Ahhh Rome

We made it. As far as plane rides and customs goes - our trip over couldn't have gone much smoother. We traveled Aer Lingus (I know - it sounds naughty, but it's not). The stewardesses were comprised of primarily fair haired girls with perfectly quaffed buns in their hair. We had great seats - the second row of coach, which appears also to be a great seating area for families with young babies. We were surrounded by little ones who didn't quite want to sleep - or eat - or do anything except make their mothers hold and rock them or walk the aisles with them. My heart went out to them, as I recall our last flight with Ellie to Arizona where she cried the entire flight and finally passed out just as the tires hit the runway.  (with strangers sitting on both sides of me). I know what it's like to try to keep a baby happy in the air. 

We sailed through Dublin and were thankfully seated on our second plane a good distance away from the all-girls school that was taking a trip over to Italy. The amount of young estrogen in the air was more than enough to make-up a Justin Bieber fan club. After a quick 2 hour and 40 minute flight to Rome, we hopped off the plane, were one of the first through passport check and to grab our bags and then just walked straight through the customs area with "nothing to declare"... It was so easy we thought we might have done it wrong. But who cares... we're here. 

We checked into our digs for the next few nights - Hotel Columbus. I have to admit I was a bit nervous about it. The reviews on Trip Advisor were at the very least inconsistent. One said it was a great experience and the next said they wished they could give the hotel zero stars. But - I guess it's all about your expectations. This hotel used to be a Monastery. It has old world charm oozing from each nook and cranny. It's somewhat rustic with brick floors and old iron chandellieres. But - it's more than comfortable. The bed (although not the Heavenly Bed of the Westin) sleeps great, the water pressure was good and most importantly - it's just steps away from St. Peters. 

    

So---- we checked in and hit the Roman road. (mostly because we knew we didn't dare sit down or heaven-forbid lie down on the bed because we'd suredly crash if we did). We took our leisurely walk down to St. Peters. Awe---some....  Wow - what an amazing sight. We got in line and made it in to the beautiful basicllica. It's an amazing place. After touring around the inside and stopping to make a devotion in the chapel, we headed to the cupola. I don't think Chris really had an appreciation for where we were headed.  We had a brief discussion about walking or taking the elevator. I looked at him and said - "Honey, we have to walk  - becasue I cannot face my Dad and tell him that I took the elevator at St. Peters."   And so it was decided. We wound and wound in circles as we walked to the top. When we got to the inside of the dome, we stopped for a great deal of time in amazement. It's hard to take it all in. The enormity of it, the beauty of it and the indescribable amount of time and work it must have taken to make it so beautiful. Each of the images on the wall comprised of thousands, or millions, of colored pieces of stone carefully placed to make the images of our faith. 

    

 

After looking around the dome and taking a zillion photos - I asked Chris if he was ready to continue-- "Where?" he said.  "Up - to the top."   And so we went - up up up. Small little stairwells and rounded ceilings that felt as if they were closing in on us led us to one of the most glorious views of our lives. (and it's a good thing since Chris is both scared of heights and closterphobic, I promised him it would be worth the effort).  

  

The rest of the day consistented of a lot of walking, a failed attempt to get into the Vatican Museum / Sistine Chapel and then the perfect dinner at a little restaurant down the way. Chris and I both fell asleep easily (I moreso than he). I woke at 1 am and was wide awake. So... I took two Advil PMs and said the Rosary until I fell back to sleep. We both woke in the morning assuming it was 7 or 8 a.m. only to find we had both slept until 10 a.m.!!! Eeeek! We had let half the day pass by. So we quickly got dressed and went to a "bar" around the corner for an amazingly wonderful cappucino and pastry  (standing, of course to avoid the extra charge to sit). And we were ready to set out on our whirlwind tour of Rome. The Colosseum, The Forum, The Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon, The Monument to Victor Emmanuel II and much more. We stopped at the US Bishop's Visitors office to pick up our tickets for the Papal Audience tomorrow. We plan to get there early, really early because the nice nun told us that Pope Francis has been attracting huge crowds and the last several have had around 80,000 in attendance. So we are very excited to be among the many (and not the few). 

What an amazing time we are having. I keep pinching myself - are we really here?