This was a trip of a lifetime with our children and their spouses! We all gathered in Rome (arriving on several different flights) to begin our adventure together.
On our first full day in Rome, we visited the Piazza Navona to see the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (a big fountain representing the four rivers and four continents under control of Rome).
With the help of Rick Steve's(Travel guru) book, Conrad had planned a "Heart of Rome Walk" to see some of the highlights of the city. Of course, The Pantheon was included in this long walk.
This ancient Roman temple is famous for it's unreinforced concrete dome and was completed in 126 AD.
The square in front of the the Pantheon is Piazza dell Rolonda and is a popular gathering place for tourists and locals.
The inside of the Pantheon is now a Catholic Church - originally the Pantheon was a Roman temple dedicated to all gods.
This is a photo was taken looking up into the opening in the dome. This oculus is the main source of natural light inside the structure.
We thought it would be fun to take a selfie of our group with the light from the dome as our background.
If you notice a lot of selfies in this post, it is because Conrad found a red hot deal on a selfie stick from a street vendor and then convinced all of us that we needed selfie sticks too! Conrad is a natural salesman and bargain hunter - so, with the group rate, we did get a great deal!
Checking the map, we continued on our Rick Steve's tour of the city.
The Spanish Steps (named because they are near the Spanish Embassy) was our next stop.
That evening we ate a meal of delicious pasta at a nearby restaurant. It was so good that we returned the next evening for dinner!
Our next day in Rome was rainy! It began to rain the night before and rained for 24 hours straight. We all bought umbrellas and decided that it would be the perfect day to visit museums. Our first stop was Museo dell 'Ara Pacis which featured an ancient Roman altar(9 BC) and sculpted friezes of Rome's first Caesar Augustus and his family and others.
After our visit to the museum, it was time for lunch! There was a Rick Steve's recommended restaurant in the area so we ate lunch there.
Hal and I shared a delicious pizza. There is something about being in Italy that makes you crave pasta and pizza - maybe because it is so yummy there!
Our next stop was the Catacombs of Priscilla - these were situated in what was a stone quarry used for Christian burials from late 2nd century - 4th century AD.
The catacombs were fascinating with hundreds of burial chambers and were on many levels. The walls of some of the chambers paintings of Biblical scenes, saints and early Christian symbols.
The next day we attended church at a nearby branch in Rome. It is always interesting to see how the church operates in foreign countries. We met members and many missionaries that served there. One of the missionaries was a younger brother to an elder that had served with us as one of our assistants on our second mission to Russia. It truly is a small world - especially in the circles of the church!
That day we visited the National Roman Museum which featured an incredible collection of statues, coins, earthenware, frescoes and mosaics.
Of course the statues were in the Greek/Roman style meaning many were in the nude!
We found a restaurant and enjoyed a delicious lunch of ... you guessed it - pasta and pizza!
Waiting for our food
Conrad's motto was "Have 3 gelatos a day or get out of Rome!" We did our best to follow that creed!
For dinner that evening, we found another Italian restaurant and once again dined on pizza and pasta - we also enjoyed Italian bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar!
The next day we visited the Colosseum and the Forum.
Conrad had instructed all of us to download Rick Steve's guided tour of the Colosseum on our phones - so we all listened to that as we made our way around this gigantic concrete and stone structure.
This oval amphitheatre in the center of Rome was completed 80 AD. It could hold up to 80,000 spectators and hosted violent games/matches of gladiators, animals and was the site of executions and curcifixions of Christians and many others.
Views of our group and the Colosseum
After the Colosseum, we walked to the Forum. This rectangular plaza is surrounded by ruins of ancient Roman government buildings, temples, and pathways that were used for processions, elections, public speeches, trials and shops. The Forum is overlooked by Palatine and Capitoline hills and now draws 4.5 million sightseers a year. It was once known as the "most celebrated meeting place in the world".
After a quick lunch, we took two taxi vans for the 1 hour 20 minute ride to Citvitavecchia pier where we boarded our cruise ship!
More to come in Part 2!
