Home from Italy

Cynthia and I just returned from a two week trip to Italy, and we are certainly glad to be home. We went on this trip to celebrate Bethany’s high school graduation, and we have been planning it for nearly a year. Bethany had mentioned an interest in Italy some time ago, so we signed up for a two week tour offered by Perillo Tours. After Trisha’s graduation several years ago, we went to London and Paris, so this trip after Bethany’s graduation allowed us a chance to see another part of Europe. We don’t have any more children (that we’ve been told about...), so this was our final graduation trip. A friend of Bethany’s, Jenifer Lavender, came along with us as did another family friend, Dwayne Rocker. We left Savannah on Sunday, June 1, traveling overnight to Milan. From there, we met up with our tour group (about 30 people) and spent the next two weeks seeing the major cities and sites of Italy.

Traveling by motor coach, our tour group visited the following cities/towns: Milan, Lugano (Switzerland), Como, Verona, Padova, Venice, Pisa, Florence, Sorrento, Capri, and Rome. Whew.....no wonder we’re tired! That’s eleven cities in 12 touring days. By the time we returned home, I had taken over 1,500 pictures. Don’t worry, though, I won’t make you look at all 1,500 of them! I do hope to post some of the best ones in the next few days, but it takes some time to sort through 1,500 pictures. What was I thinking....?

I am so thankful that our wonderful congregation allowed us to be gone for these two weeks. It is not an easy thing for a pastor to be gone 14 days, so we deeply appreciate our church members affording us this time. The other pastors and staff at FBC Statesboro did a fantastic job while I was away, handling all kinds of issues and details. The countryside of Italy has a breathtaking beauty that has to be seen to be believed, and the historic sites, medieval cities, beautiful art, and magnificent cathedrals all combined for memories that will last a lifetime. Even though Italy was fantastic, being back home in Statesboro is even better. Look for the pictures soon. At least some of them, that is.