Roaming through Rome

Saturday in Rome…another exciting day with these great travelers.

Today we left the hotel about 9:00 and did not return until after 10 PM. We are all tired, but Emily even said this was a “perfect” day, even with all of the walking we have done. Today Olen wore his pedometer, and we correctly logged in just shy of ten miles of walking today. Kara’s soccer coach should be happy.

We took the Metro to Vatican City, explaining to the girls that this was another country, the smallest country in the world. We stood in an extremely long line to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, but the line moved very fast, and we were inside in a few minutes. Emily and Lacey Beth took numerous photos inside and out of the basilica. Emily related that her daddy had sent her with batteries and memory cards and advice to just “keep on clicking”, so she has done just that.

Inside the basilica we viewed the gigantic artwork that looked like paintings, but with closer inspection you could tell that they were actually mosaics made up of tiny, tiny tiles. We saw Michaelangelo’s Pieta, and a couple of dead popes that have been deceased for a very long time and remain on display for some unknown reason. We saw the statue of Peter with his “kissable” toe and walked all over the massive building that covers six acres and can hold up to 60,000 worshippers.

Leaving the basilica we saw the Swiss guards in their eye-catching uniforms which I understand were designed my Michaelangelo, who obviously really liked bright colors. Lacey Beth is making a photo-collection of photographs of different windows in Italy. Kara, on the other hand is making a photo-collection of photographs of herself grinning broadly in front of various famous areas. This is always interesting to watch. Sometimes she asks Emily to help her steady the camera for “the shot”.

Olen loves to take photos, and from time to time he wanders away from our group, but I have traveled with him enough to know that he will always wander back. This has bothered the girls until today when I told them that “Grandpa is never lost. He just gets misplaced occasionally.” This seemed to comfort them, but they still stick very close to me.

We walked down to see the Pointe S. Angleo Bridge before lunch, and then another Metro ride to the place where we made a bus connection to the Catacombs of San Callisto. As we exited the bus we were a little confused, and we asked a couple who got off at the same spot we did. They were going to the same place, so we just followed them. They were from Portugal, and we made new friends.

We were told on the tour of the catacombs that over half a million people were originally buried in the catacombs in the area. It was fascinating…and a bit creepy for the girls…but interesting. Right before we got to the Catacombs, a small rain shower passed over us, and Kara and Lacey Beth decided they had to put on their dollar rain ponchos. I think they were trying to show me that they could find the head-hole with no problem. (If you followed our trip with the boys last summer, you may remember that I had some degree of difficulty finding the head-hole in my poncho while on that trip.)

From the area of the catacombs, we walked quite a distance down the Appian Way (Via Appia). We were determined to find the area of the Appian Way that still has the original paving stones from ancient times. We stopped and asked several people about this, but no one seemed to be able to help us. (Obviously, seeing these ancient stones and knowing that the apostle Paul walked down this road on his way to Rome as a prisoner was not too important to most people!) Finally, I spotted a couple reading from a Rick Steves’ guide book, and I knew if anyone would have this information, they would. I asked the lady, who was from Brooklyn, New York, and she looked it up in her book. She had not read about it, but the information was there. With our new information, we headed in that direction, and they decided to follow along with us. We had two new members of our group, and two more new friends.

Our visit to the old part of the Appian Way was a big hit. The girls took some truly creative photos, which I hope they will use someday when they teach a Bible class. We took photos of them on the Appian Way, one of their feet on the Appian Way, and a stone-level-view of Kara walking on the road. (The view of Lacey Beth lying belly-down on the Appian Way helping Kara set up the photo was probably the best shot, but I missed it.)

By this time it was nearly dark. We took a bus, the Metro, and finally a taxi to the area of Campo de Fiori to start our after-dark walk through the local sites. This area of Rome is well-lit at night, and there are shops open, street entertainers to view, and street music. It is an open-air party, especially on a wonderful Saturday night in late March.

At Campo de Fiori our first stop was a recommendation from Rick Steves’ book…pizza from a shop called Forno. It has only take-out service, and the pizza is served in rectangles, which they fold over like a pizza sandwich, and send you outside to enjoy your snack. We all agreed it tasted wonderful. On to the Piazza Navona with artists and musicians around the fountains of Bernini. We stopped to enjoy the Four Rivers Fountain and headed toward the Pantheon area.

On the way we passed a place called Giolitti’s, which I remembered reading about. I got out my book and read that it is listed as Rome’s most famous gelateria. Now who could pass up something like that? We went in and had to figure out their system of ordering…pay first…get a ticket…order your gelato…leave immediately so someone else could have your space. While we were trying to understand it all, a very nice man told us how the procedure worked. We thanked him and spent several minutes talking to him and his wife. They were from San Francisco, and they had their twelve-year-old granddaughter with them on their trip. So, we made more friends!

By this time the girls had learned to enjoy our conversations with total strangers. When a young family with two small children walked up to them and asked for directions to the Spanish Steps, Emily asked where they were from, and we all joined in. With huge cones of gelato in our hands we headed toward the beautiful Trevi Fountain, did a little shopping, and finally made our way to the Spanish Steps before taking the Metro back to the area to our hotel for the night.

What a long, wonderful day we have had! What wonderful new friends we have made! The girls are such excellent travelers, and are learning so much about this world we live in. Today we made friends from Portugal, Germany, Naples, and several cities in the United States. All of them added to the experiences we have had and enlightened us about some things we were unaware of. What blessings are on us every where we turn!

Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day and we are really looking forward to worshipping with the Christians here in Rome. But, that is tomorrow. Tonight we rest and prepare for the adventures of tomorrow.