Sunday Padua to Ravenna to Florence

Tonight is my turn to write the daily blog for our group, so here goes!

We left Padua a very long time ago - actually, it was this morning. We traveled in our bus to Ravenna, through the beautiful Italian countryside, traveling back to the 6^th century, in the 500s. We are beginning to learn about the different regions of Italy, where each region has different geography and different cuisine. In Ravenna, a port city on the Adriatic sea, we learned about a local food specialty, a cheese call squaquaroni, which we ate with parma ham and arugula on a special regional flatbread. It was yummy and worth a try.

But even more importantly, we toured some of the oldest and most beautiful mosaics in the world, the ones in Ravenna dating back to the 500’s. The beauty of the mosaics is certainly beyond description. Our first stop was the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, and the mosaic on the wall above the door showing the Good Shepherd has been with us all the rest of the day. I was so enchanted by this mosaic that I bought the scarf depicting the ceiling shown in the mosaic. But the most important memory of the day will be Pastor Mike’s sermon later in the day, reminding of us of the overwhelming unconditional love of our shepherd, Jesus Christ, as He not only searches for each one of us whenever we seem lost from the path, but that Christ, our Shepherd, desires each of us to be in close community with all the rest of His sheep.

Time does not allow for more description of the wonderful mosaics and the many places we saw them, but our finale in Ravenna was a tour of a studio where artists reconstruct the old mosaics and also make new creations. We are bringing one back to the church to hang with mementoes of other church pilgrimages, so do look for it after we get back.

Finally, we reached Firenze (Florence in English) and were glad to find rest for the night after another wonderful dinner together. Tomorrow will be another day of adventure together. We are near the center of town, and will tour more amazing historic sites in the morning.