10/02/2025
Good morning (buongiorno as they say here)!
I fly out tomorrow, so I thought id share some memories of my trip. Yes, I have thoroughly enjoyed the scenery, the weather, the company, and of course, the food (my clothing feels tighter, must be the sun exposure) but no wine, the wine over here is not to my liking (I prefer Boone’s farm)!
Yesterday I finally visited the town of Pescosolido which is the church across the valley and up the mountain from where I stay. It is very small, yet very beautiful town (about the size of Webberville). The views from up there are breath taking. Ive included some pics of the mountain views but it does not do it justice! Ive also included a pic of the church from where I stay and a pic of where I stay, from the church. Let’s see who can find the house!
I spent some time in Rome, touring the Domis Aurea (Nero’s castle). It is one of the oldest castles still standing that oddly enough was preserved when the next emperor tried to bury it along with any memory of Nero. We also spent a day as pilgrims (no, i was not in a black cotton coat wearing a hat with a buckle, short pants, high socks, holding a turkey)at the Vatican. This is the year of Jubilee (only happens every 25 years). The Pope opens a door that has been closed for 25 years and it is said you are absolved of all sins by walking through it. The only catch is, only pilgrims can cross the threshold, so we became pilgrims for several hours. The bonus for us was that we were able to be right in front of the Pope’s balcony when he came out to give his blessing.
We spent a day last weekend in Naples with our neighbors Marco and Valeria (yes, that’s her real name! Wonderful lady, born and raised in Sicily). It was an interesting city, known for their baked goods (yes, I’ve become fatter since I got here!), the Oceanside views and their deep devotion to San Gennaro who was beheaded by the Romans for being Christian around 300AD. We were blessed to be able to visit a museum which contained an amazing Statue calles the “Veiled Christ” unfortunately , we were not allowed to take any pics there, but jump on your google machine and look it up! I did buy a book there that contains pictures of all the displays. The book is unfortunately written in Italian, but thankfully the pictures are in English, so we should be good. Cone buband take a look, it’s amazing. There is also a wonderful display of the “Crown Jewels of San Gennaro” in Naples. I was able to take pics there and I did take one because it was a reliquary (object containing sacred relics). Apparently, someone went to the trouble of collecting San Gennaro’s head and blood. The head is in the reliquary, the blood is in a separate reliquary and they being it out for festivals. It apparently goes from a solid form to a liquid form 3 times a year and there is a festival honoring it (look it up on the Google machine, I’m not making it up!!).
I’ve had a wonderful time resetting my senses, clearing my mind and adding inches to my already fat body, but it’s time to come home and I can’t wait to get there. I love it here, but I start to miss my home, my friends and yes, my patients. After all, it’s because of your trust in me that I can come here. Now I need to get back and make sure you are all in great shape and functioning at an optimal level.
Thank you all for allowing me time to decompress. It wasn’t all play, I spent several hours in continuing Ed classes to sharpen my skills and strengthen areas of my skills that I felt I needed to work on. I also started setting up/learning a new office program that should make your office experience easier and eliminate the billing errors that plaqued my old system. I’ll explain it as I go, but as a certain patient told me before I left, “Look at you, finally learning technology and doing what every other doctors ofice has done the last 5 years!”
Anyway, we will see you all Monday! When you come in, I’ll share a story, you can look at the books and maybe I can pull you toward the Mediterranean for a few minutes!
Again, thank you all!!!
