Feeding my obsession with cathedrals – travels to, in, and from Europe 2023
The 2023 “mid-year” travels started with a transatlantic cruise from Ft Lauderdale on April 3, lasted 138 days, and returned me to Brooklyn on August 18 (followed by flights to get back home to Florida.) The cathedral count rose by 164, and I added 4 new countries visited to my life list (and visiting 16.) For the most part, I traveled with a 90-day Eurail pass on the continent, with 6½ weeks spent aboard ships, on four different cruise lines. I also did a “bed count” – I slept in 58 different beds, which I honestly can say is an improvement over changing hotel locations daily. Of course, there were a few darker moments – I lost my camera in Hanover, Germany, and lost my mobile phone while in Luxembourg; my big roller suitcase started failing in Rome, requiring replacement. Fortunately, I never fell ill or suffered an injury.
My trip report, where I went back to my written journal and made it legible by typing up my memories is about 125K words, and I took 21K photos. Melding the two together, I’ve been slowly posting to the Cathedrals to the Glory of God website. Because it displays with the latest posting on top, I’m adding this post with the blogs in chronological order and links to them.
1. 3-5 April – Boarding and at sea 3-5-April-boarding-and-at-sea-i
2. 6-7 April – Overnight in NYC 6-7-April-overnight-in-nyc
3. 8-15 April Sea days 8-15-April-sea-days
4. 16-18 April: three calls in ports 16-18-April-three-calls-in-ports
5. 19-21 April: Utrecht-based 19-21-April Utrecht-based
6. 22-24 April: Amsterdam 22-24-April Amsterdam
7. 24-30 April: Germany: Bremen & Essen 24-30-April-Germany-Bremen-Essen
8. Belgium 30 April-1-4 May: Liege, Namur, Tournai Belgium-30-April-4-may
9. France I: 3-8 May: Lille, Amiens, Paris France I: 3-8 May
10. France II 9-12 May: Laon, Reims, Nancy, Metz France-II: 9-12-may
11. Luxembourg: 13-15 May Luxembourg-13-15-may
12. Germany II: 15-18 May Trier, Koblenz, Mainz, Speyer Germany-II: 15-18-may
13. France III: 19-21 May: Strasbourg France III:-19-21-May Strasbourg
14. 22-25 May: Switzerland I (Basel, Bern, Luzern) 22-25-May: Switzerland-i
15. Switzerland II: 26-29 May: Einsiedeln, St Gallen, Chur + Konstanz & Vaduz Switzerland II: 26-29-May
16. Italy I 29 May – 4 June – Tirano, Como & Milano Italy I: 29 May - 4 June
17. Italy II 4-8 June – Bergamo and Verona Italy II: 4-8 June
18. Italy III 9-11 June Venezia Italy III: 9-11 June
19. Italy IV 12-16 June Padova, Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini Italy IV: 12-16 June
20. Italy V 17-19 June: Bologna, Modena, Parma Italy V: 17-10 June
21. Italy VI 20-23 June: Cinque Terre and Pisa Italy VI: 20-23 June
22. Italy VII 23-27 June: Florence / Firenze Italy VII: 24-27 June
23. Italy VIII 28-30 June, 1 July: Siena, Arezzo, and Perugia (Assisi) Italy VIII: 28 June-1 July
24. Italy IX 2-5 July: Foligno, Terni, Viterbo, Civitavecchia Italy IX: 2-5 July
27. MSC Divina 21-27 July: Cruising MSC Divina 21-28 July MSC Divina
28. Italy XI 28 July-August 4: Abruzzo and Puglia Italy XI 28 July – 4 August
29. Cruising Queen Mary II 4-11 August: Mediterranean leg QM2-Mediterranean
30. Cruising Queen Mary II 4-11 August: Mediterranean leg QM2-Atlantic
Oh, and here's the picture of those chocolate bars:
You can purchase your own copy
(or have me send it as a gift) of
Cathedrals to the Glory of God
by clicking this link: