A = Rome - B = Assisi - C = Florence - D = Orvieto
I am setting this blog up specifically to chronicle my wife's and my participation in a Parish Pilgrimage to Assisi, Orvieto, Florence, and Rome between 20 and 29 October 2014, sponsored by the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Natchitoches, Louisiana [link], to be led by the rector Fr. Ryan Humphries and managed by Magnificat Travels of Lafayette, Louisiana [link]. But I also wanted to include other European trips I have taken -- not that there are that many!, but see the pages linked below the header above -- hence the more generic name The Absent-Minded Professor's Travels (see note 1 below). The reason for that title is really two-fold. First, my most common nickname on the Internet, including in the title of my main blog, is "Absent-Minded Professor." Yes, I am a professor (of early European history), and yes, I am "absent-minded." Just ask my wife, my colleagues, or my students! Second, the dates of the upcoming pilgrimage are right in the middle of the Fall 2014 semester. As will be elaborated on below, one way I'm justifying my absence from the University during that period is that I intend to allow my students to accompany me on this trip, in a virtual manner, via the wonders of the Internet and "live-blogging." Finally, God willing, this will not be the last trip to Europe I will ever make, and thus I intend to keep this blog active chronicling further adventures on at least an occasional basis, if only every few years or so.
