From Vienna to Rome Via Zagreb

Author: Joseph

  • Bologna, day three

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    Not many pictures today, although I have been busy. We started off to visit one of the larger churches, San Giacomo Maggiore. The church was a forest of scaffolding, but the Bentovoglio chapel was open and newly restored with its paintings dating from 1486. Next door was the extraordinary oratory of Santa Cecilia. The walls…

  • Bologna, day two

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    A perfectly beautiful day which included a visit to Santo Stefano, a complex of six or seven churches at one end of Piazza Santo Stefano, a triangular piazza and one of the most beautiful in the city; the old university (one of Europe’s first) and its dissecting theater; and the small church of Santa Maria…

  • Bologna, day one

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    Getting here required two planes, a bus and one train, all on time, but it was a long day. This afternoon I met a friend from Nashville at the train station, or tried to: as it turns out, there is a second and even larger station below the main station. We ended up meeting at…

  • Delaware Water Gap

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    The Delaware River passes through a gorge/valley near the intersection of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. Here the Delaware is broad and shallow, greatly loved by kayakers and floaters. I spent a few days in this area with friends who rented a house on the banks of the river. I spent part of an…

  • Fourth of July, 2025

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    Hartford celebrated the Fourth on July 5th (Saturday). The day was hot and humid, but after sunset the air cooled and the temperature fell. Bushnell Park was filled with a large crowd; food trucks lined Elm Street. I had dinner with friends at their Elm Street house. Afterwards we sat on the stoop and enjoyed…

  • Early Summer

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    A miscellany of photos from this spring: Penwood State Forest, where I hike many mornings; a shot or two from a spring trip to New York City; a visit to Cape Cod (Woods Hole and Hyannis); my old parish of St John’s where I preached after Easter; and a few Hartford snaps.

  • New York

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    A few days in May in New York followed by some time on Cape Cod. in New York there were the usual visits to The Met (the Sargent exhibition), The Morgan library, and the reopening of The Frick Collection. At the Met I saw John Adams’s new “Antony and Cleopatra”.

  • Porto, day four

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    Today is the last full day in Porto. Tomorrow begins two days of travel back to the US — a roundabout way back, but it is what worked with the airlines. I visited the Franciscan complex, now a national museum. The church (no photographs allowed) is known as “the gold church” because of the vast…

  • Porto, day three.

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    Today I explored more of the city around the university, beginning with the Misericordia Foundation, which for many years provided medical and social services to the people of Porto. As the foundation outgrew its humble beginnings an English architect was engaged to design Santo Antonio Hospital, which looks very much like a cousin to the…

  • Porto, day two

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    I spent much of today along or not far from the Douro River that flows through Porto. I walked the Ponte Dom Luis I, an iron bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel. The upper level carries trains, the lower level automobiles; pedestrians can walk both levels (as I did) for great views of the city. Last…