Author - Clay Corvin

We have traveled to London on this part of our sabbatical. Carol is doing very well with her walking and as usual when we go somewhere in the spring or early summer they always have heat records. Rome had the hottest week on record in May-we were there. Santa Fe had the hottest week in June-we were there. Now in London we have discovered the hottest week in June-near 90 degrees each day. Unusual they said for London.

We have lived in New Orleans for thirty plus years. We know 90 degree weather and this is indeed 90 degree weather but when the sun goes down it is quite nice and we have already experienced two evenings of enjoyable walks around the Westminster area. Our flat is on Warwick Way and the restaurants we have been frequenting, and Starbucks are on Wilton Road. We are only a short distance from Victoria Station. This area has a lot of small hotels and nice apartments. A couple of blocks toward the River Thames are very nice houses.

Today was all about getting to know London. We had an all day guided tour by British Tours and our guide did a superb job. We traveled thru all of the Central London boroughs plus had lunch in Hampstead Heath. We traveled along the River Thames, saw the changing of the Horse Guard at 11:00, traipsed through Westminster Abbey, coffee at the Methodist Building, smelled the roses at Regent’s park, walked thru the water feature (it isn’t a fountain) built in honor of Princess Diana, entered the City of London, saw more buildings than I can recount, and ended our touring today at the Tower of London Bridge and the wharf area. My head is spinning from all the places we visited and at the time it seemed an unhurried pace but at the end of the day it is a long list. Tomorrow we go back to begin visiting the places we liked in depth.

Blessings on your days. Our trip is another travel blessing and adventure. We are grateful.
Clay

We are en-route back home to New Orleans from Santa Fe. We had an absolutely wonderful time. We walked all of downtown many times over. The weather was perfect-high 70’s most days and high 50’s at night. It was an enchanting experience. We don’t spend that much time outside in New Orleans. I think we have two perfect days in the Spring and Fall.

I am impressed with the rugged beauty of Santa Fe. The adobe houses and territorial architecture is beautiful. The New Mexican food is good but now at my advanced age I can’t eat the highly spiced food. Everyone was kind enough to make my food a little toward the moderately spiced type.

We walked, talked, had some really good meals and enjoyed each other. Carol particularly had a great time she said because she didn’t have to prepare meals, wash clothes or make beds. Wives do so much that we sometimes forget to thank them for.

I’m reading about Elijah and Ahab in 1 and 2 Kings these past several days. There is much to ponder here and shortly I will share my thoughts in poems.

We will be home this week and then one more trip (to London) to finish off my sabbatical. I will share about our trip as opportunity affords me.

Blessings to you. Clay

THINKING
Time is no respecter of person. Our lives whizz by at a breakneck speed. When waiting at the airport or on someone time passes exceedingly slow. When living life, time disappears. One of those things that always puzzle me is why I don’t value time more than I do.

I look in the mirror and see myself as young and capable. Time says otherwise and I am aware of the fact that I’m in the stage of life where everything counts.

One of my heroes was Landrum Penson Leavell II. He died September 26, 2008, exactly two months shy of age 82. I don’t know why all of us called him Doc but we did. I think that most of the time I addressed him it was Doc. I began working for him in December 1979. When I met him in 1976 for the first time I was impressed and I was impressed with him all of the time I knew him. He had a moral surety about life that was bigger than life. He was a man’s man. He knew how to be tough and was always fair. He didn’t tolerate failure. He encouraged winning. So many other things I could write.

On my time away I’ve had an opportunity to cogitate about life particularly my life. I knew that I owed Doc a great deal for raising me and I also knew that he was the impetus behind most of my successes. He kept me focused on the job I was called to do.

Doc also taught me to listen and follow. I don’t listen as good as I should but I am doing a much better job of following.

I discovered how much I miss Doc. I didn’t realize how many of my life decisions I had talked over with him. I guess this is in some small way part of my grieving process. When at work it is hard to think about much except work. When you are relaxing you can think about things. Doc was a big part of my life. I enjoyed him and probably more than any other person on earth except my wife and children tried to do the best I could for him. He was my hero. Doc you were the best and there are many of us that miss you.

BIRMINGHAM
We are in Hueytown actually visiting with Carol’s family. Her mother’s church, Union Baptist Church in Lipscomb, is celebrating its 175th anniversary. We are going there tomorrow for church and the celebration.

We’ve eaten at the Bright Star for lunch two days. I haven’t been there for many years, probably thirty. The food is still good and Jimmy and Nicholas (Nicky) are still running the restaurant. August 6-8 they are having one of my favorite folks there as their celebrity chef, Tory McPhail, Executive Chef of Commander’s Palace in New Orleans.

