Pompeii, Sorrento, and Home!

Saturday morning our group left Florence to head south, past Rome to Pompeii, Naples, and Sorrento. The journey south was long but comfortable and the day was sunny and bright. We passed by vineyards and sheep with their shepherds in fields.  

Our final stop for our hotel was Sorrento but we were stopping in Pompeii on the way. I have to say that Pompeii was the absolute highlight of the trip for me. On our way through Naples, we passed under the shadow of the imfamous Mount Vesuvius. We met up with a local guide who was to take us through the site.   In 79AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering the Roman city of Pompeii in ash and essentially "freezing" this city in time. They site was initially recovered in 1599 and then there was a larger rediscovered about 150 years later. Pompeii is about 170 acres and, at the time of the eruption, there were approximately 11 000 people living in the city.  

We walked the streets of Pompeii. It is so amazing to think that we were walking on the same streets that were walked on by those citizens of Pompeii on that fateful day. Our guide called the eruption of Vesuvius a most beneficial disaster. Obviously, the complete misfortune for the entire citizenry of Pompeii can not be discounted. But the disaster has left behind such an amazing site from an historical perspective.  

We learned so many fascinating things about the Romans of 2000 years ago. The streets were covered with large stones and would have been fairly smooth to travel along by foot or horse and cart. We could see deep grooves in the roadway where carts had worn the stone away due to constant travel. Periodically there were three larger stones crossing the road from side to side. These stones acted as a bridge for when the roads were water covered. Originally, the Pompeii was a seaside city. Now the sea is about 1km away from the site.  

At the side of the road, some of the stones that line the roads had a drilled hole in them. These were used for tying up horses.   We learned that the eruption likely occurred midday as there was evidence of bread being cooked in the kilns at the time.  

There were many shops in this city. People sold their wares on the ground floor at street front and then lived behind and above the shops.  

The gymnasium and bath area still shows marble flooring and elaborate paintings on the walls. We saw the change rooms, where there were lockers. Every citizen in Pompeii would have used the baths.  

Similarly, the open air ampitheatre still has some marble steps and seating. We learned that when the weather was too hot, a linen roof could cover the ampitheatre, strung up by wooden poles around the circumference and tied and supported in the centre.  

We walked along the red light district and saw the brothels where there was a pictoral menu of services available for purchase. We even saw a carved stone on the roadway that pointed the direction to the ladies of the night.  

We learned that Romans invented concrete and the arch. They organized their city's roadways in a north-south, east-west pattern so that there were crossroads. Road signs were located at the corner of the crossroads to indicate location.  

We saw the original pipes used for running water through the city. There were a number of public fountains for citizens to retrive their water.  

At the end of the roadway was a pedistrian zone where there was a public square. In a covered area are many artifacts that have been uncovered and are being house in this area for protection.  

We saw a few plaster body casts of people as they were when the eruption occured. There was even a plaster cast of a dog.  

Pompeii continues to be an active archeological site and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

From Pompeii, we headed to our hotel in Sorrento. Most of our group had signed up for an option excursion which included dinner. Sage and I decided to skip that excursion and head to a local pizza joint. The Naples area is the area of the world where the Margarhita pizza was invented. Named after Margarhita, a royal, the inventor included food that represented the colours of Italy: red - tomato, white - mozzerella, green - fresh basil. Italian pizza is thin crusted. The toppings are sparingly used. The crust should be a week bit burned. We found da Frano's pizza steps away from our hotel. It was a highly recommended place to visit for tourists and for locals. And Sage and I found out why. This was the most delicious pizza that I have ever eaten. So this was an excellent choice for dinner for the two of us.  

The streets of Sorrento are lined with orange trees. Everywhere we looked we saw lemon trees and orange trees. We also saw a lot of beautiful olive groves covering hillsides.

Sunday morning we were out the door fairly early after breakfast. We hopped on a high speed people ferry and headed to the island of Capri. We took a funicular from the port to Capri town proper. As it was Sunday, and the off season, many of the shops were closed. But there were a few cafes and restaurants open and we were able to wander along the main street and through some of the back, walking roads of the town. The views over Capri and the sea were beautiful. The sun was shining and it was truly a beautiful morning. We enjoyed coffee (me), canolis, pizza, and gelato while on the island.  

