Rome

 We arrived in Rome after a week in Tuscany.  We stayed in an airbnb right near the Colosseum.  For a family of 6, airbnb is the way to go.  The place we stayed was very affordable and right in the heart of everything.  The best part about it was the supermarket nearby that was open 24 hours.

Our first full day in Rome was a Sunday.  We worshipped with a local congregation at Rome Baptist Church.  Again, just as it was in Florence, we worshipped with a beautifully diverse group of believers.  We stopped by the Trevi Fountain on our way to the church.  We learned later in our Rome tour that the Trevi Fountain is fed by one of the original aqueducts of Rome.  It is the only ancient aqueduct still in use.

After church, lunch, and gelato we had a quick break before an afternoon tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.  I highly recommend the underground Colosseum tour.  It is a bit more expensive but in my opinion worth it.  It was so neat to go underneath the Colosseum and see where animals were kept.  You could see the areas where the elevators were that were used to raise and lower the animals.  You could see the corridors the gladiators would walk through to get to the arena floor.  It was fascinating.

 Prior to our Colosseum tour, our guide took us through the Roman Forum.  It was very neat, but I will be honest.  It was so swelteringly hot that I could hardly pay attention.  It felt like we were walking around in an oven.  The one thing that stood out to me the most were the roses that were placed on top of the cremated remains of Julius Caesar.

Our 2nd full day in Rome was mostly spent at the Vatican Museums.  We bought an early morning skip the line pass and we arrived at 7:45.  I highly recommend getting up early and getting into the Vatican before all the crowds arrive. The Sistine chapel was beautiful and very memorable.  Photos are not allowed.  I think Callie enjoyed the art work the most of all of us.

After the Vatican, we walked to the Pantheon to view it from the outside.  We did not take the time to pay and go inside.  We were hot and tired and ready for lunch.  It was neat to see it from the outside though.  The Pantheon is one of the best preserved buildings of the Roman empire.  It is thought to have originally been a temple to all the gods. Also pictured below is Trajan's column

The last place we toured in Rome after the Vatican was the Basilica of San Clemente.  All props go to Charlie for this unique find.  It is such crazy place.  It is basically a medieval (circa 1100) church build over on top of a 4th-11th century church which in turn was built over top a pagan cult worship site (cult of Mithras).  You can view the top level church and then descend below to the 4th-11th century church.  You can descend below that to the area of the pagan church/cult site.  It was a place with no crowds and you could explore it easily.  It happened to only be a 5 minute walk from our apartment.  My big regret here was that we were too wiped and exhausted to take many pictures.  The picture we did take was from the middle level (the Christian church between the 4th-11th centuries).  That was my favorite levels as it included some neat frescoes on the walls.  One fresco that stood out to me was one drawn by a man named John.  I honestly don't even remember what the fresco was a picture of, but what stood out to me was the translation of the inscription he left below his painting.  It said, "may it be remembered that Christ had mercy on unworthy John."  I thought that was beautiful!