I’ve enjoyed the past five weeks as good as a person possibly could. We are leaving for Santa Fe this next week. I love the ambiance of that area of the world. The rugged beauty of the mountains and the joy of the wide open spaces.

Be who you are, not who they say
We never know who they are, always limiting what we do
I suggest it is culture, they, be careful and listen to God
They don’t know, you do, because you walk with Jesus

Be the person God created, give Him your soul
Bend the knee in desperation, All of me Lord, take me
When I succeed, You are my success, it isn’t who I am
I am yours and belong to YOU, help me Lord in my unbelief

Be the one that pleases Him, be with Him, all of you
Focus on His presence, let Him give you grace
Fitting you to be with Him, His Word is your strength
Know that the Lord is near and He will not desert you

Be the servant most often seen, by the angels at His throne
Talk, laugh, listen, wait, and you will know, the Lord is God and there is not other
That knowledge will encourage you to know Him better
The more you know Him, the more you will be like yourself

Be fearless as you live today, that is all we have
Do not let hell’s lie make you think you are alone
You are not alone, the Lord is here with us right now
He will heal your hurts, listen to your pain, Jesus will not shun you

Be a planner, doing each day as He says, letting Jesus reconcile
All those things you don’t know and will never know
Yet sometimes causing you to stumble, stand on the rock, Jesus
Give Him every fear, You count with Jesus, let Him have your burdens

Be like Jesus, He did only what the Father said, Jesus listened well
Take time to listen, let the Father share His heart with you
Set aside the encumbrances of this world and spend time with Him
The Lord is always good, He loves you and wants to spend time with you

Elijah was so excited about the Lord’s victory on Carmel, he ran just ahead of Ahab’s chariot
Jezebel scared Elijah, Ahab did not rebuke her, no one did evil like her
Trust in the Lord, turn to Him and He will not disappoint you
You will know Him and power of His presence and the trustworthiness of His LOVE

CC 5/30/09

May 23-Saturday-Rome
Beautiful day in Rome. We set out on a Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus (we had bought the three day pass which included all sorts of public transportation which we used extensively over two days) and rode it around to the stop near the Trevi Fountain. This particular stop is challenging in that crossing the street is a zoo but we did and did safely dodging the scooters that ran the light and ignored the crosswalk. Always important to watch out for the scooters. It is a real menace.

We did stop at Fontana di Trevi again. Absolutely covered up with people. Then we continued on to the Spanish Steps. I took many photos at both places and en route. I bumped into Chase Bryan at the Spanish Steps. He is escorting a Rome tour for World Travel this week. He and his brother in law are staying at the Hotel Lancelot where we are staying. Amazing that we would run into Chase at the Spanish Steps. People lining the streets and the steps.

Carol and I took the elevator and went up to the top of the Spanish Steps and then walked up to the Villa Medici Overlook of Rome. Awesome view and we enjoyed it. Passing an expensive restaurant at the overlook we agreed that there was no way their food could be good enough to warrant the prices listed on their menu. We walked the area thoroughly. I took pictures extensively. Carol and I walked back down from the Overlook to Piazza Del Popolo and then up the Via Del Corso to Piazza Augusto and caught the 117 bus to San Giovanni in Laterno getting off at the San Clemente stop and walking up the street to our hotel. Another wonderful walk in Rome. We relaxed and talked with several others at the hotel and then met Bill Bryan when he got in from the airport. Bill is our travel agent and was visiting Rome to help with several of his large tour groups. Bill has just recovered from a very serious illness. He is fully recovered and in excellent health. It was good to see him traveling again and we had coffee and conversation.

I went out about 5:00p.m. and walked up Via Labicana, taking a left on Via Merulana and walking towards Santa Maria Maggiore. A beautiful tree lined street with interesting coffee shops and restaurants. A changing neighborhood on the fringe of the Piazza Vittorio neighborhood. I returned to the Lancelot about 6:00p.m. and our friend and Rome tour guide, Carla Zaia, her husband Chris and Chris’ mother Betty stopped by the hotel to visit.

The conversation was great. Animated, joyous and fast paced and we all had a good time. Bill came by about 7:00p.m. and we continued our visit. Dinner was to be on the hotel patio and we tried to get Carla and company to join us but they couldn’t because they had made reservations at Trattoria Luzzi around the corner from us. This restaurant is located on the backstreets of the Coliseum and is always busy on weekend nights. Their food is great and the meal is always a wonderful event. They were going to to have a meal at Giulio Luzzi’s.

