ROME
We arrived in Rome at about noon and drove straight to Vatican City. After a quick lunch from a food truck, we entered the humongous Vatican Museum. The lines were almost as large. Another real benefit of being part of a Europe Through the Back Door tour was that Donald had purchased tickets for the museums we visited beforehand. As a result, we were able to walk to the head of all of the lines we encountered and go right in. There were so many things to see and so little time, this was a huge advantage, saved enormous time, and allowed us to see a great deal more than we would have been able to on our own.
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The Vatican Museum has the most comprehensive collection of Western Art in the world, covering everything from Greek statues to contemporary art.
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After touring St. Peter's, we were on our own to explore Rome. We went to the Trevi Fountain and then had dinner at another restaurant recommended by Rick Steves' guidebook, Sacro e Profano, a deconsecrated church, where we ate in what had been the choir loft. Molly was particularly adventurous and ordered pasta cooked in squid ink, which Donald told us was a local speciality. For the record, Molly thought it was very good, although it did turn her tongue black for a little while! After dinner, we walked to the Spanish Steps before we returned to our hotel.
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We began our last full day in Europe with a tour led by a Roman guide of the Colosseum, to the Forum, past the Victor Emmanuel II Monument, and finally to the Pantheon
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Ancient Rome declined because it had a Senate; now what's going to happen to us with both a Senate and a House? Will Rogers
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The Pantheon is the only intact building from ancient Rome. It wasn't vandalized, unlike the pagan Roman sites, because it was converted into a Christian church very shortly after Constantine made it the official religion of the Empire.
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In the evening Donald led us to our farewell dinner at a restaurant housed in the site of Pompey's Theater, which was where the Roman Senate was meeting on the Ides of March, 44 BC, when Julius Caesar was assassinated.
Our last meal together. Donald had, again, arranged for us to have a local musician play for us as we talked and ate. It all made for a very special evening.
After dinner, Donald took us to two beautiful Roman plazas, the Piazza Navona and the Campo de Fiori, where we saw the statue of Giordano Bruno, and then took a final look at the Pantheon. This was one of the very best experiences of the trip. Both places were filled with Romans socializing, eating at outside cafes, and just enjoying life. The buildings around both plazas were gorgeous, and they were filled with statues and fountains designed by some of the greatest artists in history. Seeing so many people together sharing a beautiful public space seemed to bring the tour full circle from our first night in Paris when we saw thousands of Parisians picnicking, kicking soccer balls, and just enjoying life on the Champs de Mars below the Eiffel Tower. And we would have never even known about either place had it not been for Donald taking us there.
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When it was time to make our way back to our hotel, Donald told us which city bus we needed to take. Even at 11 pm, the buses were packed, but we were able to squeeze into one. Our driver then seemed to realize he was way behind schedule because he was moving through the streets of Rome as if he was in a race. We were all thrown left, right, up, down, and against family, friends, and strangers. It was a wild ride and our group burst out in uncontrollable laughter, which the other folks on the bus just could not figure out. It was another shared experience which had made us friends.
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