First Day in Rome

What a difference a good night's sleep can make!
Linda and I rose to a warm and sunny Roman day ready for a great adventure. The hotel was nice and quiet and the morning breakfast was very nice.

Our modern bus arrived right on time along with Mauro our guide. By 9:00 A.m. we were onboard for a trip through downtown Rome at rush hour. Talk about a lot of smart cars and motorbikes, the bus seemed like an elephant surrounded by fleas. Passing by many antiquities we learned that of the many church's in Rome 35 are all dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

The line of folks waiting to get into the museum was enormous but Mauro already had our tickets to go in so we bypassed the throngs and went directly into the Vatican Museum. We had portable listening systems so we could hear Mauro's narrative even in he midst of the crowds in the museum. The art was dazzling and amazing and the history and legends were enthralling. The was the third time we'd seen the Sistine Chapel and Michelangelo's greatest work, and it was just as impressive as one of the greatest masterworks in history can be.

At the end of the morning tour of the Vatican museum, 14 of our group went on a special "Underground Tour" of the necropolis underneath St. Peter's Basilica. Our tour was led by a young seminarian student student from England who was here in Italy in his fiifth year of studying to be a priest. Liem was very knowledgable of the history of the early Christian church in Rome and for more than 90 minutes we learned about the history of early Christianity and how Peter was crucified upside down during Nero's persecution of the Christians. We actually went far beneath the current St. Peter's Basilica to see the necropolis from pre-Christian times and where Constantine build the first memorial to St Peter's remains. Everyone was fascinated by the stories about whether or not the bones taht were found were actually those of St. Peter. We do know for sure whether St. Peter's bones were the one's found in 1968 but for sure there were the bones of a mouse found with the human bones. This special tour was set up 10 months ago via the internet and worked like a charm. I even got to speak with one of the colorful Swiss Guards to get our group onto the tour.

Stopping for a gelati outside of St. Peter's Plaza, about 10 of us decided to test Rome's Metro subway, and we rode from the Vatican back to the area close to our hotel known as the Vittoria Emmanuel station. While crowded it only cost 1 Euro per person and was a good deal for a speedy return to our hotel.

Tonight all 28 have arrived in Rome with the last two making it today. We are going out to a local Pizza and Pasta joint for dinner.
Tomorrow we head to Civitivecchia to board the Pacific Princess for our cruise. Check out some of the great pictures.

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