Day 3 Rome: Vatican, St. Peter's, Forum & Palatine; July 18, 2008

Today has been absolutely the most wonderful really long day on my feet any tourist would ever do! Of course, you know that when I go alone, I go longer and further, but no tourist wants to run that hard!
The Vatican Museums were at the top of my people's list, so we went there first, even though I knew it was prime time and the line would be forever. It was! The line stretched along the ancient brick wall surrounding Vatican city, down the street and around the corner, so Larry and Dick stayed in line while I took Edith and Ron on a walk over to see St. Peter's Square. By the time we returned, they were already waiting for us at the front of the line. It actually moved pretty fast.

The Vatican museum is one of the very best in the world. We saw lots of original Roman and Greek statues, many of which had fig leaves added in strategic places during the 1800's. We found Leonardo da Vinci's St. Jerome looking appropriately miserable. I think he's the Catholic version of the prophet Jeremiah, the one who predicted the destruction of Jerusalem at the time of Lehi. We found a Caravaggio of Christ being taken down from the cross (very cool) and a couple of Salvador Dalis (not very cool.) My favorite was Raphael's School of Athens. We stood and talked about it for awhile. Edith pointed out that it's very pagan, but it was painted in the Pope's chambers.

We loved discussing Michelangelo's Last Judgment as we gazed at it in the Sistine Chapel. Then we scooted out the back door and right into St. Peter's Cathedral. It's huge and ornate, and the seat of a billion Catholics. If you kiss the bronze toe on the statue of St. Peter, it's supposed to make you go to heaven, so they did and I took pictures to prove it. They have their hand on the toe in the picture. I notice the toe is getting worn out, so much that it's almost gone. I guess eventually no one will be able to go to heaven!

At 4:00 we met at the entrance to the Palatine Hill to see where Rome was founded. There's lots of tall pines and ruins of palaces from the time of Caesar. It overlooks the Forum, and it was a nice break in the trees, on the hill above the bustle of Rome.

Then we went down to the Forum and I gave them a little tour of the ancient center of the known world. It's so amazing to think it's still here! All my kids, do you remember when you were little, and we got in trouble for you making so much noise in the Forum and climbing all over the monuments? It's still just as wonderful!
We came out the far end of the Forum into the Campidoglio and up the back side of the Wedding Cake. (Military museum and tomb of the Italian unknown soldier, picture at left) There's a little cafe on the high terrace where we rested and had a melon drink and looked out all over the city. It was magical!

At left you see Edith and Ron on the steps of the Campidoglio, which is the town square designed by Michelangelo to show the new Renaissance paower of Rome.

Day 1, & 2 Viva Roma! A Comedy of Errors; July 16 & 17, 2008

Hello everyone, here we are in Rome! I love this!

Larry, Dick and I arrived yesterday morning, after a long overnight flight, and the comedy of errors began! Oh, my heck! I should have known I was in for it when the plane came in to land, and we were very close to the sea. Huh? Oops! I thought we'd be arriving at the other airport! Oh, well, how tough can it be? That meant we'd have to hunt to find the train into town, but that was OK.

Then we were in a hurry to get on the train, and yes, you guessed it, I jumped on the wrong train! I kind of suspected when I saw everyone carrying suitcases getting onto the other train, but there were so many people in the aisle, I couldn't get off to check. As soon as the train pulled out, the conductor's voice came on and announced all the stops, and none of them sounded familiar. Oh dear, now should we get off, go back to the airport, and start over? I went to ask, but couldn't find anyone official. I was really worried that the conductor might come along and ask to see our tickets (which they usually do) and we didn't have a ticket to ride that train, so all 3 of us would get hefty fines. Just the perfect start for a trip to Europe!

After several stops and asking again, we decided to get off at Cittavecchia and try to transfer to the metro for the rest of the trip. After asking some more, we finally found the metro. The metro stop had a different name than the train stop (unusual) but lo and behold, I recognized where I was! So we hopped on, and it was the right line to take us directly to our hotel, and we didn't even have to transfer at the main station, and in 20 minutes we were at our hotel!