In the afternoon, we headed back to the mainland in order to board a couple of mini buses which took us along the Amalfi Coast. This was a spectacular drive along the Tyrrhenian Sea to the town of Positano. As we travelled along, we made a couple of stops. One stop was merely a look out spot where we were able to take some captivating phots. The other stops was at a statue of Mary. There were fruit stands there also and Liz shared blood oranges, pistachios, and figs with us here. Finally, we continued along the windy roads to Positano. This beautiful coastal town is build on the edge of rocks and cliffs. Sage and I headed down to the seaside and laid ourselves down in the sand for a lovely half hour of sunshine and waves.  

This was the final stop on our Italian adventure. We returned to our hotel and prepared ourselves for the Celebration Dinner - by prepared I mean Sage and I played around on the internet. Others in our group dolled up for this occasion. I can't believe people actually bring high heeled shoes on trips like this. They take up valuable luggage real estate.  

Our celebration dinner took place at a local restaurant that was within walking distance of the hotel. As we have become accustomed to during this trip, the meal was multicoursed. Coffe, Food, wine, and conversation seems to be order of business in Italy and it was a great way to end our time with our group.  

Sage and I walked home together and got packed and ready to leave early Monday morning for our coach trip to the airport in Rome on Monday morning. Sage and I kept commenting that the time was flying past and couldn't believe all of the places we were able to visit, the things we were able to see, and the experiences that we had.  

The Best of Italy trip was a really good way to be introduced to Italy. It gave us a taste of the country and possibly planted the seed of thought about where we would like to travel and explore a bit more indepth.  

The absolute best part of this adventure, hands down, was the time that I was able to spend with Sage. Sage is a fantastic kid. She is funny and smart and beautiful. I am so appreciative and fortunate to have such a wonderful niece who seems to like having me in her life. Thanks to Mike and Anne-Marie for giving me the opportunity to travel with Sage and for giving Sage the opportunity to travel, learn, and explore. I am so thankful for this time.

Florence

On Wednesday afternoon we arrived in Florence. We checked in to our hotel, had a wee bit  of a rest before we headed down to the restaurant for our dinner.   This evening's dinner included a delicious tomato soup with pasta, pork, roasted potatos, a grilled tomato, apple pie, coffee. Sage emjoyed roasted eggplant and zuchinni and cheese instead of pork. Dinner started and ended late, we were done by about 9:45 so it was off to bed for the both of us as we had an early rise the next day for our Florence tour.  

Friday morning began with a local guide. Our bus took us to the city centre where we walked through St. Mark's Square (another one) to meet our local guide. She began the city tour by taking us to the museum that houses Michelangelo's David. This relatively small museum was located on a side street and, besides David, also had a few other sculptures by Michelangelo including four "incomplete" sculptures of men trapped in the stone, called Prisoners, and one of the four Pietas that he sculpted during his life.   We spent a fair amount of time around David. Our local guide pointed out some of the details of the scuplture to us including his broken left arm and the damage done to David on his left foot (by a vandal) and the damage done to his right shoulder (by pigeon poop). We also learned that upon his completion, David would have had gold leaf on the tree stump behind him and on the ball that he is holding in his right hand. Over the years, this gold would have been scraped off by those looking for extra money. Originally, David had been on display in the political square of Florence. Wanting to preserve this sculpture, he was moved by ox and cart over the course of a four day four night journey to the museum where he now stands.  

Our walking tour continued from the museum to the site of the Duomo. Here, a large church, bell tower, and bapistry are located. The bapistry was completely covered by scaffolding with the exception of the famous doors (which are actually replicas of the originals) The Gates to Paradise. The Duomo and the bell tower are beautifully built. Three different colours of stone (white, red, and green) make up the exterior of this building.  

Our guide then led us to the Political Square where David originally stood but has been replaced by a replica. There are a number of other statues in this square including a large fountain and a significant number under a covered arch way.   The last stop on this tour was to a leather shop. Apparently there were a number of people who were interested in buying real Italian leather. We were told that we were going to watch a leather making demonstration. Some dude rolled a wee bit of guilded gold onto a leather garbage can and that was the extent of the demo. Then it was off to a sales pitch by the owner who let us know the fabulous deals we could get from him and only him. Once the pitch was over, Sage and I hightailed out the doors and back on to the streets of Florence.  

