Group Leader

Why Group Travel? July 2023 All Things Italy

By Etta Madden | July 2, 2023
Our small group at the Santuario della Verna in Umbria. The site is associated with St. Francis of Assisi. Photo Credit: Jenn Simmons Why Group...

Writing Places & Bagni di Lucca, Italy

By Etta Madden | September 10, 2021
Bagni di Lucca, Italy, on the Lima River in Tuscany (Photo Credit: By Keith Ruffles, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53034692) Six years ago this week, I...

Coincidence or Signs? Waldensians in the News

By Etta Madden | December 19, 2020
Twice in less than 24 hours—actually, within about 12 hours—I received notice from two friends* of two recent but very different news stories about the...

Cancelled!

By Etta Madden | May 25, 2020
As Italy crawls back to life, many of us mourn the loss of trips planned and cancelled. This week-after-semester's-end at the university often finds me...

Alternative Spiritual Formation in the Italian Piedmont & Tuscany

By Etta Madden | March 17, 2018
Soon after I announced this summer 2018 spiritual formation trip, a full slate of travelers had signed up.  (A "full slate" means small--a half-dozen or...

Italy: A Recent Group Experience

By Etta Madden | September 15, 2016
In the spring of 2016 I met several times with a group of adults in preparation for a pilgrimage to Italy. With a theme of syncretism,...