Monday (Last day in Roma)

Wow! Another day has passed. I am putting down my notes here while flying to Berlin. Our time in Roma is finished. Today was a beautiful day. We began today by packing out of our hotel in Roma – Hotel Eurostars Aeterna. We had breakfast at the hotel – which I didn’t ever describe. It seems that “Italian buffet hotel breakfast” consists of fruit, cereal, eggs, coffee, juice, pastries and many kinds of meat and cheese (Yes, Justin and Joe – you would love it!) Lots of prosciutto, salami and mortedella. I only ate a little of that because you all know how I feel about breakfast at 7 am! We boarded up the bus (with our new driver, Claudio, who by the way was not as gentle on the pedal as Francesco!) and headed to the outer part of Roma. Our first stop of the day was the Catacombs. This was outside the city (for health reasons) and was a very large burial place for ancient Christians. The tombs were prolific. I could hardly believe that they were carved out when they were. So deep into the earth and so many! It was an especially touching place for me to visit, because it was where they found the body of St. Cecilia (my Confirmation name, the patron saint of music). Though her body was also found uncorrupted, we did not see her. There was a replica of a statue of how she was found, in the 1500s I think. After the Catacombs, we returned to the Vatican. We had a tour scheduled in the Vatican museum that would include a tour of the Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina). We had a new local guide, Christina, that gave excellent descriptions of the art we were about to see. The first items to view were tapestries from the 1500s. Most were in the time of Pope Urban. I was especially struck by one of the tapestries that depicted Holy Week. For one thing, it was huge – floor to ceiling, and the ceiling had to be 20 ft. There was Palm Sunday, the Last Supper and the betrayal of Jesus. Just stunning art. The Sistine Chapel was breathtaking. We were warned that photos, video and talking were not allowed. When you enter the chapel, you are fist overwhelmed by the number of people standing in this large open space. It’s a rectangle; with paintings on all the walls. Michelangelo’s work beautiful. But what surprised me most, was the size of the paintings on the ceiling. They are huge! When you see a photo in a book, I always thought, oh that painting must be so small. But even as a tiny person standing in the middle of this huge chapel, the art is also huge. The painting of God’s finger reaching out to touch Adam’s is so large. So beautiful. Very much worth seeing if you are in Roma. We then had to exit quickly, as it was 2:30 and we needed to get to the airport for our flight to Berlin. We thanked Christina, took a group picture and headed out. We made it on the airport safely and on time! We checked in and said goodbye and thank you to Tommasso. (Incidently, Dad and I spoke with him earlier and found out he was getting a much needed 6 day break from work! I imagine he’s drinking some vino right now!) So after a mozzarella and prosciutto Panini, two glasses of delightful red Italian wine and a Cassada cake at the Roma Airport, we are on the plane heading to Berlin to get to Warsaw. Upon reflection, Roma was truly wonderful. I wasn’t looking forward to it as much, as I was concerned about the crowds and being exhausted from the canonization. It surpassed my expectations, and I can’t wait to visit Roma again – but without a tour group! They are truly wonderful people to travel with, but I miss Joe and want to have time to sit at a café outside and eat pasta, salami and drink wine! I’ll try to p