We spent the last week vacationing in Rome. We decided that instead of trying to visit lots of different towns that we would spend the entire week in Rome. It was very interesting to see what had changed since we last visited over 20 years ago - back when Italy stilled used the lira - which included several new museums and a lot of restoration to various ruins around the city. But, to summarize our trip for those that don't enjoy these long missives and don't want to spend four hours looking at hundreds of photos it was: ruin, ruin, ruin, church, pasta, wine, ruin, church, ruin, ruin, pasta, wine, ruin, ruin, ruin, church, church, ruin.
Now for those liking a bit more information - we tried hard to only go to sites we hadn't visited before. Fortunately, with a city like Rome with all their different sites from antiquity along with various museums it wasn't very hard to fill our days. We had also set up a few guided tours - to see some of the rooms at the Vatican that aren't on the usual tour, Tivoli gardens, and a few of the underground ruins beneath churches. We had almost perfect weather for the entire week, with only one day threatening rain that never came.
The highlight of the trip was probably attending a church service in the Pantheon where Jo got to do the responsorial reading - we were just sitting there waiting for the service to start and we were asked if we would be willing to do the reading (fortunately in English). Since I didn't want to be personally responsible for lightening bolts striking the Pantheon, Jo volunteered to do it. The other cool thing was that they exit all the tourists from the Pantheon for the service so that after it was finished we had the Pantheon to ourselves for about ten minutes before the crowds all came rushing back in. We also tried to go into every church we passed which in Rome is a really nutty goal since there seems to be two or three on every block. Either way, there are an amazing number of absolutely spectacular churches in Rome and we did manage to hit the big four so Jo should have piled up a few indulgences (although I'm not sure if you talk about them you don't get them - like birthday wishes - we Lutherans don't get schooled in indulgence protocols).
We also braved the Italian train system and took a train out to Castel Gandolfo for the day. After an interesting visit to the Castel which included a tour of the pope's apartment we spent the day picnicking by the shores of Lake Albano. I learned a lot about the popes from about the 16th century onward, including the few that lasted only a few days or months in office. Also, got a good appreciation for why Lutheranism came about - not all the popes were that focused on the religious side of their job. But they did build some wonderful palaces and accumulate a lot of really nice artwork and sculptures.
There was also a fair amount of time spent reading and looking at the ancient Roman ruins/buildings. I'm always amazed at the beautiful sculptures and buildings that were built 2,000 years ago without the aid of power tools or hydraulic equipment. I could go on and on, but just suffice it to say we had a great week off, ate some really phenomenal spaghetti and pizza dinners, had way too much delicious gellato, and came back rested, but heavier. Oh yeah, also with over 400 pictures which we'll make you watch next time you visit.
We spent the last week vacationing in Rome. We decided that instead of trying to visit lots of different towns that we would spend the entire week in Rome. It was very interesting to see what had changed since we last visited over 20 years ago - back when Italy stilled used the lira - which included several new museums and a lot of restoration to various ruins around the city. But, to summarize our trip for those that don't enjoy these long missives and don't want to spend four hours looking at hundreds of photos it was: ruin, ruin, ruin, church, pasta, wine, ruin, church, ruin, ruin, pasta, wine, ruin, ruin, ruin, church, church, ruin.
Now for those liking a bit more information - we tried hard to only go to sites we hadn't visited before. Fortunately, with a city like Rome with all their different sites from antiquity along with various museums it wasn't very hard to fill our days. We had also set up a few guided tours - to see some of the rooms at the Vatican that aren't on the usual tour, Tivoli gardens, and a few of the underground ruins beneath churches. We had almost perfect weather for the entire week, with only one day threatening rain that never came. 
The highlight of the trip was probably attending a church service in the Pantheon where Jo got to do the responsorial reading - we were just sitting there waiting for the service to start and we were asked if we would be willing to do the reading (fortunately in English). Since I didn't want to be personally responsible for lightening bolts striking the Pantheon, Jo volunteered to do it. The other cool thing was that they exit all the tourists from the Pantheon for the service so that after it was finished we had the Pantheon to ourselves for about ten minutes before the crowds all came rushing back in. We also tried to go into every church we passed which in Rome is a really nutty goal since there seems to be two or three on every block. Either way, there are an amazing number of absolutely spectacular churches in Rome and we did manage to hit the big four so Jo should have piled up a few indulgences (although I'm not sure if you talk about them you don't get them - like birthday wishes - we Lutherans don't get schooled in indulgence protocols).
We also braved the Italian train system and took a train out to Castel Gandolfo for the day. After an interesting visit to the Castel which included a tour of the pope's apartment we spent the day picnicking by the shores of Lake Albano. I learned a lot about the popes from about the 16th century onward, including the few that lasted only a few days or months in office. Also, got a good appreciation for why Lutheranism came about - not all the popes were that focused on the religious side of their job. But they did build some wonderful palaces and accumulate a lot of really nice artwork and sculptures.
There was also a fair amount of time spent reading and looking at the ancient Roman ruins/buildings. I'm always amazed at the beautiful sculptures and buildings that were built 2,000 years ago without the aid of power tools or hydraulic equipment. I could go on and on, but just suffice it to say we had a great week off, ate some really phenomenal spaghetti and pizza dinners, had way too much delicious gellato, and came back rested, but heavier. Oh yeah, also with over 400 pictures which we'll make you watch next time you visit.
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