Lund Invades Italy
Over January, Prof. Lund took a class of 24 students to Italy and Germany. We spent most of our time in Rome and Wittenberg, with two shorter stays in Florence and Berlin. Our first day in Rome we toured the ancient sites such as the Forum and the Colosseum. During the next week and a half, we visited over 20 churches around Rome. Several of these consisted of some of the major pilgrimage churches. We were fortunate enough to see Pope John Paul II twice, once at the Epiphany Mass and again at a Papal Audience. During a day trip, we went to a monastery near Subiaco, in the mountains outside of Rome. This monastery was built over a cave where St. Benedict lived in solitude for three years. Later that day we went to another ancient site, Hadrian's Villa, near the small town of Tivoli. Before leaving Rome, we went to see a Roma Soccer game at the Olympic Stadium. We spent the next three days in Florence, shopping in the open-air markets, visiting museums and seeing the sights. From there, we flew to Germany and spent the next ten days in Wittenberg.
In Wittenberg, we saw the main sights related to Martin Luther, including the church where he posted his 95 theses and was buried. Over the course of our stay in Wittenberg, we took day trips every other day to towns around Germany, such as Eisleben, Erfurt, Leipzig, and Halle. On one trip in particular, we went to the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach and Buchenwald Concentration Camp near Weimar. Visiting the concentration camp was difficult for most of us but an important perspective to gain on history. Our last two days in Germany we spent in Berlin.
-Jake Baller '05 and Kirsten Sauey '04
