Started in the late 14th century, completed in the Renaissance and crowned with an 18C dome by Juvara, the Como Cathedral has a remarkable face decorated with exceptional technical skill by the Rodari brothers who also decorated the North Portal, called “the frog’s portal”. The solemn Gothic interior is decorated in the Renaissance style: tapestries, paintings by Bernardino Luini and Gaudenzio Ferrari, and a moving Deposition, sculpted by Tommaso Rodari.

The Saint-Fedele Church is decorated with a curious portal in the apse embellished by beautiful carvings. On the inside, which has three naves, do not miss the superb polygonal Romanesque chancel, which is flanked by absidioles and emphasised by two rows of arcades.

The S. Abbondio Basilica is a masterpiece of Romanesque Lombard architecture, consecrated in 1093, and has a front that is sober and noble fronted by a beautiful portal. On the inside, which has 5 naves, there is a magnificent collection of 14th century frescoes evoking the life of Christ.

Maggiore, Orta, Como, Iseo and Garda are all legends in their own right. Of glacial origins, these long, narrow expanses of water stretch out from Piedmont to Venetia and from Switzerland to Trentino at the foothills of the Lombardy Alps. The climate is mild and the landscape of blue waters and towering peaks is particularly pleasing. It is impossible to resist the charm of these Alpine and southern landscapes, the shores of which are lined in opulent villas set in superb gardens and tiny fishing harbours.

This Italian mountain

The Cathedral is a Church of pink sandstone consecrated to winegrowing and grape-harvest. It has involved construction spanning the Early Christian, Carolingian, Romanesque and Gothic periods. The campanile, built in the 16C and modernised with the addition of Gothic windows, reaches 62 m. On the right side you will see the small Wine portal, which is decorated in imagery associated with winegrowing and grape-harvest. The church used to have exclusive rights to sell wine in front of this door.

In the Dominican Church (I Dominicani), you’ll see Frescoes by Friedric Pacher and by the Giotto school. This Church was Built in a Gothic style. It was than modified and then damaged during the secularisation of 1785. You must see Saint Giovanni Chapel (after the Rood Screen) for its frescoes by the Giotto school and its cloister, decorated in Frescoes by Friedrich Pacher.

At the Franciscan Church (I Francescani), admire a sculpted wood altar and a retable by Hans Klocker. This church burned down in 1291 and was then rebuilt in the 14C and the original arches put back a century later. The interior is marked by an Altar of the nativity in sculptured wood, decorated with a retable by Hans Klocker. The charming little cloister has elegant arches decorated in frescoes from the Giotto school.

Americans travel gladly. How does their travel behavior look? We like traveling on our continent. We are actually a well-traveled people. Americans are always gladly seen guests. And they are popular because of their humor and probably because of their potential. And our preferred destination out of America is Italy.

In order to be able to assess the international travel market, one must differentiate between three categories: mass travel, then the individual tourists, who are independent with a car, or the luxury-seeking tourists.

Those who drive their rental car individually visit particularly Italy and Croatia. The two countries still rank among the usually-visited destinations. Italy has the preference among our journeys abroad.

However if so-called package tours are booked out and crowded, Italy offers so much more with a private driver, guide and limousine. The numbers of the important tour operators underline the new trends.

That leads to a new trend with package tours and component journeys. More than one third of all tours last between 13 and 15 days; another third between five and eight days. The portion of those who can go more than 22 days on vacation, is small.

I am not doctor and I don’t have a degree, but I have lived through the pain of each of these needs. Come join me and take this journey with me.

Jennifer Sawyer - Virtually Words

http://www.virtuallywords.com/

The Bible has lots to teach our kids, but it also has a lot that we, as parents, can learn.  Let the Bible guide your parenting and make the right decisions in raising your kids.
Help Your Child Nurture Their Self Worth

An important part of raising kids is nurturing their self esteem, and the Bible offers guidance on how to do that.

The Bible teaches that a man’s self worth is related to his contribution to society.  If what he does has meaning, he will feel that he worthy of God’s love.  In the same way, we must give our kids tasks, and make sure they follow through.  This way, they will feel in their heart that they are doing good.

With the right self esteem and feeling of self worth, a child will know how to make the right decisions when they have times of trouble.
Unconditional Love

In the Bible, even those who turned against God or persecuted His followers still received his unconditional love.  Think of Saul, who went out of his way to harass Christians.  God so loved Saul that he showed him the light, and he became an apostle who did great work for Him.

When a child acts badly, often they do not know what they are doing or why they are doing it.  It is important to let the child know that we love them anyway, even though we don’t like these particular things they are doing.

A child must know that they are loved unconditionally.  You should remind them from time to time.
Controlling Your Temper

There are always going to be times when you are ready to blow up at your kids.  Sometimes, they just push you and push you until you reach the breaking point.

But think for a moment - How does God deal with His wayward children?  God is compassionate in times of trouble, rather than wrathful.  Like a good parent, God wants His children to understand what they are doing wrong.  He wants them to come around.