Sage and I had free time for the rest of that day. We wandered along the Arno river and stuck to the side where the dun was shining. Along the river, we saw Ponto Vecchio, which is a bridge over the river that is covered with shops selling gold and leather. Originally, many other markets existed on the bridge but a leader put a stop to that as butchers were throwing their waste into the river causing an unholy stench.  

As we left the river, we walked down a shopping street where high priced, well known retailers were located. We window shopped here. We also stopped to look around some independent stores that were a more reasonable price point. Sage had seen Brandy Melville, an American store that she likes, on our bus ride into town in the morning. We hunted this store down on foot and Sage did some shopping.  

In the centre of Florence, we found a lovely pizza restaurant where we stopped for a couple of slices. We then walked along the main road to find our gelato for the day. Sage had lemon and I had coffee. A slight pattern had developed in our eating habits in Italy!  

We made our way back to the hotel on foot by around 3. We had spent the day walking and were ready for a rest. Since we did not have wifi in our room, we hung out in the lobby for a bit catching up on our social media.  

After our rest, we headed down the street for a coffee and a fanta. Dinner was salad and fruit in the hotel via Room Service.  

Tomorrow off to Pompeii and then Sorrento for, unbelievabley, the last two nights of our Italian adventure.

Pisa

On Thursday we made a stop at Pisa on our way to Florence. As tourist buses are not able to get too close to the tower, our coach dropped us off at a parking lot and we boarded a mini "train" that took us the rest of the way to the famous landmark.  

We walked through a market that was basically selling all sorts of souvieners that no one really needs, passed through the gates of the impressive wall and came upon The Bapistry, the church and the imfamous Leaning Tower of Pisa.  

Sage and I worked on taking the obligitory pictures of us pushing the tower or holding the tower up as so many other toursists were doing.  

The buildings were beautiful and impressive but the town, not so much. Once we were away from the tourist site, the town really seemed to die. It was not a place full of life. Even trying to find lunch that day was a bit of a challenge. Places seemed decrepit or unappealing. We did eventually find a place where we were able to have - wait - you guessed it - pizza and gelato (Puffo Smurf for Sage and Coffee for me).  

And that was about the extend of the visit to Pisa. It is possible to climb the tower (for a price that I did not care to pay). I did find the information about the tower to be very interesting and I am glad that I visited this famous place.  

After this short stop, we were back on the bus and heading to Florence for the next two nights.

PS I wanted to call this post Pisa Crap.

Venice is Sinking

Sage and I arrived in Venice on Tuesday afternoon. There is a limit to the distance that the bus is allowed to travel and so we had to complete the rest of the journey to the hotel by water taxi. The water taxis can hold between 10 and 12 people so our group divided into three taxis and headed out.  

Venice. What a captivating place. Our water taxi snaked its way through the canals of the city. Sometimes, our driver had to adjust his speed and switch from reverse to forward in order to successfully navigate the tight corners created by the irregular building angles of the canals.  

We arrived at our hotel by docking along side the entry way. Our boat was tied to the tall red and white striped pillars that are located everywhere docking is acceptable. We checked in to our beautiful room, got settled and enjoyed a bit of a rest.  

St. Mark's Square is located at the centre of Venice. All walkways and canals will eventually lead to St. Mark's Square so, although the walkways may seem like a labyrith where a newcomer can easily get lost, there is a simple way to get reoriented, that is follow the signs to St. Mark's Square and start over again.  

Our tour guide led us down a few walkways to the square. St. Mark's Square includes the Basilica, the doge's palace, a beautiful clock tower, a couple of pillars where criminals were previous hanged, and a brick bell tower called Campanile.  Liz lead us to a dock where we were to meet our gondalos. Dividing our group into smaller, acceptable numbers for the ride through the canals was a bit of a challenge but it was eventually accomplished. Sage and I joined another gentleman and enjoyed a very peaceful paddle through the canals of Venice. Gondala drivers, all dressed in navy and white striped shirts, will use any wall or other boat in order to help push them through the canals. Our ride was comfortable and smooth and relatively quiet. One of the gondalas ahead of us had an accordian player and a singer for our group as we journeyed. We were able to look around at the interesting buildings with laundry hanging across the canals and flower pots outside of the windows.  

