Sunday San Giovanni Rotondo

We got up at 6:30, had breakfast, met up with Carmen and Elizabeth and then walked to the terminal to catch the bus to the Garibaldi train station. We're going to San Giovanni Rotondo to visit Padre Pio's shrine today while the two ladies were going to Rome. We got on the local train at 8:50 to Caserta to catch the bullet train to Foggia. From there, we'll take a 1-hour bus trip to San Giovanni Rotondo.

Train travel is fairly easy but you just have to pay attention to the announcements to ensure that you get off at your stop. You also need to check the posted departure/arrival schedules to determine the platforms. We made it to Foggia without any hitch and had lunch at McDo upon arrival. It got a bit exciting here and we had a very important learning experience. Since we didn't check the bus schedule before eating, we ended up waiting for the next one which only gave us 50 minutes of tour time at the site. We had to catch the return trip to ensure that we don't miss our train back to Naples. If we missed it, the next bus arrives at Foggia 5 minutes after our Naples departure time. We were a bit worried but since I've visited the San Giovanni site on line and it showed the bus station as a short walk to the shrine, it gave us an assurance that we should have sufficient time.

Santa Maria della Croce church in Foggia where we attended mass while waiting for the bus.

We had another taste of Italian 'hospitality' when we bought our bus tickets. The seller assured us that the bus will be stopping in front of the store after we asked him where the bus stop was. It's a good thing that we stayed outside because we saw the bus as it drove in front of the train station and then proceeded to the bus stop in front of the building across from the store. We had to run across the street and wave to make sure that he saw us.

The town is only 18 miles away but the trip took about an hour because it is located on top of the hill and the road was very steep with multiple hairpin turns. The drivers didn't care though and just zoomed up even passing on blind curves. I guess they're all on the same wavelength and know how the other driver will react.

The Church of Our Lady of Grace (Santa Maria Delle Grazie) was about a 3 minute uphill walk from the bus stop. The walls and pillars are made of dark marble and the altar background is a painting of the Madonna and Child with St. Francis of Assissi and and St. Michael the Archangel. The church also served as a museum and has exhibits of his cell and its meager furnishings as well as his vestments. We were able to visit his tomb in the cellar where there is a picture of Pope John Paul II when he came to visit.

Statue and bust built in his memory. Padre Pio is also well-known for his love to the soldiers that attend his masses.

A Way of the Cross was also built on the hill next to the church with a statue of Padre Pio at the bottom of the stairs and the Madonna and Child halfway up. We didn't get a chance to go all the way of up due to the limited time.

Walked to the Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church that was built in his honor which is just behind the church. It can accomodate 6,500 inside and about 30,000 pilgrims outside. We were unable to go inside due to the time but walked in the open square and admired the huge crucifix and the eight bells infront.

Took pictures of the 'Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza or 'Home to Relieve Suffering' which was established by Padre Pio for treatment of the poor. The hospital opened in 1956, and is today considered one of the most efficient hospitals in Europe.

It's a good thing we returned to the station early because the bus arrived 5 minutes early and left right away after loading the passengers in the waiting area. Hopefully nobody was left behind because most of the other passengers were the same ones that rode the last bus. Tried to get an earlier train but none was available so we just lounged around at McDonald's.

Train arrived/left on time. A couple of college kids tried to pull a fast one on us saying that the seats were occupied when we got to our seats. Found out that they were actually the squatters and wanted to sit together with their friends. The ride back was uneventful except for the long walk back to the BOQ.