Sunday - Our last day in Rome

Our last day in Rome started with Martha and I headed down to Santa Marie Maggorie for an early Sunday morning mass. Back to the hostel for our favorite omelet breakfast. We four girls have been splitting up most day to. Go out in pairs as we all like to explore at different speeds. But this being our last full day together we thought it would be great to spend them together. First thing was for a group headshot of all of us laying on the floor in our dorm...neat shot and nice thing is we all look so much younger lying on our backs. :> )

Our destination today is the old part of Rome called Trastevere. Off we went on a very full bus till we got close to the Tiber river. We explored 3 churches. First,  San Crisogono then we walked thru a wonderful neighborhood of old building with all kinds of homes and shops...cameras were out taking lots of pictures. Our second church , Chiesa di Santa Marie in Trastevere. Beautiful church right in the middle of mass. These old church's usually always have a pulpit (a high place to speak from) located in the middle of the church. These were used before they had loudspeaker systems. But for the first time ever that we have seen, the priest took the gospel book down the church and read to all from this special place. Outside we found a lady doing intricate inlaid tile work. She had many beautiful items for sale....but because of space limitations in my bag, I settled for a small cross with an inlaid dove.

  Our third church was Santa Cecilla. Again, beautiful with a sad story of Cecilla. I wonder if we would have the fortitude to stand up for our beliefs today as they did back then, knowing that they faced almost certain death. By this time we were back to the Tiber RIver crossed over the bridge near the island in the middle, where stands an old and famous hospital, still in use. Lots of merchants with items to sell on the bridge. Bonnie and Jane each got good prices on new purses.

Now we were in the Jewish section of Rome . During the war they called this area The ghetto...many people were transported from this area. We plan to go into the Synagogue but took pictures from the outside inside as you could only view the inside by tour groups. Also an old theatre is being restored from the old roman ruins. We found a large Sunday afternoon market in full swing on the campo de Fiori. Stopped at an outdoor cafe and had our main meal of the day. I had cannelloni stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach. After some more wondering around we caught another very crowed bus back to the Termini and back to the hostel for a short rest before heading out again. This time on another very crowded metro train that took us to the Piazza del Popolo, which is near the top of the Spanish Steps. I think that Martha is the only one of us that's ever been to see this beautiful piazza... An old sign on the wall said " this site is an artistic treasure, belonging to Roma, and the whole world. ". Please help us to keep it clean and attractive.

From here we decided to bypass the stairs and make our way slowly up the well worn path leading us up into the Borghese Gardens. The closer we got to the center of the Campo Marzio the more we realized that this is how Italian families spend their Sunday afternoons.... In the park. We saw so much activity, bikes to rent, many made for a family of 4 to 6 people with sun roofs and all, roller skaters, some doing fancy tricks, musicians, artist, lovers entwined out on the grassy lawns. At one point near where we would exit the park we found a huge overlook of the city of Roma at sunset...wow. Talk about picture time. Also near the end we could hear wonderful music being played by a man with a series of horns and backup on his computer. We listen for a long time than each found ourselves purchasing his CD as when we play this music at home it will remind us of Roma and our final magicial day. But we were not quite done because as we walked downhill out of the park, we found ourselves at the top of the famous Spanish steps.

Bonnie and I walked on down the gently sloping narrow sidewalk, Martha and Jane the more adventures of our foursome! made their way up to the top and then down the famous steps. Meeting at the boat fountain at the bottom we all decided on a gelato before the crowded metro that would take up home for the night.... A tired but happy group. Actually our dorm of eight was quite active tonight and it was. Lose to midnight before every one settled down for the night. Oh yes. We had been talking about not seeing any traffic accidents on our trip...about 10 we heard this loud crash outside our open dorm windows...yep, right down the street 2 cars ran Into each other and also involved a park car.

I am typing this on Monday ... All ready for our trip to the airport, Martha wanted to go out walking again...so sent her off with Bonnie and Jane,who have one more night before leaving, with a promise that she will be back by 2:30. I am happy to get this type then will sit comfortable with my computer and books till she comes back to pick me up. It's been fun traveling with all of you these past six weeks. hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs