefully, I'll be leaning slightly to the north of Pisa next week as I touch base again. Until then, bye for now and God bless, Sam.
"Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings." Rom16:16

Deserted Tracks, a Split & Wild Rome

After 12,500km on foot I'm finally in Rome! It was a spectacular walk from Siena to Rome along a vast network of quiet roads & bush tracks. There were times where I had to battle aginst heavy traffic on highways with no shoulder but for the most part it was a treat. The highway walking is a tad scarey here in Italy. It is one of the most dangerous countries I've walked in as far as traffic flow is concerned & it's actually pretty scarey in sections. I've regularly seen cars pottering down the road at about 40km/hr & others, on the same road, pushing well past about 150km/hr. Combined with the numerous blind corners here it is a recipe for disaster. I've also watched cars pull out in front of fast moving traffic causing a succession of screaming tyres & horns (3 in 1min at one intersection). What's really sad though is the huge number of death memorials along the side of the roads. I say it's dangerous with certain amount of somberness. Too many deaths. A scarey yet somewhat funny moment last week was when a middle-aged man drove up along the mountain pass I was negotiating & pulled over just ahead of me. As I walked past him he unashamably stared at me but the poor guy was so badly cross-eyed that he had to turn his head a good 90deg & swap to the alternate eye to literally 'keep an eye on me'. He then started his car up & drove off up along the twisty mountain pass. Now that is talent! It didn't fill me with a great sense of security though. In any case, as I said, most of this week has been along quiet stretches & so I've had a privileged week filled with rolling green hills, relaxed farmers, gentle farm dogs & horses eager for some attention &... no hotels. From Siena to Rome I was walking along an old pilgrim's route from France to Rome & so each of the little villages I stayed in had a house set aside for any pilgrim passing through. It was perfect. Other than still pushing the line that I'm here as a missionary, not a pilgrim, but the house would be great, thanks. Many rest houses didn't have hot water, two didn't have a bed (I slept on tiles one night) & I went for 3days without a shower. Don't worry, I did the old 'splash basin wash' with the freezing water. That had me jumping! The first few pilgrim homes I'd stayed in had crockery so as I entered the third village I bought myself some gnocci at the local supermarket to have for dinner. The cupboards were bare! I thought, "There's a reason for everything. Maybe God wants me to meet the locals." So, out I went, looking for a pot. The first guy I met was a geologist & he wasn't carrying a pot, however, he thought it was funny that I was wandering the streets looking for a pot with my gnocci in hand & so he walked with me to a nearby house & did the asking for me to the young man hanging out of the 2nd storey window. The young man was very accomodating & after extending the invitation to pray for unity I accepted the pot & boiled up my gnocci. I haven't shared a meal with anyone in over 3weeks now though so I'm beginning to miss that a bit. I did share half a muesli bar with a friendly horse, but the conversation was kind of one way. One of my favorite places so far on the walk through Europe is a village called Radicofani. It was perched up on top of a mountain with an 80km view out to the south. The people were very warm & welcoming & smiles weren't hard to come by. It was the sort of place where I would be quite happy to simply sit down & not really do much else. Some of the locals were doing just that & I understood why. I inflicted a new injury on myself on the walk up into Radicofani. Where my archilles tendon meets the foot, I have a few crease lines in the skin, which have been amplified by the thickening of skin due to, well, perhaps a lot of walking? Somehow, and I have no idea what caused this, one of those skin creases split all the way through such that I could see all the way through to whatever is under the skin at that part of the body. i don't think I was looking at the tendon itself but it certainly wasn't skin. It was like a little mouth that I could open & close by moving my foot up & down. It was a painful injury that forced me to limp badly for a couple of days but a mixture of creams, band-aids & cushioning has at least helped to heal it shut once more. And shut, I hope, it will stay. The walk into Rome was filled with some wild safari moments that I didn't expect. I accidently headed down the wrong backroad for 3km through some thick bush & rolling hills & within 30mins I saw 2wolves, twice, a herd of wild boar & a young couple romancing in their Volkswagon Beetle. Excuse me, moving on (I didn't ask them for directions though it would have been funny to). Once back on the right road I came within a whisker of standing on a viper, curled up in the grass. I was literally placing my foot on top of it as I caught sight of the circular pile of snake & managed to quickly move my momentum backwards with the aid of the walking poles. The viper stayed long enough for me to film it but then it was off in a flash. I should start a safari tour company; "Rome as you've never seen it before!" I arrived in Rome last night, walked through St Peter's Square & struck up a fun conversation with two Swiss Guards for about half an hour. I had a couple of possible contacts for accomodation here but I sort of missed my oppurtunities so I was left to wander the streets looking for something. Everything I found was either full or €80 a night, which I can't afford. I ended up in a church chatting with 3 very jovial priests & they were happy to do the searching for me. They found a place for me a few kilomtres away where I could stay for free so I headed off with directions across town as the sun was setting. Once I arrived I found they'd sent me to a homeless men's shleter. I thought that was funny but I wasn't laughing when I was rejected at the door. Now that's low. There was no room. I walked off into the Rome night along poorly lit, deserted streets thinking, "I just got rejected at a homeless shelter." I eventually wandered past a hotel that still had rooms available & for €40 a night it was mine. It took a while, but all worked out well in the end. I've been invited to drop in to the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Christian Unity first thing tomorrow morning & then after a quick look around & continued prayer I'll then be turning northwest for the final leg of the journey - to Spain. Please keep praying for the unity of Christians in truth & in love & if you have the time, I'll see you next week. God bless, Sam.
