Interior of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

At some point, I will pen a full series on this incredible national treasure, but today I want to point you to a terrific music series happening at this Basilica this summer. From a recent press release:

The Basilica of the National Shrine will once again present the Summer Organ Recital Series. This annual series is held everySunday, July through August, at 6:00 p.m. Join us in the Crypt Church for these wonderful performances, the dates and performers are listed below. There is no charge for admission, a free will offering will be accepted. The Basilicais located walking distance from the Brookland-CUA station on Metro’s Red Line and offers ample free parking. For more information please contact the Basilica at (202) 526-8300,  muslit@bnsic.org, or online at www.nationalshrine.com/music.

The series includes the following recitals:

• July 7 – Michael Lodico, St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square
• July 14 –  Peter Latona, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
• July 21 – Timothy Duhr, Holy Trinity Parish, Georgetown
• July 28 – Benjamin Straley, Washington National Cathedral
• August 4 – Russell Weismann, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
• August 11 – Josh Stattford, Saint Paul Parish, K Street & Saint John the Beloved, McLean
• August 18 – Adam Detzner,  Stanford University
• August 25 – Benjamin LaPrairie,  Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

For more information visit www.nationalshrine.com/music.

Your turn: In what church, basilica or cathedral would you love to hear a sacred music recital? Have you had the opportunity to hear such concerts in the past?

Google Street View Trekker: Where Would You Trek?

From Google, a bit more about this technology:

The Trekker, our latest imagery-gathering apparatus, is a wearable backpack system that allows us to venture to locations only accessible by foot. The ability to take Street View to remote, hard-to-navigate places, such as the Grand Canyon, is a major opportunity to make the beauty and history of locations like these accessible to a global audience.

and

To continue making Google Maps as comprehensive and accurate as possible, we’re eager to take the Trekker still more places only accessible by foot. We look forward to sharing future collections with you that showcase more unique places around the world – from forest trails to the steps of ancient castles, and beyond.

Google is inviting applicants to take to the trails, peaks, forests and beyond with Trekker, with an online form that’s ready to accept your application. Their requirements:

If you represent an organization such as a tourism board, non-profit, government agency, university or research group that would like to take photos with the Trekker for future inclusion on Google Maps, please fill out this form. Tell us more about your proposed locations and upcoming trips, and we’ll get back to you if/when there’s an opportunity for us to partner with you on a Trekker collection.

Obviously, applicants need to be physically fit too, since the Trekker unit weighs 35 pounds.

All this has me thinking about where I’d take Trekker if I had the strength, time and resources. To help you consider some of the possibilities  take a look at their breathtaking images of the Grand Canyon excursion and be sure to read the “behind the scenes” notes. I’d love to strap the thing on Kirk Whitney’s back for his tour of all of the California Missions! If it were me, I think I’d take the Trekker backpack to Yosemite National Park and let it climb Half Dome and feel the mists of the waterfalls.

Your turn: Where would you go with the Google Trekker backpack?

Detail of the ”Majestat Batlló” (c. 1100-1125)
Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona

A good of friend of mine is headed to Barcelona this weekend, and asked me for a few recommendations on what he absolutely must see while he is there.  Knowing him reasonably well, and also what he ought to see on a first visit, I did not include many of the great art museums in the city since, despite Barcelona’s prominence as an art and design capital, sending someone to wander through hallways full of paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and drawings would probably prevent them from seeing many of the interesting buildings, streets, and squares which make the city unique.  Yet in doing so, on reflection, I realize that I erred greatly. For he will only be getting a part of the story of what makes the city he is visiting so special, because we so often forget that works of art tell us a lot about both ourselves, and the cities where those works of art happen to be housed.

Take Michelangelo’s monumental “David”, for example, which is the most famous sculpture in the city of Florence.  The figure of David, the shepherd boy from the Bible who managed to slay a giant several times his size, had a great deal of meaning for the small Florentine Republic, which often found itself fighting enemies much greater in size.  Or think of Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, which despite its Milanese provenance has resided in France since the time Da Vinci moved there toward the end of his life, to work for King Francois I.  One sees this image and immediately thinks not of Northern Italy, but of Paris, since after leaving the royal collections she has been smiling down at the public from the walls of The Louvre since the late 18th century.

Sistine Madonna by Raphael

There are many more examples of works of art, commissioned by or which have passed into the public collections of cities around the world, which those among us with an appreciation for history and culture visit as if on pilgrimage when we go to certain cities.  One must see Velázquez’ “Las Meninas” in Madrid; in Dresden, Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna”; in Chicago, Seurat’s “Sunday Afternoon on Le Grande Jatte”.  To go to these places and not see these masterworks is a bit like going to Philadelphia and not eating a cheese steak.  They are so interwoven into the collective cultural fabric of the cities where these works happen to reside, that their omnipresence on everything from advertising posters on public transit systems to postcards and knickknacks at the newsagents’ almost causes us to forget they are there.

