Rome Travelogue - Day Three

Backtracking to our Friday, April 29th and 3rd day touring Rome.

We slept in a bit today and ordered breakfast in. It was a rainy morning but we couldn't let that stop us. Armed with collapsible umbrellas and metro passes we ventured out on our own.

Not having Franco's 30 years of experience we were a bit hesitant on how well we'd fare guiding ourselves. We figured out the route to St. Maria Maggiore,the Marian shrine in Rome dedicated to Our Lady of Snows. And we made it! The metro is easy and walking towards the Church we ate at an outdoor cafe. We had our first Rome pizza and it was a hit!

At the Church, it was filled with religious of every sort. We were able to sit quietly in an adoration chapel and then adventure around the Church. Below is a picture of a crypt below the altar. Relics of the Nativity manger are there.
As we were praying there a polish group came in and sang as they surrounded the crypt.





Checking out all the side chapels on the way out, we found this image of Our Lady Queen of Peace, special and dear to us.

While praying there an old, French nun came up to my daughter and kissed her. It was a charming moment capturing the joyous moods we were encountering.

Then we tried making it back to the Victor Emanuele II building but that map reading didn't go as well. We have yet to find a map or map book that is truly accurate. So we decided to try for the St. John Lateran Basilica, the first Church.

Below is a posting outside the Lateran Church reminding visitors to every Church in Rome that modest attire is required.

The Lateran was my husband's favorite Church. So much gold, real gold, relics from the heads of Sts. Peter and Paul and gigantic statues of the apostles, and yet they pale in comparison to it's history.
While there we ran across a young priest from San Diego we had met in the airport upon arriving in Rome; imagine the odds?! He was there with a fellow priest and he was so knowlegable about the Lateran. It reminded us how better a touring experience can be with a guide to point things out. One of the things that the 2nd young priest told us that is memorable is something to this effect....

....Rome is an ancient and a "dead" city when you are walking around the ruins. But 2 thousand years later it's the Catholic Church that is "alive" there.
Pope Saint Leo XIII, pray for the Church and the modernism you warned of.


We continued to walk and people watch. We happened across the dress rehearsal of an outdoor orchestra that played a soundtrack to the majesty we were taking in. Taking the train again, and proud of our confidence in that new skill, we headed to the Piazza del Populo right near our hotel. From there, we went to a recommended restaurant for dinner and awesome tiramisu dessert.

Heading back to the square, the night sky was illuminated by the lit fountains and charged with the energy of the youth and the glamour of the wealthy shoppers. A lone saxaphonist played and our children kids enjoyed the night air and vendors toy novelties.

Next month we celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. This vacation marks that milestone.


We won't soon forget "the littles" running ahead of us back to the hotel doing that jump kicking the legs to the side and click of the heels. We are all loving Rome, learning and appreciating the culture, trying to speak some Italian and what Cathy a commenting friend from the Seton homeschool yahoogroup said....we "are experiencing the same history that has been repeated for ages for many of the saints. You are part of the past, present, and future. What you are experiencing is timeless."

Yes!