Larry and Dick and I flew over together, while Dick's brother Ron from England, and his girlfriend Edith from Paris were joining us a few hours later. Meanwhile, we had a hard time deciding which bus tour to take while we waited. Boy, did pick wrong! The bus was a double-decker with an open top and commentary in your earphones in any one of 8 languages. The ones I've had before were great, but this one was really boring. We were dying, fighting sleepy jet lag. At least it was good to sit down and be driven all around Rome to the sound of classical music!

When we 5 finally all got together, we headed for the Colosseum. Every time I go, it amazes me more! Here's a tip: the way to skip the 2-hour line for general admission is to march right around it and go to the window that sells guided tours! Hooray! Our guide was a little Italian lady that looked about 14, but she's already an architect, so maybe she knows an ancient Roman beauty secret. Anyway, she gave us lots of great info and we loved it.

By then it was too late to get into the Forum or Palatine Hill, so we went to dinner in a little family-run place near our hotel. It was so authentic Larry couldn't even eat his "roast beef." It was sliced really thin and was bright red! He was convinced it was raw, but Edith said you could tell it had been cooked, because it was brown around the edges. He sent it back to be cooked, and the owner gave him weird looks, but he cooked it brown!

The way to beat jet lag going this direction is to stay up until the regular bedtime in Europe. that means we'd been up for 40 hours straight before we went to bed, but we had no trouble at all falling asleep!

Day 3 Rome: August 1, 2007

I just got into Rome late last night, so I decided to take it easy today. I went to the central train and bus station and bought a Hop-On-Hop-Off big red double decker bus tour. You get headphones and dial the channel of your language. I think it's in seven languages!

Rome is really hot in the summer! You have to get used to the idea that you will always be sticky and you will always have a river of sweat running down your back! I don't even think they even notice it themselves.


I rode it around past the Colisseum and the Circus Maximus and over to St Peter's cathedral, seat of the Catholic Church and the largest church in the world. I decided to get off there, because no Metro station is really close to that place, so the red bus is the easiest option. I went in and sat awhile and rested. The picture of it at left does not really show how huge it it.

Later I went to a tourist info place and asked about catacombs I could get into. There are several in Rome. After lots of fooling around, I finally rod a bus out the Appian Way to the catacombs of St. Sebastian. (picture below)

What a cool place! I have to take you guys here! They have 7 miles of underground tunnels, and over 100,000 people were buried here. You enter the catacombs through the church in the picture.

On the way back I recognized the Caracalla Baths, so I got off the bus and walked back. They had an English audioguide, so I really enjoyed that. Sometimes they have opera performances in the Caracalla but no performances this week until Friday. Darn! That would have been so cool!

I wandered around and tried to get into the Roman Forum. Although it closes at 7:15, the last entrance was at 6:15 and so I missed it.

I got some great photos of the Colisseum (the light was just right) and then got back on the red DD bus and went over to the Campo Fiori and bought pizza from my favorite little place. I sat on some empty flower shelves in the square and ate it and watched the people and thought about Bruno, who was burned at the stake in that piazza for heresy.

That was when I saw the tiny little electric bus #116. I decided that if I saw another, I would try to flag it down and get on. They have these little busses that are about the size of Troy's van, except the floor is lower and it has regular bus doors. So here came another bus, and I started chasing it. I caught up to it, but the driver would not open the door to let me on! A lady said out the window of the bus that I had to go to the bus stop, up around the corner. So I ran up there, but he did not wait for me! At least now I knew where to get on. So I waited for the next bus, and sure enough, here came a third bus #116. I got on and rode lots of tiny little streets that are way too small for the regular bus. We went past the Piazza Navona and around the back corner of the Pantheon and up Via Veneto to the Borghese Gardens and all the way through the gardens, almost to the Borghese Gallery before he turned around.

Everyone got off but me. The driver kept looking back, like "Aren't you ever going to get off, lady?" but I stayed on for the ride back. A little way back, he stopped behind 2 other #116 busses and made me get out. I got in another and waited half an hour, while the drivers chatted. I figured I was right by the American embassy, so this was probably normal. The bus finally go going again and took me back toward the Trevi Fountain.