As our ride conluded, we hopped off our gondalas and hopped on to a water taxi. Liz guided us through our journey on the infamous Grand Canal.  

Sage and I had to make our daily gelato visit. This time, Sage and I both choose chocolate mint. Delicious.    

That evening, we enjoyed a dinner of lasagna, vegetables, pork, and a delicious caramel dessert at our hotel.  

Wednesday morning was the first time that we had where we could sleep in a bit. So Sage and I opted for a leisurely wake up. Breakfast was served until 10:30 so there was no rush at all. After breakfast we took the short walk back to St. Mark's Square. From there we chose to walk along the waterfront. It was a beautiful morning. We crossed over many bridges that span the many canals of this city. Vendors were just beginning to open up their waterside cafes and stalls and the Gondoliers were begining their services also. Sage and I stopped to admire the scene and awed at the fact that we were in Venice!  

We returned to St. Mark's Square along the waterfront and headed over to the Bell Tower or Campanile. The construction for this tower began in the 9th century and was used as a place of punishment. In 1902, the tower collapsed but the largest bell survived. The current tower was reconstructed and opened in 1912. We were able to take an elevator to the top of the tower. The reward for the journey up was the spectacular view. We were able to walk the four sides of the tower and look out beyond Venice to other islands and back on the roof tops of the buildings in Venice. It looked like a sea of red roof tiles. Interestingly, we could not see any of the canals from the top of the bell tower.  

Back on firm ground, we walked through St. Mark's Square, doing our best to dodge the pigeons. Naturally, at this point, it was time for gelato. I chose caramel and Sage chose chocolate chip. Once again, delicious.  

We met up with the rest of the tour group around noon and boarded a water taxi for at short ride to a glass factory. Murano glass is world famous. We watched a glass blowing demonstration. This was fascinating to watch. The gentleman expertly shaped the glass into a vase with two handles. After applause, he casually tossed his creation back into the kiln! The next object he created was a horse. It was so amazing to see a horse created out of a blob of glass. The glass makers train for years in order to be able to perfect this art. He made it look easy.  

This visit was a bit of a sales pitch also. We were taken into the glass factory. The guide showed us some of the spectacular glass work that had been manufactured in the factory and then left us with time to shop and browse. Sage and I hightailed it outside to enjoy the sun and avoid any mishap.  

The next part of our journey was to the island of Burano. This was about a 40 minute boat ride away. The water taxis are not permitted to travel at speeds greater than 7km/h when they are close to land but can speed up to a maximum of 20km/h farther from land. So, although the distance wasn't great, it did take a bit of time. We were heading to this island for a late lunch. Arriving there, we were greeted with multicoloured home, that reminded me of the homes in Newfoundland. Our guide told a familiar tale that the homes and the boats matched in colour so that the fishermen could find their way home.  

Arriving on the island, the first thing that I noticed besides the colourful homes, was the peace. There is no traffic. Of course there are canals that snake through this island community also but there are not cars, scooters, buses, and the like. This is a walking community. And it is beautiful. The island of Burano is also known for their lace makers so there were many shops that sold Burano lace.  

We arrived at the restaurant and were escorted to a room for our group. We were given wine to drink and then the food started to arrive. As we were on an island, many of the dishes were fish and seafood. We had toast and pate, risoto with seafood, pasta with zuchinni and shrimp, salad, and deep fried seafood - which I tried but I always think that the deep fry spoils the taste of the seafood. Sage has been accomodated for the entire trip with regard to the food that she eats. For dessert there was fruit and S cookies that we were told needed to be dipped in the wine. Finally, the server came around with espresso and a choice of Zambucca, Ameretto, or Limoncello. Needless to say, the journey back to Venice was a bit louder and friendlier than our outboard journey.  

We returned to Venice and Sage had to stop for another gelato! We did a bit of window shopping and a wee bit of actual shopping then returned to our room full and exhausted.  

