England

Ciao tutti! Things are going most well over here in Rome as we are about halfway through exam period. I have three down and just two more to go. The best news is that mom and dad will be arriving tomorrow! But before they get here I figured I should update and fulfil my hilterto un-kept promise to post on England about a month ago!

So here is the deal: I am going to post just a short snipit about the trip and just put up lots of pictures (per the request of my brothers!)

England: After Christmas I headed with 2 friends from school, John and Peter, up to London for 9 days. We stayed with a priest of the Diocese of Westminister and a Vincientian from Milwakee who was in town. We were able to see a lot of London but also made side trips to Canturbury and the dreamland of Oxford! The last few days of the trip we went to a little village- Steepleton-Ashton, in the westlands near Salisbury. It was a delight to be in the country side and we were able to see various Medieval Cathedrals (sadly no longer Catholic after Henry and Elizabeth's bloody revolution in the 1500s), Stonehenge, and the Roman ruins in Bath. The best part of all however was the little cabin with a fireplace to sit by during the cold january evenings while we talked for hours about the Church, England, and so many other things. It was an incredible trip that an anglophile like myself will never forget! Enjoy the photos!

Pictures above are of: the Radcliff camera at the Bodelian Library of Oxford from the Tower of the University Church; the Magdalen College Tower across Christ Church Meadow; the interior of Saint Mary the Virgin University Church where John Henry Newman was vicar before his conversion to the true and catholic faith; above the dreaming spires of Oxford's All Souls College; in front of the Eagle and Child which was the pub where Tolkien, Lewis, and the rest of the Inklings would meet every Tuesday morning and read their projects aloud over bangers, mash, and beer; the river through the heart of Bath with the Georgian homes along the hill behind; the Roman baths from which Bath got its name; the cottage in Steepleton-Ashton; the Wells Cathedral where we heard the Magdalen College Cambridge Choir sing Evensong (heavenly!); at Stonehenge.

The pictures below are of: the cathedral of Salibury from the cloister; Stonehenge at sunset; the the guys sitting by the fire at Steepleton-Ashton; the sitting room of Catholic Chaplin house "The Old Palace" where my hero Msgr. Ronald Knox lived in Oxford; The spot where Saint Thomas Becket was murdered in the Canturbury Cathedral; the Oxford Oratory which is where the poet Gerard Manley Hopkinis was pastor in the 19th century; Magdalen College Tower (the College C.S. Lewis was a member of at Oxford); the houses of Parliment; me in front of "Big Ben"; the flying buttresses of Westminister of Abbey; the Cathedral of Canturbury; a statue of Ven. John Henry Cardinal Newman outside of the Brompton Oratory in the heart of London; the soaring towers of the facade of Westminister Abbey; me in front of a little river running through Canturbury; me infront of the Salisbury Cathedral; the rectory and church of Our Lady of Dolours Parish Hendon where we stayed in London; the site of the Tyburn Tree where 105 Catholic priests and laymen and women we killed under King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I; the Dining Hall of Christ Church College Oxford where Harry Potter was filmed; me in the "Tom Quad" of Christ Church College; the corner in the Eagle and the Child where the Inklings would gather on Tuesdays.