Pictures from the Vatican

Outside St. Peter's Basillica

 

Inside, in front of the Main Altar

Owen didn't go hungry!

Roman traffic - this is a 3 lane street 

Rome

This post was actually ready a few days ago, but due to language difficulties we couldn't get internet access. In Rome, no one speaks English. Well, at least as far as we've seen.We arrived in Rome by train, and had to take a bus to the convent where we're staying. But since the bus driver didn't speak English (nor did the people we talked to in the British School!) we ended up getting off the bus too early, resulting in a long walk down the narrow streets of Rome. A lot of the time there is no footpath, so you just have to face the traffic and hope it will stop! At least we got to see some scenery close-up.
We did finally arrive at the convent, and managed alright with the help of an Italian phrasebook. Coming straight from Germany though, everyone is still falling back into speaking German automatically - "Si! Es Seh Gut" Thankfully the receptionist who came in on the second day can speak English, so we could confirm bus timetables. As it turns out, the bus stops just outside the gate of the convent, and travels right into the city which is perfect for us.

Yesterday we visited St. Peter's Basillica. It was quite hot, probably about the same as a Summer day in Toowoomba. The inside of the Basillica is amazing, especially if you look up to see the high roof and decorations. We'll try to get some pictures up soon, which will be much better than words.

 Italian food is very different to Australian food as well. You just can't get a 750g loaf of bread, and the largest container of milk is 1 litre. But more about that later.

For now, we're off to Rome again to see the Pantheon. Ciao!

The Beach overlooking Venice

From the beach we can see cruise ships and the occasional gondola passing by.

Pizza!

Real Italian Pizza for tea! Our first meal in Italia.

Italy

Yesterday morning we left Germany by train, heading for Italy. We stopped in Basel, Switzerland on the way. Arrived in Mestre at about 8pm, and then took a bus to Camping Fusina where we are staying.

We've encountered a lot of Aussies on the bus and in the camp itself. The first person we met in the camp was actually born in Toowoomba! So if you go to a shop in Italy, make sure you ask for "a sandwich" with an Australian accent - they don't understand the British.

We're heading into Venice tomorrow for Mass at St. Mark's.
Ciao (or 'chow') for now!

Pipe Organs of Germany

Today we visited Magdalena again in Nesselried, and played the pipe organ in the local church. Every church in Germany seems to have a pipe organ, giving hymns a much richer sound. This town only has a population of about 2,000 of which 95% are Catholic.

At lunchtime we got a surprise visit to the Church of St. Michael at Appenweir, population 10,000. This Church is about 250 years old (bell tower is 500 years old). The pipe organ however was replaced 3 years ago, with a new hand-built organ costing about AU$500,000 - apparently the "Mercedez" of organs. We were also able to play this organ. A brief overview is available at the maker's site - translation here.
Video of the church

Inside St. Michael's Church, Appenweir

View from the Bell-tower of St. Michael's

The choir loft & pipe organ

Tomorrow's plan is to take a train through the Black Forrest to valley lakes.

A new location, and a short journey to France

We have finished our time at Schoenstatt, and moved on to Oberkirch, Germany. We met with Magdalena (who visited Australia for World Youth Day 08) and her family. Today we also got to visit Straßburg, which despite it's German sounding name is actually part of France!

View from the tower at Straßburg

More photos coming soon!

Germany

Owen

We arrived in Germany on Tuesday, but haven't been able to find a usable internet connection until now. We're staying at Mount Schoenstatt in Vallendar. Everything is very green here as well, the weather seems to be just as wet as Ireland normally, but no rain yet.
German kezboards are verz hard to tzpe on, since the Z and Y kezs are switched around! So the top row is "QWERTZUIOPÜ*"  And all the symbols are placed differently as well.

The Family Shrine

It's now Thursday afternoon, and we've just finished a tour of Schoenstatt, which extends over a large area. Australia has only 2 Schoenstatt shrines, but so far in two days we have visited 6 out of 12 in the area.

Our Family at the Seven Sacraments Fountain

Thank you all for your continued prayers and comments!

