10:43 am

Been a couple days since I last journaled, mostly because of lack of (free) internet here.

The flights were pretty uneventful from Istanbul to Athens, then to Rome. It was beautiful weather, so you could see the Greek Islands, Corinth, and the bottom of the Italy "boot". The kids kept asking how we were going to get from the airport to Anthony's house. I kept saying, "I don't know, but we'll figure it out once we get there". One of the challenges of carting around a big family is definitely transportation. Normally taxis are a great option, but unless you're in a country where there are no rules :-), you can only fit in three or four people and luggage. So you do two taxis (about $120 for a 25 minute ride), or you find some public transportation option.

So we're sitting at the train station waiting for the next train - which in Roma is almost always late, which it wasn't! Add another 20 minutes of walking and we arrive at Anthony's neighbors place (he has the key to his pad). It's around 11pm so we're pretty tired after a long day of traveling, but still a little conversation ensues with Bill Marino. Turns out he's from Detroit and is a big fan of Hockey Night in Canada (go figure). He is also devoutely catholic and came to Rome 20 years ago to dig deeper into Theology, coming from a situation in the USA, as he put it, where the contemporary and traditional streams in the church were causing him confusion. Rome, he described, was his veritable heaven as he studied at one of the colleges in the city.

He goes on to tell us that tomorrow (Monday) is one of the biggest holidays in Rome (the Assumption of Mary) and that NOTHING will be open, "Hope you have some food", which we don't. Thankfully, in his religious zeal, I think he assumed Rome was a little more religiously fanatical than it was, cause there was lots open. By the time Sara and I got back from the store the next morning, everyone was starving.

A little about Anthony Page (whose house we're staying in). Three years ago when Sara and I were last in Rome, we met this young American on the train from Rome to Civiteveccia, and we totally connected. Turns out he was a practicing chiropractor here in Rome. After about an hour of conversation and parting words, Anthony says we should crash at his place in downtown Rome should we ever return. We say, "with our four kids" wink, wink. He says, "of course!". And both Sara and I file that little tidbit away. Now 3 years later, Rome was really not on the original itinerary, but we thought we'd give Anthony a ring anyway and let him know we "might" come. He throws the door wide open, so for an extra few bucks, we plan to make a lay-over in Rome on the way home.

Plans were set, until one month ago, we find out that Anthony will be coming back to the USA to be with his father, who is fighting cancer. However, in a show of incredible generosity and trust, he won't let us change our plans, and insists that we have full run of his place while we are in Rome. You just don't expect this kind of thing in the world we live in, but it's out there.

Anthony lives in an apartment on Via Dacia, No 23. It's about 750 Sq Feet (large for the area), with 11 ft. ceilings. His backporch opens up onto an enclosed courtyard. You could easily have conversations with the other 50 apartments that open up onto the same courtyard. And guess what these places are worth? Bill tells me his apartment is 1M USD. Yikes!!! That's about $1000 per square foot!

After a little breakfast, we start walking in the general direction of the Colosseum. I've been so thankful for the Iphone4. It has a GPS, that works wonders when you're trying to find your way around these massive cities. Yesterday I thought I'd leave it in my pocket for awhile - we ended up walking 4 blocks in the wrong direction! So it's a simply matter of making sure you're walking in the general direction that Iphone is indicating.

In Rome it seems like every corner presents another wonder or ancient ruin of some sort. Because we're a little out of the city center, there are very few tourists and no placards, so you are left to wonder what is what: that old brick wall with shooting holes, that short, squat cairn with a cross above it, a Corinthian pillar standing seemingly alone, and old pieces of marble slabs and pillars littering every park and empty space.

Then we come across a ruin filling a whole square block. It's massive, with an outer wall and colossal inner buildings, with courtyards and gardens throughout. I think, this must be Circus Maximus. Wrong! It's just another ruin, one that I've never heard of so can't even recall the name a day later :-(. It's 36 Euros to get in, so we opt to continue on to grander finds.

And grander finds are in store. The first one kinda sneaks up on you (believe it or not) - you round a corner and there's the Colosseum. Sara's off like a shot and I have to speed walk to catch up. Before you know it, she's in the cue line 20 spaces ahead of me. There's so much to tell as we journey into a discover of ancient Rome, but I'm sure you can google it :-). After spending a couple hours in the Colosseum we walk through the Old Roman Forum, easily a 160 acres of ruins and old buildings, in fantastic shape condidering most of them are from the first century, some older, some newer. It's EASY to get lost in history here and we all imagine what it would have been like when Paul the Apostle journeyed into this very place.

It was supposed to be a meandering day (because we thought everything would be closed), but instead we knock off 3 of our 4 "must sees". The day ends with a trip to the Trevi Fountain, all the kids throw a Euro (yikes) over their left shoulder into the water, which means you'll return to Rome one day ;-). I guess some 10k Euros go into the fountain every day!

By the time we lay our heads down, we are exhausted, and we promise ourselves to take it easier on Tuesday (which we will as it turns out!).