It was getting dark, and I thought, "What am I doing? Why don't I just go to the internet and then home?" So I said a prayer and I felt like I should go over to the Trevi Fountain and make sure I knew how to get there, because it's kind of tricky finding it off the main street. So I walked and asked 2 different policemen and I finally got there and got some nice shots because the light was great at sunset.

I was about to go home when I heard singing. Choir-type singing! I followed the sound, and came upon a group of 18 A Capella singers. They were from a Catholic church in Budapest, Hungary, and mostly music majors, and they were really good! One of their members had a sore throat and so was not singing, so I talked to her for a long time (in English) and we exchanged e-mail addresses. What a treat! They sang Hungarian folk songs and Latin songs and a group of American Spirituals and finally some Beatles songs. I loved it! I so appreciated the chance to hear them sing and to talk to one of their members. The perfect ending to a long day in Rome!

Kerry in Rome 4th Night: Nov. 18, 2005

Hello, my wonderful family and friends!

Today was my last day in Rome. I leave first thing in the morning. As I write this it's 8:30 at night. I finally got tired today, because last night I woke up several times, but I got up at 6 AM anyway. That's my first touch of jet lag. Weird, huh?

I wanted to get out early because I had lots to do. They don't serve breakfast until 7:30, so it was 8:15 before I finally got out.

First I wanted to walk over to Santa Maria Maggiore because it's a really big church and it's only a block away. That's the picture you see above. It's one of 4 churches in Rome (including St. Peter's) that are owned by the Vatican. That means it is actually part of Vatican City. So I went up to the big steps in what I thought was the front, only to find them fenced off and a homeless person still sleeping in a blanket on the bottom step. I had to walk all the way around to find the entrance on the other side. It is definitely very fancy inside, with many colors of inlaid marble. All I can say is, these churches are very expensive and beautiful in their Baroque style, but they don't carry as good a spirit as our chapels, let alone the temple.

Next stop: St. Peter in Chains Church to see Michaelangelo's sculpture of Moses. I also had difficulty finding that place. At the top of this long alley climbing a tall staircase I turned left (found out later I should have turned right, it would have been really easy) and couldn't find it, so just started following a line of people. It turned out they were students and I followed them right into some kind of scientific university! I knew the church had to be right on the other side of it, so I kept trying to get through, but no luck. Finally these 3 custodians gave me 'can't miss it' directions in Italian, and I just went the way they pointed. But that didn't work either, so I came back and they pointed upstairs this time! So I went up these stairs and followed a nice long corridor, and Voila! I came out right on the steps of the church!

That's exactly why I'm making this pre-trip, so I don't have to do this kind of malarkey with a whole string of people following me!

The church was nothing special, but I really liked the Moses. I sat on a marble step and looked at it for a long while. How can somebody start with a big block of rock, and turn it into something as amazing as that? You can even see his personality! You can tell he felt like he had to fight for everything and he was really a strong, sinewy spiritual giant, but he felt a little defensive and protective of his tablets.

I walked downhill toward the Colosseum and through this lovely green park with huge old ruins that used to be the emperor Nero's palace. People are just walking their dogs like it's normal to be surrounded by thousands of years of history. What kind of a town has a bus and Metro stop called "Colosseum?"

I've been looking all over for decent posters of Rome, and there really aren't any, but I finally found a few that will do at the newsstand at the Colosseum. Then I went hunting for a better bus route map and ended up going through the Forum for the WC. Who goes to the Roman Forum for the WC? Anyway, I wandered a few more places in there I hadn't been.

At that point I decided if I was ever going to try to get in touch with Casa Kolbe, the convent where we stayed on the 6th grade trips to Rome, I was just going to have to walk over there and bang on their door. So I did. The door was locked and no one answered. So I rang all the doorbells, one at a time. On the last one, a woman finally answered in Italian. I asked about a room, and could not understand the answer. So I waited to see if anyone was going to answer the door, but no, so I rang the bell again. This time a man came on, and I asked if he spoke English. Yes! Hallelujah! I asked if they had rooms for groups, and he siad not more. I asked how long since and he said maybe 20 years. So at least now I know that place is not a possibility!