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1Thes 5:16-18

Culture, a Wolf & Heresy

Hello from Siena, Italy! I was walking along yesterday through some of the most spectacular vineyards & rolling hills I'm ever likely to see & thought, "I wonder where I am." I checked my map & "Oh, I'm in Tuscany. No wonder it's beautiful." So, hello from Tuscany! From Bologne to Prato to Florence to Siena has been one of the more relaxing stretches for a long while. There was actually some space on the side of a few roads & the ones for which there was nothing, well, there weren't any cars so it didn't really matter. There's something satisfying about walking down the middle of a winding road in the middle of Tuscany to the sound of birds whistling & nothing else. It has, however, rained for the past 2days & quite heavily at times. That put a dampner on the taking of photographs but not on the walking & praying. So other than birds I've also been joined by the sound of rain hitting my jacket's hood. A few days ago I ruined the peaceful mood by rubbing my eye with the hand I'd been using to pick flowers & grass seeds with as I walked along the edge of the road. Something I'd picked didn't like me & I had an intense hay-fever reaction causing the right eye nearly close over completly (check out the photo). It hurt! Another lesson learnt. This morning at around 6:30am I was joined on the road by an unexpected visitor - a wolf. It was probably 100m in front of me when we spotted each other & it quickly took flight through a neighbouring vineyard. I grabed a couple of seconds worth of footage before it disappeared but it was great to just see one (& runnning away at that). A few of the locals disputed the existence of wolves in the area but they soon changed their tone with wide eyes as they watched the few seconds of footage on the handycam. Apparently they do exist. Big critter it was too. The walking has been very satisfying but the inviting part of the mission has been a little strained. This is a high pilgrim part of the world & many churches are quick to presume that I'm a pilgrim looking for a handout. I haven't been received particularly well in a few places & they've been quick to palm me off. There is cultural habit in this region of finishing each others sentences. Unfortunately everyone seems to guess the end of my sentence incorrectly & it then takes a few minutes to get the message across that I'm not, for example, there to ask for money. At one church, while I was introducing myself to a lady hanging out the third storey window, she quickly disappeared somewhere around, "I'm walking around the world..." & returned with a few coins wrapped in a tissue & tossed it out the window to me. I tried to explain that this wasn't why I was there but she just smiled & shut the window. At another church I stood back & watched 3 people have a heated arguement over where I could stay. I had already stayed in that city & was actually on my out (it was about 9am) & was not looking for accomodation. I hadn't at any stage mentioned accomodation! I tried to enter into the arguement but they kept telling me to wait. Eventually I just gave them the farmer's whistle & they stopped & turned to me, "I-do-not-need-accomodation". All 3 looked very confused & one of them asked, "Well what do you want? Do you want food?" "No, I don't want food." It has been like this day after day & has stretched me massively. It's probably good stretching though. I like to be heard out but I'm just having to adapt to the cultural method of communication. We get to the point in the end. As a direct consequence of this, when someone asks if I'm a pilgrim, I now say, "No, I'm a missionary." Most of the pre-conceived ideas are associated with pilgrims but there are few about missionaries & it gives me more of an oppurtunity to get the invitation across. I'm often asked where I finish walking & previously, when asked this question, I reply, "Santiago de Compestela", but this has pilgrim conetations plastered all over it, so I now simply say that I'm finishing on the Atlantic Ocean in Spain & the onversation moves on smoothly. This region has also hit my pocket pretty badly. It is very expensive. I easily spend 4days worth of funds each day but will try to make up for it with my tent once the weather fines up. Perhaps some hospitality as well will help. I can only hope! I took my scheduled rest day 2days ago & once again rested in a homeless men's shelter. It was the Emmaus Community workshop where they provide work & bed for thsoe who need it. The centre was set up by a husband & wife & a priest 30years ago. All 3 are still there, workign hard, but now joined by the couples 8 children. Wow - eight. I learnt 3 names. This week I also met a priest who was full of energy & was very welcoming. Fr Luciano almost convinced me to take a short detour via Assisi on my way to Rome but the extra 3days just isn't doable. And in the end, it doesn't make any difference where I am, the invitation is the same & the prayer is the same. I'll hopefully get there another time & just sit on a hill with time to just 'be'. The struggle with the communication problems