Aug. 23-

We have stayed at Meininger Hotel in several European cities so that’s where we ended our trip staying in Rome. They are a hotel/hostel so some rooms have bunk bed dorms or you can get private rooms which is what we did since we were with Dillons. They also have a big European breakfast bar with baked beans, eggs, croissants, yogurt bar, toasts and marmalades, fruit, and meat and cheese.

We left the hotel, into the messy cobblestone streets that were already baking in the sun. We arrived at the Colosseum in time for our 930 guided tour. Most places we go we don’t take guided tours, choosing rather to wander around when we want at our own speed, but last time we were in Rome we went on the guided tour of the Colosseum and it was totally worth it. I actually think you can only go into the Colosseum with a tour but I’m not a hundred percent sure. Maybe you can just go in alone. Anyways, taking an English speaking tour in a different country doesn’t mean you’ll be able to understand the English tour guide. You may in fact only catch a few words here and there that make sense. We started our tour outside the arena and worked our way from the arena floor to the second tier. For those who’ve read the Mark of the Lion books by Francine Rivers, it certainly brings those books to life. Knowing Christians like us died there for Jesus is again, so humbling, and brings a solemn feeling as you stand where they did, looking up to where the crowds waited for them to die.

After we left the Colosseum, we made one of many poor decisions to continue walking around in the sweltering streets. My life flashed before my eyes several times and eventually I quit worrying that it meant I’d die from the heat. A bonus was that because we and everyone else in the city were so sweaty, you could slip through the crowd much easier with virtually no friction. We went next to the Mamertine Prison, the place where Peter and Paul were held before their martyrdom. I believe it’s where Paul wrote 2 Timothy but if you know better let me know because I feel very inadequate when it comes to that kind of information. There is only one cell in the dungeon where many high profile people were held before they died, mainly by execution. Walking where these men walked was impressive to me.

After the prison we walked to another square where the Pantheon is. It is one of Rome’s best preserved buildings, a temple ordered by Hadrian around AD 126, now a Catholic church. Despite being built 2000 years ago, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. It is a beautiful building marred only by the annoying little men in the square trying to sell bouncy toys to parents whose kids have turned feral after hours in the sun. After admiring the building for awhile, we walked back to a place that had a/c and had some pasta to keep up our courage.

After lunch we wanted to see the catacombs so we took a bus out of the city on the Appian Way, one of the earliest Roman roads completed in 264 BC. It’s now a UNESCO World Heritage site and it’s a very neat road. Along it are lots of catacombs so we went to the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, where around half a million Christians and martyrs were buried along with multiple Popes. You enter down long flights of stairs and it gets cooler the further down you go. The dirt is reddish-brown and crumbly as you walk by hundreds of cavities that once held bones. Because the ground is a type of volcanic rock, we could only go to the 2nd level and not down to the 4th level due to toxic fumes from the rocks. There are around 12 miles of tunnels in this catacomb. One of the Popes would not enter the catacombs because he felt he was not worthy to be among the martyrs for Christ, and we felt the same way as we stood there knowing we could worship freely while so many of us take it for granted. It was an extraordinary feeling and I wept a little. How small it makes things here. We were towards the back of the group, and as we were nearing the end of the tour, the four of us stopped in one of the rooms, surrounded by dirt and symbols of Jesus, and sang the first verse of Amazing Grace. One of my favorite things of the trip. Not for people who are claustrophobic.

As we climbed back up I was tempted to see if the crypts were on Booking.com because we hadn’t been so cool the entire trip. We got gelato, the Snickers kind for me obviously, and walked to the Trevi Fountain. Dillon threw in a Euro and made a wish so we’ll see what comes of that. We also walked thru lots of shops and meandered around enjoying our last day in Italy.

Aug. 24-

This morning Dillons left the hotel at 630, and we followed them 2 hours later. Unfortunately their plane was delayed a bit so we went to their gate and sat with them another 20 minutes before they boarded! Now we’re on the plane going home. I like those words “going home”. I loved this trip but it will be happy to settle into life. We’ve had this trip planned since spring so it’s always kinda been in our heads for the end of summer. Now Morgan is going to work on school stuff and I start work at Starbucks the 26th so come see me 🙂 have a good weekend!

Xo  cheyenne