Last Day in Rome

Our last day in Rome; the last day of our trip. Bittersweet, it is. I'm looking forward to being in one place (and my own bed) and at the same time, I'm relishing all the many good moments Doug and I had here in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy. It was wonderful to see Doug's high school friends, all but one of whom has visited us in Reedley. The train rides and our Eurail Pass served us well and were so enjoyable. The cathedrals and churches and stained glass windows inspired a sense of awe. The unexpected way this became a "Mennonite/Anabaptist tour" was a pleasant surprise, a confirmation of where we came from and who I am in this world.

Today, on our last day, we visited the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. A good way to end our trip. The Sistine Chapel, with Michaelangelo's ceiling is difficult to describe and no photos are allowed. The crowd kind of got to me, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything. I loved the Hall of Maps -- all 40 frescoed maps. They were created between 1580 and 1583, commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII. The geographer Ignazio Danti designed them and other artists helped paint them. They showed the skyline of each town and geographic features. I loved them.

With that, this is my final post. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Our flight out of Rome (on American Airlines) is delayed by an hour and a half, which means we'll get to Dallas-Fort Worth too late to catch our flight to Fresno. But if trips teach a person anything, it's that things happen and you have to know how to roll with the punches. We'll cross that bridge when we get there.

(If you look closely here, you can see the outline/skyline of towns.)

(In the early 1500s they believed in strange sea creatures/monsters out where in the ocean about which they knew so little yet. On maps they often wrote "here be dragons" about areas unknown and unexplored by Europeans.)

(I liked this. Near the Vatican, outside the walls, was this station. You could refill water bottles with either plain water or mineral water. Free. The other side had places to charge phones.)