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Holy Week in Salzburg and on to Prague

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I left Rome early on Monday morning - a 5:15 taxi call.  I had packed most everything but it still felt pretty hectic to get everything finalized and on my way.  I felt rather weighed down by my luggage even though I had sent the majority home.  I sent a little more home from Litomysl which I visited just before Prague.  I am sitting at the Prague airport hotel (a Courtyard by Marriot, so feeling rather like home) and thought I would send a final post before I head out onto the Camino.  After an uneventful train ride I arrived in Salzburg and took a taxi to my hotel.  Here are some of the sights along the way.  Beautiful. It was wonderfully located just up from the river in an area with lots of restaurants, sights to see and stores that made my stay more enjoyable (like the supermarket just up the street that allowed me to purchase breakfast items so I didn't have to pay almost $20 per day for breakfast (although I did do that a couple...

A moving sight

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Throughout Rome you will find small brass plaques outside the doors of houses.  I noticed them but did not know what they were. They are memorials for Jews who were arrested and deported from Rome during World War II.  This one was on my way home from church this morning. It reads:  Here lived Alberto Trionfi/Born 1892/Arrested September 9, 1943/(not sure what this means exactly)/Assassinated January 28, 1945 (my birthdate by coincidence)/(I believe this is the camp where he died) A tragic chapter in Roman and human history.

Arrivederci Roma

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Today I come to the end of my time in Rome.  Up early to grab a taxi to the train station at 5:30 fo a 6:15 train.  First stage will take me to Venice for a change over and then from Venice to Salzburg with a change at Villach.  I am excited about this next couple weeks but I have to say that I will miss being in Rome.  A group of us had dinner last night in a local restaurant and we all agreed that the people we shared this experience will not soon be forgotten.  We made good friendships and found lots of support and encouragement in one another. This week was pretty random in some respects.  We had two presentations (Blessed John Henry Newman and the Passion Accounts).  A nice way to round out the academic part of the program.  We also had two tours.  We went to the Catacombs of Priscilla on Wednesday.  As often as I have gone to those catacombs I am always struck by the beautiful art and the faith that it reveals.  While it is ...