The next morning after breakfast, we hopped on our water taxi and headed back to meet the coach on the mainland. That was it for Venice. We were now on our way to Pisa for a short visit and then on to Florence for the next two nights.

Assisi - The Home of Peace

So, we left Rome after lunch and drove a few hours north to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis and St. Clare. Assisi is located on the side of a mountain. It is a beautifully picturesque site  as we were driving up towards it.  

Assisi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to meeting a variety of criteria including being the birthplace of the Franciscan Order, containing the Basilica of San Francesco (for its art and architechture), and representing a medieval city-sanctuary. Much of the city seems to still be back in medieval times. It has a look of an old place in the modern age.  

Assisi has a long history dating back to 1000 BC. We started our tour of this town with our town guide Giuseppe, a resident of Assisi. Giuseppe was a humourous and informative guide. He led us over cobbled and winding and hilly streets, through three separate gates of the walled town and told us we would be taking a walk through history. Each time we walked through a gate, we were walking back in time. We walked through the 13Th, 12Th, and 11Th century.  

We walked past St. Chiara, a church named after Clare, who was so moved by Francis's message that she founded the Order of Poor Ladies. Nuns live and pray still in this nunnery. As we continued along, we were treated to a rare inside look into a small chapel. Giuseppe told us that the chapel was rarely open but that since it was we could respectfully peak our heads in as long as we did not disturb the nuns at prayer.  

Many buildings along the street have flower baskets hanging from the windows. We saw potted cyclamens hanging all the way up one wall. The effect is very striking. There were a number of little stores, shops, and cafes that we past as we continued on our journey. A few bake shops caught our attention. In the bake shop windows we saw the largest meringues in a variety of different colours. We also saw some very delicious baked goods. A bakery was not on the list of stops with our guide. Sage and I left the beaten path for a quick purchase of The Most Delicious Piece of Food Ever Baked and Eaten. We are pretty sure that what we enjoyed was a cannoli - tubular pastry filled with cream and topped with chocolate. It was devine. As soon as we had purchased it we flew out the store and joined our group once again further along the tour. I have been dreaming about that cannoli since we ate it.  

The major stop along this tour was to The Basilica of San Francesco. This church, which is actually two churches, was built and decorated in the 1200s and named after St. Francis (1181-1226). We learned that Francis had had a fortunate childhood, was well educated, and live a fairly enjoyable life. He had a spiritual awakening which resulted in him giving up all his possessions. There is an upper and a lower church. The lower church houses the tomb of St. Francis. We were able to walk through both the upper church and the lower church. Giuseppe told us that we could not judge the art work and paintings on the walls of The Basilica with the eyes of those who had just seen The Sistine Chapel. The art was less percise but still beautiful. Especially noteworthy was the variety of geometric patterns painted on the arches and columns running up the walls and across the ceiling.  

There were two major things that I especially loved about our visit to Assisi. The first was the story that Giuseppe told us about the space between the upper and lower church. There is space between there that is not tall enough for a person to stand in but definitely large enough for people to use as a hiding place when needed. That time was during World War II. The residence of Assisi hid the entire Jewish population of 300 during WWII in the space between these two churches. A gentleman in the town who happened to be a print maker suggested that the Jews burn their identification and created new papers for them. He advised them that, if asked, they should show these false papers. Nazis, hunting for Jews, searched Assisi and even searched the Basilica but did not discover those in hiding. Apparently, one Nazi was praying the Basilica and discovered the hiding place but did not report it. As a result of these acts, not one Jewish person from Assisi was found, rounded up, or perished during WWII. Recently, the stone work outside of the Basilica has been changes. Stone from Isreal was given to the town as a recognition of the protection provided for those 300 Jews during the war. The courtyard of the Basilica is now patterned in a striped fashion, some darker rectangular stones, alternated by some lighter rectangular stones, those are the ones gifted from Isreal. It is a moving and fitting tribute.  

The second thing that I will take away from my visit to Assisi is the words that Giuseppe said to our group that actually, for me, embody the heart of the previous story. Those words were: "Peace and respect, not tolerance." Now Giuseppe stated those words in relation to the fact that he felt that, as human beings, we should not be simply be tolerating one another. He noted that we can tolerate a stone in our shoe. Instead, we should be offering peace and respect to all people, no matter their religion, belief, culture, or way of life. Giuseppe told us that Pope John Paul II had invited leaders of all religions to Assisi to pray together in the Basilica for peace. Many people came and a tradition began that now brings religious leaders to Assisi to pray together.  

