Rome

Well I can honestly say we have probably seen more things this YEAR then most people see in their life. It was really easy getting back to Italy... jet that is (easy jet). We landed in Rome safely and got all of our baggage. Then we took a bus into town to try and find our convent!! For those of you who don't think you read the last word of the last line right it was convent. That's right we were staying in a convent full of nuns who were absolutely delightful. My two favorite sister's name was Wanda, and Mebiola (who was ironically from Romania).

Wanda Walker and Mebiola

We got settled into our very petite rooms, and when I say petite I mean PETITE. I could walk around my room in half a second!!! The first day our friend Anna (you might remember her from Naples) wasn't there so we just did some sight seeing like the Spanish steps and some important roads. Then we went to get some very delicious pizza and went to bed.

The next day we got up and had our bread and hot chocolate (the bread was shaped like a bishops hat), and then went out to see some more sites before our 11 o'clock rendezvous with Anna. We finally did meet up with her back at the convent and started out on our adventure.
Our first stop on the tour was the Colosseum (it's one of those things that I call a Mona Lisa you have to see it when you go just because it's so well known).

Emperor Walker at the Colosseum

The Colosseum was ok (fascinating to hear about it, but would have liked to learn more, we spent more time waiting in line than actually being in there) but I really liked the Palatine Hill where most of the emporer's palaces were. After the palatine hill we made our way down to the forum which was really neat too. It's incredible how much stuff they threw into one place. It was a commercial center, also a religious place, and where the Senate met. This area was literally the center of the Roman Empire.

The Forum

After the Forum we went up to the Capitoline hill where the mayors office is and where the Capitoline Museum is. Since this museum has some of the most famous statues in the world; we had to go in. In this museum there was the Romulus and Remus statue where the she wolf is feeding them.

Romulus, Remus, She wolf, and Dad!!!!

Also, there is the only bronze equestrian statue from the Roman period that survived.

Only equestrian statue from Roman period.

It was actually a very ironic story because when the Christians took over Rome they wanted to get rid of all of the non Christian emperors statues of them on horses. They thought that this statue was emperor Constantine who was the first Christian emperor, but really it was the emperor Augustus, and so we have this statue of Augustus not Constantine. After the Capitoline hill we meandered over to the Pantheon.

The Pantheon

The Pantheon is an absolutely MASSIVE structure that has engineering like I've never seen. I don't even think our society today could pull off such an incredible feat. After the Pantheon we went to see the famous Trajan's column.

Trajan's Column

Packing all of ancient Rome into one day really wore us out so we went back to our corner of Rome got some nourishment and went to bed.

We woke up bright and early the next morning, got our bishop hat bread, went to the train station, and motored on down the rail to Assisi

Self explanatory

You might be wondering why we would make a voyage out of Rome when there is still so much to see, well Assisi is famous for the church of Saint Francis of Assisi.

We spent the day here, but unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside, so you're just going to have to imagine or read about it. It really is one of those places that you have to go see and really hard to explain with words.

Our third day was packed full of things from the Renaissance and Baroque period. So here are some pictures (we mainly went into churches). Most of these will be by Caravaggio (my favorite artist).

Crucifixion of St. Peter

Conversion of St. Paul


Calling of St. Matthew


Saint Matthew writing the Gospel

The Death of St. Matthew

I love these paintings because Caravaggio really brings these paintings to life with the dramatic lighting and realism.

Our final day was at the Vatican, I am glad to say that I have met a new friend and his name is Benedict, we had ice cream.

Me eating Ice cream with Pope "Benny"

Just kidding, we had the choice of getting a private audience with the Pope or seeing some magnificent art. We chose the art.

The dome at St. Peters

Another Caravaggio

An ancient Roman sculpture Michelangelo LOVED this

The Popes window

Swiss Guard

After visiting the Vatican museum we went into the most fabulous church in the world, St. Peters Basilica.

The Dome of St. Peters

Where the Pope stands when giving mass

This is the tomb of a pope, the skeleton holding the hourglass is called a momenta morea meaning death is inevitable.

This is the Popes "chair" descending from hevan.

After being in St. Peters, we got to go up it.

This is from up top.

Daddy and I on top.

Inside the dome

The descending chair from up top

Well this is the end of our great adventure. Till next time when I go back to Italy to ski!!!