Happy New Year! We were so fortunate to be able to take a side trip Rome, Italy, for six days this week. We had not been to Rome for .... many, many years. The adventure started early Monday morning getting to the Ben Gurion Tel Aviv airport by high speed train from Jerusalem. The train only takes 20 minutes but it took about 30 minutes just to be driven to the train station and to wind our way down, down, down the long escalators to the tracks deep underground. The airport wasn't much fun either as we had to take a 20-minute bus from the train to another terminal and go through five checkpoints to actually get to the departure gate. We did end up making it to the gate with time to spare, but not much. Luckily the flight to Rome was uneventful and we found the Fiumicino Rome airport to be modern and lovely. We grabbed a cab to the hotel which was located one block from Trevi Fountain. Location, location, location! We were not alone there. But we were in Italy and ready to have pasta and gelato! So we did. We had pasta, pizza, and gelato every day and never tired of it. Jim finally found his favorite (and best) pasta puttanesca at our "last supper." The people were delightful, the weather was cool but comfortable, and we ended up walking about 35 miles over the six days. We saw most of the traditional spots you have to see in Rome and uncovered a few not so famous places. Traveling with a church organist, we saw many, many churches, as you can well imagine. Sadly, Jim never got to play any organ in Rome. We were lucky to have our own Italian guide (an LDS friend) who drove us to the Rome Italy Temple one evening. Definitely a highlight.
In case you wondered what we did see and do, here are a few of our favorites:
Churches:
San Luici de Francesi, Church of San Eustachio, Church of St. Agnes in Agone, Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Church of St. Mary Maggiore (also known as Church of Bethlehem West with relic of the manger of Bethlehem), St. Peter's Basilica, Church of San Giovanni in Laterano with its monumental statues of the 12 apostles, Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs, Church of Santa Maria deli Angeli e dei Martiri, and several more
Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona and the 4 Rivers statue, Campo de Fiori (fruit and vegetable market), Piazza Argentina, Piazza del Campidoglio on Capitoline Hill (designed by Michelangelo), Piazza Venezia, Altare della Patria (tribute to Vittorio Emanuele), Trajan’s column, the Forum, Vatican City, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, body of Pope Benedict lying in state in St. Peter's, Colosseum, Piazza della Repubblica, LDS Rome Italy Temple, Piazza de Spagna and the Spanish steps, Villa Medici, Borghese gardens and art gallery, Piazza del Popolo, Via del Corso, Bocca della Verita (the Mouth of Truth), Tiber River, Ponte Fabricio, Teatro Marcello, sculpture of Romulus and Remus and the she-wolf
Linguine with clams, Puttanesca, Carbonara, Ragu Italiana, Amatriciana, Gnocchi Bolognese, Ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta in sage butter, Caprese salad, fried Zucca (zucchini flower, mozzarella, anchovies), bruschetta, Margherita pizza, tuna pizza, vegetarian/eggplant pizza
Vaniglia, chocolate with nuts, Kit Kat, pistachio, melon, passion fruit, raspberry, dark chocolate, mint chocolate
Pictures--we took 497 of them. We won't post them all here (we value your friendship too much!). Here is a link so you can peruse at your leisure:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/
And now the winter semester begins. We will meet 100 new students on Wednesday. We are looking forward to meeting them!
It always feels as if I am on a virtual vacation to these wonderful photos you share! Thanks so much! OUR good news is that Nicholas is back for awhile and is willing to play organ in the ward. We are thrilled!
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