When in Rome......

Drink abrosial hot chocolate for breakfast. Climb 500 steps up to the cupola on St. Peter's just after sunrise and see the city. Michelangelo's Pieta. Mass in St. Peter's. See the Pope. Run into your brother-in-law's sister. Gelati. Wandering in ancient ruins. Bernini's great sculptures. very big very old churches. Outdoor Bocelli concert. Pizza by the Kilo.

All in a day's work in the Eternal City.

I stuck out my bottom lip when I saw this on a phone booth. Wishing I could.........

Frescoes in San Clemente

Bernini's Moses is pretty cool.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

Streets of Rome at night

Also in San Clemente, which happens to also be one of the 25 house-churches of Rome, where it all started. Catacombs of saints beneath the house, a church built on top of the house, and this church built on top of that church! Churches have onion layers in Rome.

The ceiling of St. Mary Major, gilded with the first shipment of gold from the New World.

Bernadette told me about this free concert in piazza popola. I had to skip a free dinner at the hotel but really, now: free Andrea Bocelli conert or free dinner?

It was so cool. Thousands and thousands of Italians, crammed into an this ancient piazza, everyone belting out national Italian songs (it was celebrating Fallen Day, November 4th, a national holiday celebrating the 1918 armistice that ended WWI) with their own blind Bocelli, of whom they are not a little proud. It was not only a great concert, but a great cultural experience. A real "when in Rome do as the Romans..." moment, you know?

We pushed forward in the massive massive crowd as far up as you could go; just behind the seats reserved for military officials.

That is Andrea Bocelli, folks!

Eva, Cate, Lexi and me eating pizza on the Spanish steps after the concert; Horatio i think is taking the picture...we lost Emily and Jeff somewhere in the massive crowd.

At the end of the concert, they threw red, green and white confetti on us.

Liz

My roomie Laura and I chillin' in St. Peter's square

Laura....the diligent student....but really, what better place to study theology of Christ?

Gelati and two very happy girls

Two happy girls trying to eat each other's gelati

His toes were so warn away by so many kisses that they were gilded in bronze

Bernini's The Ecstasy of St. Theresa of Avila (one of those many "hey, we talked about that in art class" moments). The picture is not at all doing it justice...I don't know why I am even putting it up on here.

I love light. I like it even better when it appears on camera the way it looks to the eye. Look at the way the single slender beam seems to come from the rose window right to Christ's head.

I like marble too.

Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome. It was really pretty. St. Catherine of Siena's tomb was there.