Any trip to Assisi would not be complete without a picture of the Basilica of Saint Francis.

Typical of Assisi is this photo of some random building with arches on some random road.

Matt wanted in on this action. Shovel it in there!

The buildings were beautiful in Assisi. This is a typical scene.

Along some non-descript road there was this little shrine to St Francis.

Matt, Lino and I walked the roads of Assisi over and over again. We even managed to find new streets that probably haven't been used in centuries. (ok maybe minutes)

Can you find Lino and Matt in this picture?

Lino, Matt and I did a little recording for Lino's radio show "Lino at Large" up at the castle.

The view from the castel was too good to not take a lot of photos. We can see so far! Waht a beautiful country!

Here is the edge of the castle and part of the old city wall that adjoins it.

We walked up the hill to the castel and had a great view of the entire city and surrounding region of Umbria. Just look at those rolling hills!

Naples

This concludes the pictures for my trip to Naples. It was a wonderful town full of markets, people, and the beaches. I enjoyed my time there and was sad that I was only there for six hours. Someday I will have to go back.

This is a random picture of a street that windesback and forth to get up the hill.

There is a cool little church in Naples that kind of looks like the Pantheon, but with columnaded arms like the one at St Peters in Rome.

This is the famous Castel Nouvo in Naples.

As I walked around Naples I saw a few cool castles. The one on the top of this hill is Castel Sant' Elmo.

This is the castle which used to guard the Gulf of Naples, Castel Dell'Ovo. Now it houses a cool museum of old Napolean stuff.

This is a shot of the ominous Mt. Vesuvio which is still and active volcano. Check out the cool oceanliner on the left!

As I walked down the road along the gulf, I passed this awesome Arch, which at one time led from the port to the city and was seen by all people coming into Naples from the sea.

This is another shot of the landscape around the gulf of Naples.

This is the view from the road along the shore, as I look back toward Naples. I love the buildings there. They were beautiful and full of colors.

This is a view of the Gulf of Naples from the road that runs along the shore. In the background you can see the penninsula on the other side of the gulf.

One of the first things I did in Naples was head down to the sea. On the way I passed this quaint little park full of vegitation. It was quite lovely.

On the first Thursday after Easter, before the death of JPII, I went to Naples for a day trip. These are random mountains as seen from my train ride to Naples.

JPII

This is the end of my JPII section. Pope John Paul II was a great man that has made a huge impact in my life. I can honestly say that I am a changed man today because of him. This testimony is echoed throughout most of the poeple I know. Jphn Paul II has changed the face of the earth, one person at a time, and I think that we all have much to be thankful for because of this great man's "yes" to the Lord. He has left us a legacy that is going to take many years to unpack.

We can all be confident that he is up there in heaven praying for us and encouraging us to say "yes" to the Lord in our own lives.

At the end of the mass, when JPII's coffin was being brought into the Basilica, the pall bearers stopped and turned around so the world could see JPII one last time.

This is a picture of the Eastern Patriarches perfoming thier Funeral Rite for JPII in honor and respect for the work he did in bringing the East and West together.

The crowds at the funeral with thier huge banners saying "Saint Quickly" referring to thier desires to see JPII connonized as a saint as soon as possible.

I love the colors in this shot of the clergy at the funeral.

Great action shot of the Cardinals processing out into a wind-swept piazza.

The coffin of JPII processing out of the Basilica.

This is a great shot of statue of St Peter, first bishop of the church, in fron of our current bishops.

Jesus on top of the Basilica.

The funeral of JPII was incredible. because there were no tickets for the general public, no one was allowed to stand closer than the Oblisk. However, my friends Matt Willkom and Lino Rulli were in town and were able to obtain press passes, thanks to the radio work they for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. As a result, they were allowed to stand up on the collanade with all of the other press and consequently got some great pictures.

When I got to the top of the stairs of St Peter's, I turning around and took this photo. I love the lighting from the impending sunrise.

This picture was taken from my place in line just as I passed the Oblisk The line was moving fairly quickly.

As I was in line I passed the Oblisk in the center of the piazza. As you can see it had turned into a shine for JPII. All of the fountains in the piazza had also been turning into little memorials. It was quite a moving sight.

I was standing in line for 1 1/2 hours to see JPII's body lying in state. May people were in line for up to 16 hours. I happened to pick a great time to go: 5:00 am early Tuesday morning. By 8:00 the line was 12 hours long and never got shorter.

This picture is of me holding my candle for JPII just after we had hread the announcement of his death.

This is a picture taken the night of JPII's death. I loved the way the light from the big TV screen played off the water in the Fountain.

Rome is crazy

Well folks, it has been a while since I posted to this site. A lot has hapened here in Rome since April 8th. I have also been on a few personal vacation trips and a lot of tours of places here in Rome. Basically I have a lot of pictures. So Enjoy!

I'm praying for you all. Please keep my in your prayers.
-Christopher