Our meal at Hotel Lancelot was superb. Faris prepared an outstanding meal as usual. Pasta with a light tomato sauce, secundi of chicken with a light coating and spinach and a dessert of a pear encrusted with a coating and a fruit glaze. The meals at the Lancelot are always excellent. The patio dining always adds to the normal friendliness of a meal at the Lancelot and we all had enjoyable conversation during and after the meal. Coffee was served after the dessert and we completed our meal about 9:30p.m. and Carol went upstairs to our room to pack and I walked up the street with Bill and others for gelato.

Trattoria Luzzi’s is only a block so I left Bill and others and walked down the street to visit with Carla and Chris and of course Giulio. It was a beautiful night and very Italian at Luzzi’s. There was a huge line waiting at 10p.m. and the restaurant was packed. I sat with Carla and Chris and watched the Giulio show. Great! I had to say my good byes soon and went back to the hotel to finish packing. We were leaving Rome in the morning very early.

May 24-The Flight Home
Everything went smoothly and well on our trip home. We got up at 5:00a.m. Rome time and twenty one hours later we were home. It was an easy trip and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Carol watched Marley and Me on the movie and cried and had to turn it off. The trip crossing the Atlantic and visiting all of the places we visited and the four days in Rome were very good. I hated to come home early and miss some of the things we had planned but Carol wanted to come home and that is what we did. More to follow.

These last two days have been in fast forward. We tried to do everything in two days and have been hard at it. Thursday we visited Piazza Navona and had lunch at a restaurant about a block off the piazza. We were committed to riding the bus this trip and have enjoyed getting back into learning the bus system. Luckily for us on Thursday we only needed to know bus 81 which we caught on Via Claudia and took it to Piazza Navona.

It was hot so we tried to keep to the shade as we trekked through the area. We visited Piazza del Paradiso, Piazza Del Teatro di Pompeo, Campo Dei Fiori, Piazza Farnese and attempted to get into the French Embassy but didn’t make it and then we walked the Via Giulia. I agree that it is one of the most picturesque streets in Rome. Beautiful and very nice to walk.

We left Via Giulia and wandered several back streets back over to Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and up the street all the way to Largo Argentina where we caught the 81 bus back to Via Claudia. We rested at the hotel for a couple of hours then I went out for a stroll through the neighborhood. The Colosseum and the San Giovanni neighborhood are very good places to wander and today I walked down to the Colosseum, up the hill toward St. Peter in Vencoli and then across through the park.

Friday was another hot day. We caught the Hop on Hop off tour bus and rode it a full round of the city and then back to stop number four near the Via Dell Umilta where we hopped off. Riding the bus a full round and back to stop four took one and one half hours. It was amazing all the stuff you see from a bus window. We thoroughly enjoyed riding through all the neighborhoods since we had been in most of them several times before and on this quick trip to just get reacquainted was special.

When we hopped off we walked directly to Fontana di Trevi. We spent quite a bit of time here people watching and taking pictures. This is always a special place. So many of our friends have been here with us and it was really nice the memories we have of this fountain. From here we went towards the Pantheon. We decided to eat along the way since it was already nearly 1 p.m.

We went into Restaurant Rosa and Rosae. It turned out to be excellent. We had a delightful leisurely lunch that lasted more than an hour and a half. Carol and I talked, relaxed, ate, talked with the owner of the restaurant, ate, relaxed and talked. I had cafe americano after the meal. It was a good meal. We will visit this little restaurant again someday I hope.

After our meal we meandered on to the Pantheon. What a stunning place. I took pictures as I do every time. We sat inside for fifteen minutes just taking in the ambiance and history of this building. Then we walked away heading back to Via Del Corso where we caught the 85 back to our hotel. We collapsed for about an hour in the hotel.

I went downstairs to see Faris, the Executive Chef, and one of the owners of the Hotel Lancelot. He took me to Piazza Vittorio where I purchased an inexpensive suitcase to haul stuff back home with. This is an emigrant neighborhood and we drove around going and coming. It was a lot of fun to see an area I’ve not visited before.

After returning to the hotel I walked up to St. John Latteran and took pictures going and coming. Dinner at 7:30 p.m. and the day was over.

Two really quick and enjoyable days sightseeing in Rome.

