Arrivederci Italia!

Colosseum - Rome

Can you believe it?! After not getting any WiFi service since arriving in Italy, I connected to the Internet twice in one day! Our last day in Italy was a great one despite the oppressive heat. During the morning, everyone (except Gimpy here) went to tour the Forum and the Colosseum. Since it was so brutally hot, they all took a two hour break for lunch before we all got on a charter bus and headed for the catacombs outside the city limits.

The catacombs were very interesting. They date back to the 300s and the area in which we explored was the first Christian burial ground. Very early popes and saints were buried here, and they are also the place where early Christians would meet to worship away from the persecution of the Romans. Directly above it was the Appian Way, so the priest who gave the tour explained that since that was the most traveled road of the day, it wasn't so easy for Christians. 

After the catacombs, we had a little free time, then dinner. Our last dinner in Rome was so much fun. We had bruschetta, authentic pizza and tiramisu. Samantha was celebrating her 18th birthday today, and Olivia had a birthday earlier on the tour, so our courier went out of his way to arrange a special birthday surprise at the restaurant. There was great food, fantastic conversations, and lots of laughter - truly a perfect ending to a wonderful trip!

Our wake up call will be at 4 AM - which is only 10 PM your time! We fly to Charles de Gaulle, then on to JFK! It's hard to believe our European adventure is over, but we are glad to come home to our families tomorrow! We will see you all before you know it!