Thursday was a great day, our last full day in Rome. Marilyn picked us up at the Marconi metro station and took us to the Catacombe di Domitilla, which was the largest burial site of ancient Rome. Built just outside the city walls, the catacomb holds 150,000 bodies in 100 miles of tunnels carved up to 100 feet underground. It was really cool to see, and Pierre and I, being mining engineers were intrigued by the ventilation and how they essentially mined tons of v...

After the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill, we made our way past the wedding cake to the Pantheon. Built around 100 or 125 AD, the dome is huge, and the single ray of sunlight that illuminates the interior on a bright day like today is something to see. The dome was constructed in a sophisticated way, with the walls measuring 6 meters thick at the base, tapering to less than a meter thick at the top. Phenomenal. After the Pantheon, we snagged some f...

Busy day today. We got up relatively early again and walked down to the Colosseum, which is absolutely massive. Went inside and spent about an hour exploring and imagining what it looked like in the period in which it was built. Very, very cool. After that, we went over a block or so to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill to experience that.. Again, we wandered and looked around on our own. It's crazy to see how so much of it has fallen into rubble, but the little ...

Went out to Carlo and Marilyn's for the evening. They showed us their home and community in Axa, which would be best classified as a suburb of Rome. We took a quick drive to the ocean, just ten minutes away, to see the Roman version of a beach getaway, with dozens of beach resorts lining the dark sand. For now, the beach was deserted, but it gets heavy traffic on weekends and during beach season. After meeting my cousin Barbara (for the first time in fifteen year...

Got up relatively early today, ate breakfast, and caught the Metro down to the Vatican. The Metro was crazy busy.. Didn't need to hold onto a rail, and that was after waiting for three trains! Got to the Vatican, and made our way past the dozens of people trying to sell tours and umbrellas, with the sky giving the threat of rain. Got to St Peter's Square, which is absolutely massive.. Took a look around, then stood in line for forty five minutes to get to the B...