Crystal Lakes and Ancient Castles

Lake at Glendalough

Kilkenny Castle

Our bus tour of Ireland went very well, the weather was perfect and we encountered picturesque lakes, castles and monestaries dating from thousands of years ago.
You can view a map of our trip here (multiple pages).

Sunrise in Ireland

Touring Ireland

Today we're taking a bus tour of Ireland, hopefully getting a chance to see the countryside as well as a castle or two. The weather's still holding fine, so looks like it will be a lovely day!

Ireland

We have reached Ireland now, where we will be spending the next 4 days. The flight from England only took about 1 hour, and we arrived at Carrickmacross by early afternoon.

We were warmly welcomed by relatives, and James quickly found his best friend Patrick. Later in the afternoon visited the local cemetery, where some of our ancesters are burried, and went exploring the ruins of a house where our great great grandmother was born and raised.

Thomas had great fun trekking through the long grass.

Ireland is very green, which is understandable since Carrickmacross has had constant rain since June. It seems we brought Australian weather with us though - we haven't seen any rain in Ireland so far, and the forecast for the next few days is Sunny!

Finally, we went out to tea at the Shirley Arms hotel.

Our Day In Manchester

Tuesday we travelled into Manchester for a day at the Museum of Science and Industries.

This included a wide range of interactive exhibits, such as the "Worst Noises in the World", a Phosphorous wall, 3D Mirror, and the world's first programmable computer.

One of the highlights was a "Morphis"Flight Simulator. Inside this machine is a full-size screen at the front, which plays a Star Wars-like racing video. The difference is - the whole machine tilts and jolts in sync with the action! So when you fly off the edge of a cliff, you can actually feel the sinking feeling. As Liam kept saying, "It was well worth the £2!" We also recorded a video from the outside, and Nancy got a video from the inside (as yet unpublished).

On the way home, we had a nice sample of English weather. Unfortunately our plastic ponchos did little to protect us while walking, so we did get a "little" wet!

Finally, here's a photo of our family back at the Shrine (all dry!), with Fr. David Musgrave.

Schoenstatt in Manchester

After our tour of London on Sunday, we caught a bus to Manchester - a 5 hour drive. The bus ended up running nearly an hour late, but thankfully we still caught the taxi which took us to the Schoenstatt Centre in Kearsley.

The Schoenstatt Shrine, Manchester

The shrine is situated on Manchester Road, halfway between Kearsley and Bolton. You can literally step from a busy highway straight into a quiet "beautiful place" with 270-degree views of the surrounding countryside. The shrine motto, displayed prominently on the foundation stone, is "Your Shrine - Our Home"

We spent all of Monday at Schoenstatt, taking a break after the constant travel of the previous days. We're currently staying in a cottage about 50 metres from the Shrine. Waking up early in the morning you can step outside and see the squirrels scrambling up and down the trees.

Our home in Manchester

London

At Westminster Cathedral

We all arrived safely in London at about 7am local time. We went straight from the airport terminal to the tube (or "train") station, and travelled from there to Westminster Cathedral just in time for 10:30am Mass with the Archbishop. This was a beautiful Mass, Novus Ordo with parts sung in Latin, and an amazing organist!

After this, we went for a quick bus tour around London, visiting famous sites such as Buckingham Palace and Big Ben. The weather, of course, was overcast and a little cool, but certainly a welcome break after Abu Dhabi!

United Arab Emirates

Arrived at Abu Dhabi 45 mins ahead of schedule at 11:25pm local time. At nearly midnight, it's about 34 degrees outside! All well (apart from some in-flight entertainment computers failing), and we're all about ready to sleep for the next 8 hours to London.

Thanks to all those who have sent well wishes in one way or another!

In flight

Between Brisbane and Sydney

In flight

We've safely reached Sydney, after departing from Brisbane at midday. Now waiting for the plane to take us on the 16 hour flight to Abu Dhabi.

Ready to Go!

This is a family photo taken 24 hours before our plane departs! Luggage and all! Ready for take-off, Captain!