After this I had to hike all the way back around the Circus Maximus and the Palatine Hill to the Collosseum Metro stop to head out to Ostia Antica. You have to change to the train system, and I had to wait for the train to leave, so it took about an hour to get out there. It's only about a quarter mile walk from the train station to Ostia, which is ruins of an ancient seaport city to Rome.

I so wished I had a guided tour of Ostia. After wandering all over the place, I figured out how I would give the tour to kids and tighten up the time spent.
To me the coolest thing is complete ampitheater and the mosaic tile floors that still have the pictures of fish and ships and things on the sidewalks to advertise their wares.

Ostia was practially deserted, so I was surprised to find they have a cafeteria. I had a piece of vegetarian quiche to give me some much-needed energy for the train ride back to town. I was getting sleepy!

I decided to stop at the white marble Pyrimide and see it and the city gate and supposedly get up on the wall. That was a bust, you can't get up on the city walls. I had to stop at the Colosseum one more time to try to get the man to give me a receipts for the posters I bought. I did the whole transaction in Italian. I was proud of myself!!

The last place I really needed to check out for my June trip was the Cappuccine (sp?) monks' crypt. When I pinned down the location, it turned out to be at the exact spot where I stopped chasing the red bus yesterday! So at least I knew how to get there.

This crypt is really weird, with all kinds of decorations made out of human skulls and shoulder blades and vertebrae and jawbones and stuff. All the pieces come from the monks of that order, dating back to the 1500's. I think kids would love to be grossed out by it!

For the evening, I wanted to do a certain walk described in Rick Steve's book. It was the time of the evening Passagiata (everybody stroll in the middle of the streets for an evening walk) but my feet are working about like clubs now, so I kept hopping on busses big and small to see the territory. I'm finally starting to get the hang of the busses. I took one to Piazza del Poppolo, and then another to Piazza Venezia to the Wedding Cake (actual name Monument to Victor Emmanuel.)

Did I ever tell you that the Wedding Cake is a huge white marble building in the center of Rome, built to honor the first Italian King after the country was finally unified in about 1860? It also contains guards at the flame and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a military museum. It's so big you can see it from St. Peter's. Anyway, there's lots of bus stops on that square.

I decided supper had to be another fabulous Spinach and Ricotta pizza like last night, so I hopped another bus in that direction. I found another way into Campo Fiori (a nearby square) and got my pizza, and guess what, started chasing a little electric bus I wanted to get onto, but he didn't see me, and so I lost him. Again!

So by this time I'm getting really tired, but it's only about 6:30, and I don't want to go home yet, so I got on the right bus, but going the other direction. I rode it all the way out to Vatican City, and then just stayed on and rode it all the way back to the other end, which is near my hotel.

One thing I really like about Rome is all the curbs are made of white marble. It's dirty and gum-stained, but it's marble instead of cement!

Mom, every day I've been wearing those black shoes we bought in St. George. They are saving my feet in this impossible situation.

Heidi, I just discovered you were not on my e-mail list, so I added you. You'll now be able to get my doings on your hotmail.

This really creepy guy is on the computer next to me looking at motorcycle parts and the writing is all in Chinese!

I'm going to bed. If I can find an internet place, tomorrow night I'll be writing from Florence!

Love,

Mom

Kerry in Rome 3rd Night: Nov. 17, 2005

Hi, Everybody!

What did I do today? St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums. But first off, right after breakfast I went over to the train station and bought 2 all-day passes, for today and tomorrow. Then I searched for the right place to get myself some seat reservations on specific trains for Florence and Venice. I decided to take the 2nd class slow train once and the Eurostar fast train once, to see if it was worth the difference. One reservation was 3 euros and the other was 12 euros.

Then I went outside and bought an all-day ticket for the red double-decker tourist bus. They give you an orange earpiece set, which you plug in and choose your language. They drive past all the major sights, and you can hop on and off all day long. It went past the Forum and the Coliseum and Circus Maximus and across the Tiber River to St. Peter's and the Vatican, which is where I got off.

I walked 10 minutes over to the Vatican Museums and paid €13 to get in. Larry, you would have been proud of me! I went zooming past all their wonderful tapestries and paintings, and just stopped and admired the really famous ones I wanted to see: Carravaggio, Taking Jesus Down from the Cross; Raphael, School of Athens; and the Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Fighting the crowds, that alone takes about 90 minutes. It's quite a walk. Then I took an exit that was for tour groups only, and it sent me down this long elegant stairway and dumped me out right in St. Peter's Square! That was really cool; I found it in Rick Steve's.

