A Few Days Off in Italy

En route to Vox Clara sessions, I was met at the airport of Rome by a few friends then went on to Livorno for a few days by the sea.

At the Argentina restaurant in Rome before boarding the train in a northerly direction Don Roberto , his sister Rita and Massimo, our driver.

Don Andrea Brutto, rector of the Seminary in Livorno was kind enough to meet me at the train station and bring me to Quercianella, a resort town where the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul have a summer residence for their sisters that they have opened to religious of other communities, clerics and Catholic families in need of a vacation by the sea.

Daily activities begin with Mass in the chapel at 7:30 each morning (8am on Sunday) and great meals after Mass and at 1:00 and 7:30pm. The sisters of the house (including a medical doctor who is head of the oncology unit at the Livorno Hospital) serve the meals with joy and enthusiasm. It's a delightful ambiance.

Don Andrea in the back, the sisters and yours truly.

There is no sand on the beaches in this area, but huge rocks (which can make swimming a bit precarious), but the water is clear and the sky blue, the water cool and refreshing in the heat spell that is locked into all of Italy these days (generally 33-36 degrees C).