Our train ride to Rome from Naples was a snap, and after a few phone calls to Anne, who is the keeper of our next destination, "Anne's Place" about 40 KM outside of Rome, we arrived to Zagarolo, and were met by her wonderful husband David, and whisked off for a good nights sleep in the country. The kind of absolute silence in the middle of the night there is something I had not experienced in quite a while, and when the sun came up early the next morning, the views of the countryside and surrounding mountains were amazing and exhiliarating. She fixed a very nice breakfast, and we met the other two couples around the breakfast table, Han and Trudi from Holland, and Joe and Alex from England, all of them being fantastic people and alot of fun. Anne drove us to the train station and got us situated with our train tickets. The 6 of us stuck together and talked some more on the trainride into the city, and then went our separate ways for the rest of the day. It was so much fun to have a group of folks to be a part of, despite our different backgrounds, nationalities, etc., we all felt linked in our foreign-ness, and excitement of being here in Rome.
So far in Rome, it has been wonderful. Although the weather on Friday was not completely compliant, and we were soggy most of the day, we got to see and do alot. The highlight being a wonderful guided tour (worth every cent) of the Colliseum, Palatino and Foro Romano. Our first guide was and English-speaking Italian with a biting sense of humor and captivating in his own way. Our second guide, Tony, was a PhD student from England, having 22 years experience studying Roman history, and a first-rate whiz! Tony's knowledge of EVERYTHING Rome was astounding, and his passion was unmistakeable. Tony was able to explain, with dates, and names, and full context, just about anything you might want to know. As usual, most of the day was spent walking and walking and walking, and the next day, Saturday, was no different except that the weather was fantastic. We've been to and through so many important and historically significant buildings and monuments that it would be silly to try to list them all here. Alot of them, we've captured on video and in photos, so we'll let those explain. The main point is that Rome has to be one of the most extraordinary cities in the world. It is beautiful, and just so literally significant to so much of what we in the Western world take for granted. Our heads were spinning, literally and figuratively, from the get go. Around every corner is another amazing something or other demanding your attention. Just when you think you've seen everything you realize that you have hardly seen anything yet as there is always something more to see and learn about. Some of the highlights for Saturday include the Pantheon, Vatican City (we got to see the Pope himself during the 12 o'clock's service in Plazza San Petro), the Fontana di Trevi, the "Time Elevator" show and the walks through the lively piazzas. After an exhiliarating day, we were happy to meet up with Han and Trudi at the train station and spend some time getting caught up before Anne picked us up for the ride back to our "home sweet home away from home". All day long, we were kept looking at the tops of the sightseeing buses, hopeing we'd see Joe and Alex, and we were sad that they were leaving, as we would have liked to get to know them better.
(Becky, if you are reading this, you were right, the food and beauty here in Rome is amazing!!!)
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