When you are angry, take a time-out.  Remember that harsh words can’t be taken back.  Sometimes when we have difficulty, we have to stop everything and wait for God to guide us in our actions.
The Bible and the church have much to offer parents.  The difficulties of parenting may seem overwhelming.  But, God has provided a road map for us to follow.  It’s only a matter of seeking His help when we need it!

A new Pininfarina electric car - Italy, December 2007. Bollore and Pininfarina companies will create a joint subsidiary to produce a fully electric car. It will be marketed under the Pininfarina brand. The total amount of the investment is estimated at 150 million euros. The vehicle, a 4-seater, manufactured in Italy, will be fitted with the lithium-metal-polymer battery developped by Bollore. It will be rechargeable via a traditional socket-outlet and will have an autonomy of 150 miles in a city environment. It should be available from December 2008. The first deliveries are envisaged simultaneously in Europe, North America and in Japan.

Italy proud of its recovered treasures - Italy, December 2007. Thomas Hoving, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, held it for the absolute masterpiece. The vase of Euphronios, marvellous testimony of Greek painting, is now exposed at the Quirinal Palace in Rome until March. The New York museum was forced to return it, the vase having been plundered close to Rome. Italy thus exhibits 68 of most Antique masterpieces, restituted by large American museums. The statue of the empress from the Hadrian Villa, a couple of griffins devouring a hind from Apulia, a monumental divinity, found at sea, that Getty had paid in 1988 the equivalent of 29 million of nowadays dollars. Messages show tomb thieves, merchants-accomplices and museums’ negligence. All in all a good thing for art, probably.

Trevi Fountain’s treasures - Rome, December 2007. The famous Trevi Fountain in Rome, where one throws a coin the back turned to the jet to express a wish, collected not only money, but also telephone tokens, messages and even two dentures. The first denture was found in 2001 and the second last October. The caritative catholic association Caritas, in charge of collecting the coins which are used to finance its activities, also found small magnets attached to a wire, a means used to recover the coins, but only those of two and five cents. The annual value of the coins collected in the famous fountain, which had been immortalized by Anita Ekberg in Federico Fellini’s La dolce vita, is almost 1 million US$.

Why Community Spice?

Many community-based organizations either do not have web sites or have sites that too easily fall out of date, making them unhelpful to their existing members and unappealing in attracting new members. Community Spice is dedicated to helping organizations solve this problem by offering:

Ease of Maintenance

Maintaining your site’s content can be delegated to different members of your organization because, with Community Spice, programming and other technical skills are not required. We have invested technical effort into making our administrative tools both easy-to-use and powerful. Take a tour of our solution’s features or preview our administrative tools.

Affordability

Too often professional services are only affordable to large, commercial businesses. We are committed to providing a professional solution with no up-front fees and a low monthly cost that small organizations, non-profits, and other community groups can afford. Read more about our features and pricing.

Room for Growth

You will enjoy limitless access to the number of pages on your site, administrative accounts you can create, and content you upload. Your organization’s personality will come alive with up to date content. When you use Community Spice to power your site, you have access to everything we offer at our low monthly fee.

Specific Features You Need

Your organization’s personality will come alive with up to date content. We have tailored our solution to include features that organizations, specifically interested in connecting with their community, will need. These features include an event calendar, photo albums, and email groups. Check out what our featured client has accomplished using Community Spice.

Flexibility

Community Spice is committed to adding new features and researching ideas that will help your organization communicate more effectively. A family-owned business, we take pride in the solution we provide and have the flexibility to respond to your needs. So if you have an idea or are looking to do something that it does not appear we currently offer, please let us know. It may be something we are already working on or will consider adding as a new feature.

Evidence of Andean contact includes archaeological depictions of the alleged alien from the Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) civilization in Bolivia and an archaeoastronomy Sun Disk from the Inca civilization of Peru. Evidence of simultaneous contact in the Near East is based on analysis of two Judaic cabala texts and the Koran.

What is success? In the dictionary, success is defined as 1: the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors. 2: the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like. 3: a successful performance or achievement. Just to name a few. The 3 defined ways can be done by applying principles specifically spelled out in the BIBLE.

SUCCESS TIP:

One of the laws and principles for success is an ATTITUDE of GODLY service towards others. This is the same principle Jesus applied everyday and it still applies today and it doesn’t matter what position or business you are in. In other words have the attitude with the heart to give (A Godly Principle) rather than a heart to get (A Worldly Principle). Seek Gods kingdom first in everything that you do.

GOALS, VISION, TRUST AND FAITH…. Equals SUCCESS naturally

Visit my blog @: http://www.thinkitbelieveitliveit.blogspot.com where you can read about goals and success. You can purchase and download my e-book, The 7 Principles of Goals and Success. This e-book and other up coming e-books can also be purchased and downloaded from the following website @: http://www.lulu.com/content/714495

Many Thanks

Mark