I'm good, he's bad.
He's bad.
He's good.
He's bad.
He's bad.
Today was our Rome tour. It was so warm today we wore short sleeves! It was SO nice to be warm! Rosella, our guide for the day, was an older Italian woman. After she told us how old she was and I did the math in my head, I asked her if she remembered anything about World War II. She said she was 5 when the war ended and she remembers walking with her mother at the market, seeing American soldiers who exclaimed over the bambina. Then they gave her chocolate, her very first taste ever. Isn't that a sweet story? We had a great time listening to Lorenzo and Rosella talk to each other in Italian. And when Rosella talked to us everything ended with an "a". Love it.
Our first stop was to the church that was made famous by the movie, Roman Holiday. There is a huge medalllion shaped relief shaped like a face. If you put your hand in it and it bites you you are a liar. It didn't bite us.
We went to the Roman Forum and saw where Julius Ceasar's ashes are buried. (it didn't even have a marker, we never would have known without Rosella). Then we walked into the Roman Colesseum. Wow. It was so incredible. I could have spent all day there just looking. We went to the top and imagined watching the gladiators. The Colesseum held 50,000 people and could be emptied in 25 minutes because there were 89 exits.
Next we went near to the Belgium Embassy to a garden door where you can look through a keyhole and see a perfect scene of a long garden walk with the dome of St. Peter's right at the end. Very wonderful.
Then we went to the Pantheon which used to be a pagen temple but it now a church with a huge dome. It's the mother of all domes, first one ever. There is an open hole at the top to let light in but since that lets rain in there are also small holes in the floor to act as a drain into the Tiber River. We ate at this square, too, at another open air resoranti and Sullivan finally got some real Italian spaghetti and meatballs. Ellie ordered grilled cheese and got just that: a big slab of grilled cheese. She used her famous line, "I don't lub it." She hasn't lubbed several things on this trip. At this resturant she asked if they had chicken fingers. Poor American girlie. Our waitress looked just like Aunt Monique! We also went to Giolittis, supposedly the best ice cream in Rome. Mama mia was it good. We had caramel, lemoncello, vanilla, chocolate and kiwi. The servers had old fashioned-looking white jackets on with gold loops on their shoulders.
We made our way then to Trevi Fountain where we all threw pennies in over our shoulder. Legend has it that if you do this (back to the fountain, penny in right hand, throw over left shoulder) you will one day return to Rome.
Our last stop was the Spanish steps, another Roman Holiday spot. I got my picture taken in, or near, the same place Audrey Hepburn sat eating her gelato.
There are so many HUGE ruins here. Everything is old and grand. We learned that most of the marble from the Roman Forum and Colesseum was taken and used in the Vatican or in the churches. Rosella thought that was sad because it destroyed the temples and monuments but I think it's all right because pagen things were turned into a worship place for the Lord.
Another thing Rosella did: she sneezed several times and Craig and I said, "Bless you!" and she said, "Bless you, too!" :)
Tomorrow for the first time it's supposed to rain on our day. We are going to the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Bascila so I don't thing it will matter. Arrivederci!
Praying for Beverly!
Praying for Ivy and Co.!
Our first stop was to the church that was made famous by the movie, Roman Holiday. There is a huge medalllion shaped relief shaped like a face. If you put your hand in it and it bites you you are a liar. It didn't bite us.
We went to the Roman Forum and saw where Julius Ceasar's ashes are buried. (it didn't even have a marker, we never would have known without Rosella). Then we walked into the Roman Colesseum. Wow. It was so incredible. I could have spent all day there just looking. We went to the top and imagined watching the gladiators. The Colesseum held 50,000 people and could be emptied in 25 minutes because there were 89 exits.
Next we went near to the Belgium Embassy to a garden door where you can look through a keyhole and see a perfect scene of a long garden walk with the dome of St. Peter's right at the end. Very wonderful.
Then we went to the Pantheon which used to be a pagen temple but it now a church with a huge dome. It's the mother of all domes, first one ever. There is an open hole at the top to let light in but since that lets rain in there are also small holes in the floor to act as a drain into the Tiber River. We ate at this square, too, at another open air resoranti and Sullivan finally got some real Italian spaghetti and meatballs. Ellie ordered grilled cheese and got just that: a big slab of grilled cheese. She used her famous line, "I don't lub it." She hasn't lubbed several things on this trip. At this resturant she asked if they had chicken fingers. Poor American girlie. Our waitress looked just like Aunt Monique! We also went to Giolittis, supposedly the best ice cream in Rome. Mama mia was it good. We had caramel, lemoncello, vanilla, chocolate and kiwi. The servers had old fashioned-looking white jackets on with gold loops on their shoulders.
We made our way then to Trevi Fountain where we all threw pennies in over our shoulder. Legend has it that if you do this (back to the fountain, penny in right hand, throw over left shoulder) you will one day return to Rome.
Our last stop was the Spanish steps, another Roman Holiday spot. I got my picture taken in, or near, the same place Audrey Hepburn sat eating her gelato.
There are so many HUGE ruins here. Everything is old and grand. We learned that most of the marble from the Roman Forum and Colesseum was taken and used in the Vatican or in the churches. Rosella thought that was sad because it destroyed the temples and monuments but I think it's all right because pagen things were turned into a worship place for the Lord.
Another thing Rosella did: she sneezed several times and Craig and I said, "Bless you!" and she said, "Bless you, too!" :)
Tomorrow for the first time it's supposed to rain on our day. We are going to the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Bascila so I don't thing it will matter. Arrivederci!
Praying for Beverly!
Praying for Ivy and Co.!
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