These are the truly great lessons learned while travelling.  

After our visit to the Basilica it was time to hop back on the bus and make our way to the hotel for the evening. We stayed in Assisi for just the one night. Our evening consisted of a Celebration which included drinks and some appetizers and then a buffet dinner in the dining area.  

Sage and I were tired after a long day of travel.  

We headed to bed as we know that we had an early start the next morning as we would be making the long drive to Venice.

All Roads Lead to Rome

Sage and I started our epic Italian adventure with two flights on British Airways from Toronto to London and then London to Rome. The red eye flights are aptly named. Thankfully Sage got quite a few hours of sleep on both flights.  

When we arrived in Rome, we had a couple of hours to spare before we needed to meet our shuttle to our hotel. It was very fortunate that we had these couple of hours as the passport check at security was the most disorganized procedure I have ever encountered. There was no line up. There were hundreds of people and at the most, only 5 security guards open (sometimes down to 3 guards only). Apparently, the folks who were waiting with us had never heard of a line up before. We were like sheep in a fenced in area. We were hot, sweaty, and I increasingly became more frustrated. People were so rude, pushing and shoving. If we did not participate in the pushing and shoving, we would still be there now. Once we did, eventually get through security - which was the easiest security I have ever been through, stamp the passport, no questions, move on - we found our luggage and moved to find our shuttle. Sage found them for us and we had a bit of time to spare.  

We met our coach driver who took us to the city. It was a 40 minute drive to the hotel. This drive lasted a wee bit longer as there was a political protest happening on that day and it was blocking a lot of major routes. The police had surrounded the area where our hotel was located. Eventually, our guide, Liz met us down the street from the hotel and we walked up to check in. Liz is a Scottish woman who has been living in Italy for 30 years.  

Sage and I settled in our room and took a wee break before we were to head out to dinner. The bus took us to the restaurant which was located directly across the street from The Colosseum. Liz welcomed us and provided us with some information about the upcoming days. Sage and I chose to participate in the first three optional excursions, which I will explain later.  

Dinner consisted of wine, cheese, bread, salad, lasagna, and a couple of tasty desserts. I also tried an esspresso, first without sugar, then with a wee bit of sugar, then with a lot of sugar. In the end, I did not finish the esspresso and have satisfied my curiousity about tasting espresso and have learned that I am happy with coffee.  

Our first optional excursion took place on Saturday evening after dinner. We were taken by our coach for an Illuminated Tour of the City of Rome. This tour lasted about one hour and Liz pointed out some of the sites. We stopped at St. Peter's Church and Sage and I were able to get off of the coach and snap a couple of pictures of St. Peter's lit up at night.   As you may have guessed, by the end of the tour, we were both exhausted. We collapsed into bed by 11 and slept the sleep of a satisfied tourist.  

Sunday was a full day in Rome. We started off with a huge buffet breakfast at the hotel. Our group was to meet at 8 on the coach. At this time, we met Eleana, our tour guide for our time in Rome. Our first stop was a group photo at The Arch of Constantine which is located next to The Colosseum.  

As we were traveling with a group, we were able to by pass the line ups into The Colosseum, which was great as the lines were forming already. Eleana guided us for a bit then let us have about a half hour on our own to explore. The Colosseum is a very impressive structure. Parts of the structure are being revitalized and have scaffolding covering them. Fortunately, we were still able to view and take unobstructed pictures of the colosseum from different points around it.  

We were able to climb stairs up to the second level and view the entire stadium from that vantage point. Looking down to where the stage would have been we were able to see the underground rooms where gladiators and animals would have been held until it was their turn to preform. The floor of the stage area is missing completely but there is a partially rebuild stage to show what it would have been like in its prime.  

The seating areas for the guests of the events are all missing now. Originally they would have been made of marble but all of the material has been recycles and reused in other structures around Rome. In rainy weather, the Colosseum may have been covered by a large tarpauline in order to avoid getting wet. On rare occasions, the Colosseum would have been flooded and sea battles recreated for the benefit of the guests.    