has forced me into prayer a lot but what has also been on my mind as I pray for unity in truth & in love is the truth side of unity. I've been very concerned about the love side of disunity but of late a few incidents in a row have set my mind rolling on truth. The primary question is how do we (Christians) accept one another in love without encouraging any heresies that may exist, but to iradicate them... in love? So, all week, I've been back & forth thinking about various accusations of heresy from pretty much every church to at least one other. I could write a book on my thoughts but at perhaps 'the right time' I read a line from St Leopold Mandic's diary that put it all into some perspective. I left the booklet with the Emmaus shelter, but the passage read something like this, "The most important factor in the reunification of Christians, isn't our prayers, nor is it unity dialouge, but God's grace." Amen to that! So, with an adaption of a St Francis' prayer in my heart, "Lord, save me from the desire to be heard" I'm heading further south tomorrow into the, as always, unknown. God bless & peace be with you & as my friend Dave Raba once wrote to me, "May we always be inspired by the unity of the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit." Cheers, Sam.
"Take my yoke upon you & learn from me, for I am gentle & humble in heart, & you will find rest for your souls." Matt 11:29

Saints, Sinners & Stuff-ups

From the city that invented spaghetti bolognese, Bologna, greetings! This week didn't look particularly difficult on paper but I was certainly stretched a few times none-the-less. It was around 190km from Vienna to Bologna, but I'd only traveled 10km when, while talking to a parish priest, I realised that the top pocket on my backpack was wide open & my wallet had gone. I was a little, say we say, frenzied, & the poor priest, who didn't speak a word of english had no idea what the problem was but wanted to help somehow. Eventually I managed to stop stripping everything out of my bag to explain what had happened & he offered a simple gesture of, "Is it in your pockets?" I said no, & brushed my hand past my pocket... "Oh yes, it is!" It's so stressful being this dumb sometimes. So, on I went praying my way to the city of Padua. A place had been oragnised for me to stay at in Padua (thanks Tony!) with a young couple in an ecumenical community. Enrique & Adele had very generously opened their home up without a moment's notice. I hadn't quite reached Padua by nightfall so they drove out & picked me up. The next day was a peaceful rest day & we spoke a great deal about many issues & opportunities within the movement towards Christian unity. After the rest day, Enrique dropped me back where he'd picked me up from & I completed the rest of the walk into Padua with the intention of then coninuing with that days walk to a town 35km further on. While passing through the city centre I stopped in at St Anthony's Basilica but wasn't particularly hopeful of meeting anyone there. Five million people pass through it's doors each year so I figured it would be like all large places & I wouldn't get anywhere. The basilica has Vatican Guards throughout & I managed to get talking with one who spoke english. Thankfully, he was very interested in what I was doing & so reached out & stopped the St Anthony's Basilica Franciscan Friars Provincial who just happened to be walking past. He was like all Franciscans I've ever met, humble & generous, & quickly invited me to join him for lunch & explain more of what I was doing. Out through the back of the basilica we went, through guarded doors, a courtyard & a few more sets of private doors until we arrived in a mess-hall filled with 60 very loud and jovial Franciscans! I've never seen so many priests in one place. In fact, 50 of them were priests & 10 were seminarians, but all were laughing & chatting as they shared their meal. The provincial asked me to take a seat as he called over one of the priests who spoke english & very soon I was telling my tale to a full table. To cut a long story short, they offered me a room for the night, I accepted, & then spent the rest of the day being inspired out my socks! Firstly I skipped down the road (not litterally) to the church of Saint Leopold Mandic, where I met more Franciscans, living total poverty, sharing the gospel & loving every minute of it. Leopold Mandic is a bit of a hero of mine. He spent the majority of his life praying & sacrificing for the unity of the church & in bringing the comforting words of God's forgiveness to all. From their I raced over to the 3rd largest basilica in the world (can't remember the name if it...) & found the tomb of St Luke the Evangelist (author of the Gospel of Luke & Acts) & viewed one of his paintings (it was kind of falling apart). Simply standing there looking at his tomb inspired me with a great sense of wonder at those who have gone before us & laid their lives down for the Lord. Then I raced back over to St Anthony's Basilica where I learned more about how this incredible man was used by God to convert & build-up thousands of people. I then had the opportunity to head to