For the church of St. Peter's itself, I rented an audioguide. That's a bust; too much info and too dry. I couldn't listen to half of it. Luckily, it only cost me €5, but between that and my Rick Steve's guidebook and what I remembered, I really enjoyed the world's biggest church.

I decided to face the long line and climb to the top of the dome. The line went pretty fast, only about 20 minutes, then into the elevator up to the roof plaza. You can go in this passageway to look down into the inside of the center of the church, right over the altar, and look up into the dome. Then you climb up over 300 narrow curving steps between the skin and the inner shell of the dome to the very top. When you come out, you have to wait your turn to step out to the railing, but the view is so worth it!

I could look down on the Vatican gardens in one direction and St. Peter's Square in another. You can see the Wedding Cake a ways off, and far out in the distance, taller buildings. Rome has no modern skyline; all the roofs are red or grey and shorter than St. Peter's. Zoning is like Salt Lake's, where the (unwritten) rule is you must not be taller than the Church Office Building.

On top of St. Peter's roof I found a little refreshment shop. They only had a few things, the only real food they had was a sweet croissant, so I got that.

On coming down, I walked around in the church again, and found out this really cool thing. If I bring a group, I must use a wireless microphone and all my people use headsets. They loan me the mic, and each person pays €1 to rent the headset. Cool, huh? All of Rome seems to be into wireless headsets for tour groups. You don't very often hear the tour leader speaking loudly to his group. It's kind of nice.

I went part way down into the crypt, then decided it was going to see where Pope Paul was buried, and so came back out, walking against the hordes of people.

I hopped back on the red double decker bus (by this time it was 4:00) and came home to drop off my bag and bandage my blistered feet. Then off again, this time a few stops by Metro and then to catch a little eletricco bus which was supposed to take me right over by the Pantheon. NOT so fast! Evidently the eletricco route has been changed. So I asked a lady sitting by me which stop to get off for Pantheon, and that set half the bus to discussing which would be my best option. They discussed it for 10 minutes! I gathered that no matter which way I took, it would involve several blocks and lots of turns.

Finally this 60ish-looking man with a wheeze said he would take me. By this time it was totally dark (5:00) and I thought that Larry would definitely not like me going with him, but the 3 ladies were all agreed that it would be best. What a commotion I started! When I realized that the bus was nowhere near where I thought it would be, and I was totally lost, and I couldn't find any street signs, I got off and followed this guy about 6 blocks through little narrow streets, till he finally pointed and left me. I found the Pantheon easily. My theory was, he wheezed constantly like a heart patient, and I could probably take him if I had to!

The Pantheon was sehr cool, all lit up at night and with a lovely fountain in front of it. I wish this picture wasn't so dark. I sat down inside with my guidebook for awhile, figuring out where to go next. As I was looking up at the hole in the roof, beautiful white birds kept flying over, lit by the light from inside. They were probably pigeons, but I like to think they were doves.

I decided to try to find my way to Area Sacre, which is near the Benetton shop. It is a block of ruins which is about 20 feet below today's street level. It too, is lovely with night lighting. There are still cats all over Rome, climbing among the ruins!

Rick Steve's Night Walk Across Rome sounded interesting, and by this time I had my 2nd wind. I walked from Campo Fiori (wild idea-man Bruno was burned at the stake here) to Piazza Navona, with Bernini's Four Rivers Fountain. I loved this fountain. This particular Piazza is a long rectangle, because it used to be a Roman chariot racetrack. In Roman times the level of the city was about 20 feet lower, so in the 1800's the citizens used to flood the old raceway in summer for a swimming pool! Here I also had the world's best Chocolate Tartuffo with whipped cream. To die for!

From there I found my way through the winding medieval pedestrian streets back to the Trevi Fountain. I got fairly lost, but I met a couple who were also following Rick Steve's night walk, and we all got oriented.

Troy, I found an even better pizza place over by Campo Fiori. I'll have to take Angela there in June!