Getting off of a cruise ship can be very unnerving and aggravating. Today was an exception. I suppose it was because we were the only cruise ship in the port today and we didn’t have but about half of our folks leaving the cruise at this point. The cruise had a second stage for 16 more days that many folks had added. They will cruise to Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea and then back to Rome where this cruise will end and another cruise program will begin.

We caught the elevator going up and then once we filled it up going up we went down to the 5th floor and walked off. Our luggage was easily found and we picked it up and walked out of the staging area and our driver was waiting for us.

The trip to the Lancelot was two and one half hours because of a back up on the auto strada and we checked into the Hotel Lancelot. The day has been lazy and slow. A friend of Carol’s mother passed away and the funeral was today. That is a sad note. We are praying for the family.

We filled up the afternoon by walking to the Circus Maximus and then up to San Giovanni in Laterno. People are really amazing. All sizes and shapes and each one a work of the Lord. God loves people most of all.

Today’s Bible reading was in 1 Samuel dealing with Saul and the demise of his rule in Israel. Saul was king for a long time but the end result was zero, the Lord took the kingdom away from Saul and gave it to David. I know we write and think a lot about David and his life and well we should. But, I was thinking about Saul today. I sure don’t want to make Saul’s mistakes. I do want to do what the Lord is calling me to do. I do want to please the Lord. Caring for others is one way we can please the Lord.

Could they possibly put more stuff in the little country of Monaco? The pictures of this area from the sea don’t do it justice. The land is covered by a building, road, walkway or some other kind of land use. Amazingly the buildings are built on solid rock and are high rise buildings.

The country was set up for the Formula One series beginning this week so that limited some of the things we could do. We also saw the French Riviera all the way to Nice, nine miles to the east. The country of Monaco is only .73 square miles and its population is 30,000 people but each day about 40,000 more people drive into this tiny country to work. Their official language is French and they have very close ties to France.

The day was beautiful. The ride in from our ship by tender was calm and uneventful. I noted that the mountain behind Monaco was shrouded in clouds much of the day but it was bright sunlight where we were.

This is a great place to visit. Then back to the ship. At 5:30p.m. we sailed away heading to the port of Rome, Civitavecchia.

Surrounded by the beauty of Portoferraio at 4:30 p.m. Monday. I’m sitting on our balcony on our ship the Prinsendam. The water, the islands of this Tuscan Archipelago, the sky, the sail boats, and the ferries plying the water all combine to make this one of the most picturesque places I’ve ever been. I cannot adequately convey how gorgeous this place is.

We toured Portoferraio earlier today returning to our ship at 1 p.m. We rode through most of the town on a miniature touring vehicle, a replica of a train and its cars. We toured the harbors, looked at sail boats, walked tiny backstreets, and soaked up the ambiance of the island. It was a total package of beauty. I may never get back here but I will never forget this place. I am grateful to have come this way.

Another day in paradise. It just doesn’t get better than this. We soaked it all up.

I think Jimmy Dukes is being discharged today and he will be staying on the Seminary Campus. I’m praying for him as he continues his rehab. I’m also praying that Retia will be ready to travel to Orlando soon so that Jason and family will be back together and Jimmy and Retia will be with them for their continued healing.

We have our disembarkation briefing tonight after dinner. Time to pack for our transfer on Wednesday morning early. Tomorrow will be our final cruise day. While I will be sad to leave this wonderful experience I am beginning to look forward to turning another page on our travels and being in Rome for a few days.

We are praying for you. Please keep praying for the Dukes. Also, pray for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and our leaders there. What a great work our school is doing in the kingdom.

The weather kept us out of the Naxos harbor and instead we went to Messina. We sailed into the Strait of Messina early in the morning on May 16 (Saturday) and docked in the harbor. Messina was quite an interesting city. We walked the city center including the Cathedral. It rained most of the time we were out walking and when we got back to the ship it decided to rain harder. The day was overcast right up until we got ready to leave and then the sun came out.

This morning we sailed into the port of Naples and docked about 7:30am. Our panoramic tour met at 9:30 and we toured Naples for three hours. We had several picture stops and spent 45 minutes at Piazza Plebiscito.

We enjoyed both Messina and Naples. Messina is an industrial city on the island of Sicily and did not have much in the way of archaeological sites but our walk was fun and the people we met were nice. Naples is the third largest city in Italy. Rome and Milan are larger. Naples has a bit of everything. It is reputedly the birthplace of pizza. Their harbor is busy and the tours they offer are varied. Although without the heritage of Rome, Naples has much to offer. We were pleased with the overview and will in the future if given an opportunity would love to visit Naples again.

Praying for you. Clay