confession with an english speaking priest so I grabbed it. For those not familiar with 'confession', it is simply the act of coming to the church (the priest being it's representative), confessing your sins & the priest sharing with you God's forgiveness. It's as simple as that, but it still gets me to hear the words of forgiveness rather than just 'know' them. A bit like hearing someone say, "I love you" as opposed to just knowing that they do but never hearing it. So, I drifted off to sleep in my Franciscan cell that night as light as a feather & inspired well beyond the end of this walk in July. Fr Allesandro saw me off the following morning & I was on my again, praying for unity, conversion, faith, etc towards Rovigo. It was a long 45km & I was especially sore for some reason. I visited a few churches but the reception was cold on each account. I'd introduce myself & the mission & extend the invitation to pray for unity & they'd look at me & ask, "What do you want? Nothing? Good. Have a good walk. Goodnight." It didn't bother me too much but what really hit home was when I discovered that their was a conference on in town & every hotel was booked-up! I had nowhere to sleep & it was already night. To make matters worse, as I exited the last hotel, a tad despondent, I realised that all the restaurants & cafe's were closing in a flurry of clanking security shutters. I hadn't eaten dinner yet! I walked to the edge of town & into a service station. They were shutting too & I couldn't even get a drink. "Ok, lord, where are we going? What's the deal here?" There were 2 women & a man standing outside waiting for their friend closing the service station & one of the young women asked me what I was looking for. I replied, "Food & a bed." They jumped to it. All 4 of them started racking their brains for a place to stay & eat at & one of them, Barbara, began making phone calls. After 10mintues of nothing they eventually hit a home run with a small bed & breakfast only a kilometre away with a cheap, late night restaurant next door. They bundled me into the car & drove me to the B&B (I walked back to that point the next day). I've just noticed that Barbara is signed up on the list of prayers for unity now - all in the Lord's plans! It would be nice to know what's going on half the time though! I'll just trust & keep my head up :-) Yesterday I walked & prayed from Ferrara but after 11km was pulled over by the police & asked for my passport. I didn't have it. My top pocket was missing an item once again. This time however, it wasn't in my pocket. I'd left it at the hotel reception back in Ferrara. The policeman wasn't exactly happy with me & I wasn't exactly wallowing in pride either. The last time I didn't have my passport I was arrested (see final blog from the USA). Eventually they let me go though & I was left to do a 3hour return trip made up of walking & taking the train before I was back in the country side WITH my passport. I met a Ukrainian lady on the way & she roped me into helping her carry a mighty-heavy bag for her. Almost lost the circulation in my hand. Last night I arrived in a small town with no hotel & the parish priest sent me off to a place in the neighboring countryside. It turned out to be a homeless men's shelter! Oh well, I guess I was what I was. I had a great night trying to make conversation with the 12 men there & I felt very much at home with the guys as we silently ate, sorry, I mean, shoveled our meals down. I chatted for a while with one of the men particularly. He has a job lined up but he doesn't start for another 20 days. Until then, he has no home & no money. What was amazing though was how hard faced everyone was at the beginning of the night compared with how relaxed & jovial they all were by breakfast time. Two good meals, a bed & some relative security for a short time. It made a world of difference. We all made our way back to the train station this morning. We shook hands & then some caught the train, others sat down & waited for the day to 'happen' & I walked on. I attended mass this morning in the town of St Pietro & then stopped in the next town for lunch. Everything was shut except for the most expensive restaurant this side of Paris. I ordered 2 things off the menu, tortellini & a beef salad. Did you know that a beef salad in Italy means that you get long slivers of thinly cut raw meat draped across your salad? I didn't know that. Did you know that the sight of raw meat draped across artichokes is enough to make me feel sick? Unbelievable. I was so hungry, I was so embarrassed, I was so about to vomit in a posh restaurant. I flicked through my Italian phrase book but nowhere could I find, "Can I have the cow cooked please?" Thankfully, a few kilometres down the road I was able to buy some muesli bars. And if you're wondering, yes I did try it (add that to the sheep's stomach & cows blood of Brazil). I then ate made good use of chewing gum. So from Bologna, where I arrived a few hours ago, it's ciao for now. Who knows what's in store for this week! God does. God bless & peace be with you, Sam.
"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you." Acts 13:38