On the way back to the city bus stop, the red double decker bus passed me, and I still had my all-day pass, so I decided to run to catch it. I chased that dang thing 3 blocks uphill, once even banging on the door, but the driver didn't see me and left me standing in the middle of the busy street with traffic on all sides. It finally got away. It was dark and I was tired. I gave up and took the Metro home.

Tomorrow will be my last full day in Rome, and I still have so much I want to see. I'm going to have to start getting up earlier!

That's enough for now. I hope I can find an easy internet point in Florence and in Venice. This one is right across from my hotel. I'm using these e-mails as my trip journal, because I forgot to bring a book to write in.

I hope you are all doing well,

Love,

Kerry

Kerry in Rome 2nd Night: Nov. 16, 2005

Hi my family and friends!

I about walked my feet off to the ankles today, but what I saw was worth it!

After breakfast in the nice breakfast room on the 2nd ( American 3rd) floor, I went 2 blocks over to the main train station to check it out. After wandering around for awhile, I bought an all-day bus & metro ticket for 4 euros.

This time I took the Metro to the Coliseum instead of walking. I bought a guided tour. It is so huge, seating 50,000. It was very cool to be there again. I wrote down lots that the tour guide said, so I can give the tour myself.

The Coliseum ticket also covers the Palatine Hill, so I went there next. It overlooks the Roman Forum. I wandered all over, enjoying few people and ruined Roman palaces and huge trees and a view overlooking the forum.

The Forum is free, and I walked all over it, reading Rick Steves' book and fending off both men and women wanting to be my guide. I must look like a foreigner with money. (As a matter of fact, most Italians have dark hair like Troy and Angela, and I have not seen one person with my color hair.) I was particularly impressed with the Arch of Constantine (commemorating when he beat Maxentius and became emperor, thus making the outcast Jewish sect of Christianity the state religion), the house of the Vestal Virgins, and the Arch of Titus.

The Arch of Titus commemorates his victory over Judah in 70 A.D. We know this as the destruction of Jerusalem.

I was trying to find the back way up onto the Wedding Cake, but it sure took me awhile. This is why I'm doing this trip now, so that when I have people following me, I can walk directly to the places I want to go. I went the long way around, knowing I'd have to end up on Michaelangelo's plaza, and I did. I finally found the back way up, and several other really cool things I wasn't even looking for, like the prison tank that held Peter and Paul, and the bronze statue of the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus. I learned how to use a Roman drinking fountain. You partially block the faucet with your finger, and then water squirts up through the little hole for you to drink. I plan to give someone a surprise on my next visit!

I found a lovely cafe on top, overlooking the city, and I was so hungry by 4:00 I didn't look too carefully at the sandwich I chose. What I took to be lots of tomato was only partially tomato. It tasted fishy. Then I really looked at it, and it was red, raw tuna! I was so starved I ate it anyway, hoping I wouldn't get sick!

Then I went backwards quickly through this pretty dull military museum inside the Wedding Cake, working from the top down. I came down to their memorial for the Unknown Soldier. I climbed up on a marble seat-looking area to get a better picture, and the police blew the whistle at me. I was sorry. I had read a sign that said no eating, sitting, lying down, being loud or dirty because of the special feeling they have for the area. I did not mean to be disrespectful. I apologized to the Carabinieri.

I went looking for the Benetton shop where Shelley and I had found such great sales. I found it, but alas, no sales. Everything seemed very high priced to me. I also found a big high-priced music/bookstore, where I finally found 2 posters for 12.50 euros each. I have not found any others, so I bought them. Aaack!

Since my ankles were dissolving, I decided to take the bus back toward the hotel, but had a hard time figuring out which bus to take. People keep answering me in English and offering help. I finally got on one, which was a real squeeze, as it was rush hour and packed and my coat and posters were caught in the door! It seemed like we rode forever, but we finally ended up at the main train station.

On the way back to the hotel I bought some great pizza with a white sauce and blue cheese. I found out that the reason the price looks so cheap, is that's the basic cost per ounce or something like that. (This I learned the hard way.) He asks you how much you want, and if he can, he'll sell you a big piece. Then he weighs it, and you get to pay like 4 times the price you thought because you got so much!

