I recently got back from a 9-day pilgrimage (plus 2 travel days) to Italy, and feel very blessed by the experience. It was a custom tour designed by a group leader from nearby St. Felicitas Parish and promoted to my parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel in San Leandro, CA. Adriatic Tours of San Pedro, CA, and its Italian partner, Cedar Travel, made the travel and lodging arrangements; tickets for various museums and tips were inclusive. We had a solemn Mass daily celebrated by our spiritual director - in beautiful churches, or side chapels of the basilicas we visited.
The itinerary included the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, Basilica of the Holy Cross, Papal audience in St. Peter's Square, Coloseum, catacombs, Genazzano, Pompeii, San Giovanni Rotondo, Assisi, Florence, Pisa, Padua and Venice. Our final city was Turin, where we were privileged to view the Shroud of Turin on display to the public for a few weeks this year. The final shrine visited was Our Lady Help of Christians, mother house of the Salesians of Don Bosco. We had our final Mass there in an atmosphere of youthful joy.
Throughout the whole trip we had an engaging and funny English-speaking Italian guide named Alessandro. He met us at our arrival airport in Rome and said goodbye to us at our departure airport in Milan. Among many tidbits of information, I gathered from him that Italians do not believe too much in air-conditioning, and consider it a sure cause of sickness. On May 24, Pentecost Sunday, we were blessed to listen to a homily on the virtues of a large family, and happy anecdotes of his family life. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the history of whole length and width of Italy that we drove over, and the stamina to keep on talking forever. I believe him when he told us that at one time he talked all the way to France from Italy! As this was my 1st pilgrimage, I wonder if all guides are like him.
Through a delicate balance of strict time management and sleep deprivation (joking), Alessandro was able to coax all of us 28 pilgrims to wake up, put our big luggage out the door, eat breakfast and get on the bus on time so we could make it to the next destination on schedule. Some wake-up times were adjusted when some pilgrims complained of extreme sleep deprivation, jet lag, fatigue, etc., and looked it. This pilgrimage was the most tiring thing I've ever done in my sheltered life!
Another treat for me was that we had English-speaking guides in the Vatican, Pompeii, Assisi, Florence, Pisa, Venice and Turin. Each guide was an expert of their city or shrine or field of study.
We stayed in 7 (4 or 3+ star) hotels in 9 days. Each one was near the shrine we were visiting.
Buffet breakfasts and Italian dinners were included. Wines from the local area were served each dinner time. In Pompeii, Limoncello was served at dinner in addition to wines! Lunches were not included; enough time was given to eat lunch and roam around on our own.
I have some minor peeves, such as a very late dinner at 10:00 PM at Sheraton Hotel-Padua! To be fair, I think our bus arrived late at this hotel. As a consolation, it seemed like we were provided unlimited wine and bottled water while waiting for our dinner.
I also feel that we spent too much time in Pisa and Florence in non-religious environs when we could've spent more time in Assisi, and Genazzano (sanctuary of the miraculous fresco of Our Lady of Good Counsel, patroness of my parish). We didn't even have a chance to visit the church store in Assisi, and in Genazzano barely had time to pray in front of the miraculous fresco after the Mass when we had to go back to the bus.
When we were not inspired to shop for gold and leather in Florence, nor appreciate hanging out an hour longer in Pisa, our guide was perceptive enough to notice that most of us seem happier visiting churches or praying or shopping for religious articles.
In conclusion, I feel that Adriatic Tours delivered on the terms and conditions agreed upon when I signed up for the pilgrimage. I am grateful to have visited the Capital of my religion, and many places made holy by the lives of my favorite saints. I am happy to have traveled to Italy and back to SFO safely. I will not be able to join another pilgrimage soon (since our daughter will be starting college this fall) so I will just recommend Adriatic Tours to family and friends looking for a travel agency. Hopefully, one day, I could go on a Marian pilgrimage through Adriatic Tours. read more