Art appreciation is not simply a course which one has to pass in high school, but rather it is meant to be something which informs you about not only where you live, but where other people live as well.  The next time you travel therefore, consider doing a little research in advance to see what are the important works of art in the city you happen to be visiting, to see what you can learn about the place you are sojourning, and perhaps learn a bit more about yourself in the process.  What sorts of images do you respond to, and how do they make you see the city in which you happen to be when you are looking at them?

For example, in Manhattan you can pay a visit to Sargent’s seductive and justly famous “Portrait of Madame X” at the Metropolitan.  Ask yourself how, even though she was a Louisianan painted in France by a painter from Massachusetts, Madame X rather aptly reflects the city and indeed the neighborhood in which she has subsequently come to reside, so close to the commercial palaces and fashion industry giants on 5th and Madison Avenues.  Her portrait created a scandal when it was displayed, yet now it seems surprisingly demure.  How has New York, and indeed the world, changed from the days in which her alleged love affairs and fashion sense were a cause célèbre in society?

Returning to Barcelona, what I should have done for my friend at the very least is to send him to the National Museum of Art of Catalonia, which without question has the best collection of art from the Romanesque period (roughly 1000-1300 A.D.) in the world.  Probably the two most important works of art in the collection are the “Christ Pantocrator” fresco of c. 1123 from the apse of the church of Sant Climent de Taüll, and the painted wooden crucifix known as the “Majestat Batlló”, of about the same date.  One sees the use of elements of their composition in objects and images all over the city, and in fact I have small-scale reproductions of both in my home oratory.  Their familiarity as images, their devotional quality as works of Catholic art, and their reminder of a time when my favorite part of the world was deeply and colorfully Catholic, help me to feel grounded in the way I think about my faith. They are visual reminders of my own perceptions of the world in a way which some other images of Christ may not be, no matter how aesthetically beautiful.

That, in the end, is one of the joys of coming to know and appreciate great art, for it tells you much about yourself and where you happen to be at this moment in your life; what does and what does not matter to you; even about where you are likely headed, than you might otherwise believe possible.

William Newton is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, The University of Notre Dame Law School, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London. He lives in Washington, D.C. Learn more at wbdnewton.com

Your turn: What are some of your favorite museums to visit when traveling? Does your hometown feature a world-class museum?

Copyright 2013 William Newton

Casa de Fruta

I thought it would be fun to share a new feature on CatholicTourist.com to highlight simple little discoveries I make along the path to larger destinations. This “Along the Way” feature will be a quick look at simple, interesting places that are off the beaten path or perhaps less known venues. My intention is to share the good news about sites I visit, even if they are not explicitly religious.

Such is the case with today’s “Along the Way” stop — Casa de Fruta. As I debut this feature, I’m going to share specific points about each of the spots I visit. This will be a recurring feature, but the points shared will be the same for each new venue.

Destination Name:

Casa de Fruta

Location:

10021 Pacheco Pass Highway, Hollister CA 95023

Closest Catholic Church:

• St. Mary Catholic Community
• MassTimes.org Listings

A Bible passage to ponder while you’re here:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower.He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. John 15:1-9

Find it along the way to:

Most Californians wander across Casa de Fruta heading either north or south between San Francisco and Los Angeles along Highway 152. We pass it going home from the Bay Area to Fresno and it’s become a destination for our family, a “stopping place” to rest and replenish. When you stop at Casa de Fruta, you’re sure to run into large groups of motorcyclists, who often make it a destination. Casa de Fruta also holds a popular Renaissance Faire every year.

What you’ll find here:

• Fruit Stand with amazing selection, beautifully displayed. The selection includes not only fresh fruits and vegetables, but also a great selection of dried fruits and nuts and a wine selection.
• Children’s amusement rides including “Casa de Carousel”, “Casa de Choo Choo” and “Casa de Sluice”. Kids will also love the nearby Casa de Sweets which will give Mom and Dad a walk down memory lane with tons of traditional candy favorites.
• Accommodations, including a hotel and RV resort. I’ve never stayed in either, but both look busy so they must have something good to offer!

Be sure to check out:

The garlic – if you’ve come to Casa de Fruta from Gilroy, you’ll already be in the mood since you’ve been smelling the aroma along the highway for miles. Another favorite of ours is the amazing dried fruit which you can purchase either prepackaged or by the pound, which enables you to create your own mix.

Learn more at:

• Casa de Fruta website
• Casa de Fruta Facebook page