I had to go home and change my shoes because my feet were so tired. Then out again!

I decided to go to some good evening places. First by Metro to the Spanish Steps. What a waste! No flowers in winter, and not good lighting. Then to the Trevi Fountain. Now that was fabulous! You can hear the rush of the water before you find the fountain. No streets lead directly to it, so you can bet I had to wander to find it. Such beautiful white sculpture, clean water, beautifully lit. Many people, lovers with roses, someone playing the violin for money. I sat there a long time. Finally I went to find the famous pizza place. I think I did find it (same place as I remember) but it has been remodeled and doesn't look the same. Anyway, I had a great gelato (called "After Eight" - mint chocolate chip) and went back to the fountain to sit and enjoy some more of the lovely evening and eat gelato.

I decided to take the bus home, because I want to stay above ground to see as much as possible. Now I'm at the internet point across from my little hotel.

The weather threatened rain all day, but it never did it. That means the humidity is really high. I do not understand how these Romans dress. The temperature is just about perfect for walking - about 60-65 degrees. Today is Nov. 16 and they act like it's winter! Everyone is wearing long coats and leather jackets and turtleneck sweaters. Everyone who is not a laborer wears a suit and tie. On the bus I was so hot I literally had sweat running down my forehead, but they don't even take their coats off! Later I found out that today is the day that legally the heat must be turned on. It's amazing to me that the government regulates even the heat!

Well, I have to do laundry tonight, I should quit.

Love,

Kerry

Kerry in Rome First Night: Nov. 15, 2005

Hi, Everybody!

I made it to my hotel in Rome!

I had a sleepy 2 hour flight from Paris, but it was really bumpy coming in.

I had prearranged for a shuttle trip from the airport to my hotel. Boy, was that a good thing to do! At the airport, all these seedy-looking men in dark suits kept asking if I wanted a taxi. I was SO glad I didn't have to take one of them! I was the only one in the minivan, so I asked the driver to keep me aware of where I was on the map. It took an hour to get to the hotel. It was dark, heavy traffic and he drives fast, more aggressively than Larry! But he pointed out the sights as we went past, and St. Peter's and the Coliseum and the Wedding Cake were all lit up. It was lovely because you can't see the graffiti very well in the dark, and I enjoyed it.

Not saying that the hotel isn't very fancy, but it's made of 4 old pensions on top of each other, one per floor, in one building. It's only 2 short blocks from the train station, so the location is perfect, but . . . The man at the desk told me, when I go out the door, always turn right. I asked if it was unsafe to turn left, because I had seen lots of immigrants. He said no, it's not unsafe, but everything to buy is from China or India or Africa, and all the nicer things are to the right! So it's right on the edge of being seedy! I won't stay here again!

I took the most FABULOUS walk tonight! I walked about 6 blocks down to where I could look over into the old Roman Forum, and then I walked down and all the way around the Coliseum. It's all lit up at night and there was a full moon and it was gorgeous! I wished you were all here with me.

Shelley, on the way in, we passed the Benetton shop where you and I went. I think I can find it again.

Larry, I sure wished you were here tonight with me. It was SO romantic!

Troy, you would so have loved just wandering with me tonight! Remember wandering in Florence?

Wendy, on the airplane they announced everything in the native language of that country, then in English, and last of all in German! I thought that was odd.

Kim, you will appreciate how I am struggling right now trying to find all the right punctuation marks on this computer keyboard. At least the letters are the same!

Aaron, there are motorscooters EVERYWHERE. Herds of them! I think that's because all the parking places are already taken by cars no bigger than yours, so a Vespa is the way to go.

Lys, just for you, tomorrow I'm going to go stand in front of the Pieta' in St. Peter's Cathedral and turn around and look in all directions and call out "Alyssa, where are you?" Remember when you got lost there when you were 6 years old?

Heidi, you will be happy to know that there are internet spots EVERYWHERE! I passed at least 6 of them tonight.

Dad and Mom, keep in there pitching! We need you!

Well, it's 10:30 p.m. and I'm getting too tired, but I think I've beaten jet lag by staying up.

I'll write more later,

Kerry