Sun. Nov. 19 Day 3
So Sunday was our last full day in Rome. We hopped on the other bus that was part of our package-The Archeobus. We went to the St. Callipto catacombs which are about 20 min. out of town. The catacombs were incredible. The catacombs are where the Christians buried their dead & also hid to give mass during their persecution. The Romans, having great respect for the dead, allowed the Christians to bury their dead here but it was forbidden to give mass or pray here and they actually caught some in the catacombs (including a pope) and killed them. The catacombs are kind of like tunnels underground and the dead would be buried in rooms or small "tombs" in the walls. There are over 60 of them in Rome & St. Callipto is the biggest with 4 levels and over 10 miles of tunnels. We couldn't take photos but we got post cards and such. We all prayed before exiting which was actually really nice. I also got a rosary from there. After that we finished the tour on the Archeobus which included a stop at the aqueducts which were amazing to see. We headed back into town and grabbed a snack & then headed to the Monument of Vittoria Emmanuel where the unknown soldier is guarded day and night, as well as the eternal flame of Rome. At 3pm we watched the changing of the guards which was kind of neat to see. After that we grabbed some lunch which ended up being a LONG adventure to try and find Hard Rock Cafe where we didn't eat. Haha. After lunch we went to the Spanish Steps which in the summer has millions of flowers & such. We actually had another celebrity encounter. We were in Rome during the wedding of Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes & were near the hotel they were staying in. Jennifer Lopez had been there for the wedding and was actually leaving the hotel that day. Of course the limo was dark and we didn't see much of her but we got to take a photo of the car and also see the paparazzi dart after the car down the hill. we then went down the Spanish Steps & actually ended up participating in the FREE HUGS project which is exactly what it sounds like. People hold signs offering free hugs. It started I think in Australia and the guy who did was actually banned from doing it until he had a 20 million dollar insurance policy so he got a petition signed by 10,000 people and now the project is all over. We walked for a while along a street with all the designer stores and I actually got a Prado bag...right outside of the Prada store...for 20 euro which was a good deal because the guy actually wanted 40. So we caught the bus and headed back to the train station and did some touristy shopping. Among the many things we bought, I got a funny gift for Mike. They are boxers and on them are particular parts of the statue of David which make them quite funny (not hard to figure out). So we bought tons of stuff and headed home for the night!
So Sunday was our last full day in Rome. We hopped on the other bus that was part of our package-The Archeobus. We went to the St. Callipto catacombs which are about 20 min. out of town. The catacombs were incredible. The catacombs are where the Christians buried their dead & also hid to give mass during their persecution. The Romans, having great respect for the dead, allowed the Christians to bury their dead here but it was forbidden to give mass or pray here and they actually caught some in the catacombs (including a pope) and killed them. The catacombs are kind of like tunnels underground and the dead would be buried in rooms or small "tombs" in the walls. There are over 60 of them in Rome & St. Callipto is the biggest with 4 levels and over 10 miles of tunnels. We couldn't take photos but we got post cards and such. We all prayed before exiting which was actually really nice. I also got a rosary from there. After that we finished the tour on the Archeobus which included a stop at the aqueducts which were amazing to see. We headed back into town and grabbed a snack & then headed to the Monument of Vittoria Emmanuel where the unknown soldier is guarded day and night, as well as the eternal flame of Rome. At 3pm we watched the changing of the guards which was kind of neat to see. After that we grabbed some lunch which ended up being a LONG adventure to try and find Hard Rock Cafe where we didn't eat. Haha. After lunch we went to the Spanish Steps which in the summer has millions of flowers & such. We actually had another celebrity encounter. We were in Rome during the wedding of Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes & were near the hotel they were staying in. Jennifer Lopez had been there for the wedding and was actually leaving the hotel that day. Of course the limo was dark and we didn't see much of her but we got to take a photo of the car and also see the paparazzi dart after the car down the hill. we then went down the Spanish Steps & actually ended up participating in the FREE HUGS project which is exactly what it sounds like. People hold signs offering free hugs. It started I think in Australia and the guy who did was actually banned from doing it until he had a 20 million dollar insurance policy so he got a petition signed by 10,000 people and now the project is all over. We walked for a while along a street with all the designer stores and I actually got a Prado bag...right outside of the Prada store...for 20 euro which was a good deal because the guy actually wanted 40. So we caught the bus and headed back to the train station and did some touristy shopping. Among the many things we bought, I got a funny gift for Mike. They are boxers and on them are particular parts of the statue of David which make them quite funny (not hard to figure out). So we bought tons of stuff and headed home for the night!
posted by Aly D | 8:02 PM
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