The next part of our day was an optional excursion entitled Piazzas and Fountains. As the name describes, we saw a lot of piazzas and fountains. On the way, we passed by The Circus and the ruins of the Emperor's Palace. Neither of these areas are lighted up at night time. Our excursion included a walk around Rome. We visited the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain (which was also under restoration and therefore dry), and the Partheon. Along the way, Eleana pointed out a variety of other buildings such as the Palace of Justice and the Senate.  

The Partheon was a surprise for me. The outside was impressive but the inside was unbelievable. I was especially interested in the intentional hole in the ceiling. Eleana explained that as the sun shone through the hole it cast its light on to different parts of the ceiling throughout different times of the year. It was visible to us this day as it was sunny out. Also of interest was the fact that the Partheon has precisely the same diameter as height.  

Part way through this excursion, we had a hour break for lunch. Sage and I found a pizza and gelato place so we ate pizza and gelato. I enjoyed the coffee flavour and Sage enjoyed the banana flavour. We strolled around the streets as we enjoyed my first taste of gelato (not Sage's first taste of gelato).  

The next optional excursion that we joined in was a trip to the Catacombs. We journeyed underground to an elaborate labyrinth of tombs. Where the public is able to venture, all of the tombs have been opened up and the bones removed to a different section. Our guide explained to us that the Catacombs were designed to bury people underground in this manner because Rome was full and there was not space for burial elsewhere. Relatives would visit the dead once a year as a sign of respect and leave a small oil lamp at the site of the burial. It is unimaginable to me that people would spend so much time underground digging these maze like tunnels.  

On our way to St. Paul's church, we passed by the ruins of an ancient bath. Impressive in size, we were told that it could accomodate 1500 people at a time. Eleana wanted to show this church to us as a contrast to St. Peter's church. St. Paul's church is surrounded by a large pillared garden. Inside, the church also housed a lot of pillars. The ceiling was impressively squared off and golden. Around the top edge of the walls were the portriats of every pope starting with Peter and ending with Francis.  

It was time for us to head back to our hotel. We now had free time and it was about 5:30. Sage and I wanted to head back to the Colosseum to take pictures of it lighted up at night. Our hotel was two streets away from the Colosseum so it was a really short walk. After that, we decided to grab some dinner. What better to eat than pizza. We took this back to our room, ate, and got ready for sleep. We both marvelled at what people are able to accomplish in one day!  

We had a very early wake up call on Monday morning. All of the tourists needed to be on the bus by 7:30 packed up, checked out, and ready to leave. We were heading to The Vatican Musuem, The Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's.   As we toured through the muesum, Eleana provided us with ongoing dialouge about artifacts that we were seeing. There were such things as bronze items, tapestries, and black pottery. We were also led up a spiral walkway that allowed for exceptional views of Rome from on high.  

Finally, the Sistine Chapel. Before we entered, Eleana provided us with some overview of the history of the Michelangelo, the chapel, and some of the paintings. It was interesting to find out that Michelangelo worked on the chapel at two different times in his life. The ceiling was painted over four years when he was in his twenties. The wall was completed about 30 years laters. To me, it was amazing to see how three dimentional these paintings appeared. From the human beings to the painting of drapery on the side walls, the illusion of dimension is very convincing.  

The last part of the tour in Rome was visiting St. Peter's church. This church is huge, ornate, and beautiful. We were able to see The Pieta which was just beautiful. As well, we walked around and saw a number of different dead popes on display, and beautiful mosaics that you would thing are actually paintings and can't believe are mosaics. The pillars in St. Peter's Square are lined up in a curve along either side of the church representing a welcoming of all visitors to the church.   As we walked through this welcoming area, we were actually concluding our visit to Rome. We ended with some lunch and a gelato (coffe for me and pistachio for Sage) and hopped on the bus heading north to Assisi.  

It seems like everywhere that we turned in Rome there was something impressive to see. It is a marvel to be able to look upon all of the sculptures, paintings, and buildings and think about all of the effort that has gone in to these creations.

*I hope that I have not overused to word impressive!