2026 - Rome Day 1 and 2 February 25-26

 

After parking at the Park and Fly we hopped on the shuttle

Walking through the airport

Then we waited in the airport.... and waited.... and waited.

Can't see it too well but now I guess they make

luggage tots can ride on!

All cozy for a long flight.

We flew direct Chicago to Rome, Italy

snack

dinner choices

Paris I believe

Customs went well, then we met our drivers

who shuttled us to our hotel. It was only abut 8 am

Rome time so we had a full day ahead of us yet.

Who sleeps on an airplane?

Drive by St. Paul's outside the walls

Pyramid of Cestius - yes, his tomb

obviously he had a fascination for Eygptian ways

First glimpse of the Colosseum

We were up some 5 flights of stairs

I believe it was 100 stairs up

or take the lift which fit 3 of us.

Hungry

Went to one of our favorite churches

Church of St. Praesedes

This is a piece of the pillar Christ was attached to

and it is all banged up from the weapons

close up of the pillar

This is the Church of St. Alphonsus with 
icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help

This was the hotel Aragorn and I stayed in twice

We could look out our window and see St. Mary Major

St. Mary Major

Need to go through security to get inside

This beautiful reliquary holds 5 pieces of wood

from the crib of Christ (manger)

This is where Pope Francis is buried

May he rest in peace

At this point we split off and some went back to the hotel

and I took Merry, Bilbo, and Rosie to make a further trek

Parking is unbelievable

Sancta Scala

Holy Stairs

brought from Jerusalem to Rome by St. Helen

Constantine's mother

28 marble steps from Pontius Pilate's palace

that Our Lord walked up during His Passion

St. John Lateran major Basilica

High Altar contain the skulls of St. Peter and St. Paul

Inside the altar is a wooden altar used by early popes

including St. Peter

Pope Martin V, popular place for people to leave coins

Peter and St. Peter

Side view of Scala Sancta

Outside of St. John Lateran

I wish we had gotten to see the Baptistry as it is fascinating

The wall

Walking. I took a nasty very ungraceful fall

after tripping on an uneven pathway.

Sancta Croce in Jerusalem

Relics in this church are:

fragments of the True Cross, a nail from the crucifixion, 2 thorns

the finger of St. Thomas

hotel

Out for a walk

Someone lives under that blanket.

Let's just say there are alot of steps in Rome

Trajan's baths

Aragorn and I have eaten at this amazing Roman restaurant many times

This time we just said bring food and indeed he did.

La Forchetta d'Oro

Painter!

orange trees through the wall