HOPE IN HUNGARY: Rome

After the graduation ceremony of the "leaving" students on Saturday, and a celebration dinner with the family of our student/friend Szilvi who graduated, we flew to Rome for a three-day holiday. There were no classes scheduled for the first three days of this week, so we took advantage of the time off. Plus, we decided that this would be our last big-city visit while still in Europe.

On Sunday, our first day, we braved the rainy weather and headed for St. Peter's Basilica, to meet with Pope Francis, who apparently did not get our email and therefore did not have us on his guest list. We joined the thousands of other umbrella-ed devotees, and had a great view of the big screen. We were probably a quarter-mile away from the big proceedings, but when then pope-mobile made its way into our area, we were able to hear the cheering get louder as the pope approached. Although we report with tongue in cheek, we really enjoyed this first part of our day.

We left with the masses, while it still rained, and walked the kilometer back to the metro station.

Next stop: Trevi Fountain.

We decided to walk around and just see things as they came.

It's such a beautiful city with so much to see at every turn.

At about three o'clock we found ourselves in Venezia Piazza, where this big building houses the Museo Sacrario delle Bandiere. Of particular interest is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the top of the steps. At this point the sun began to shine, and we dried out and got quite warm very quickly.

Heading around the corner, we climbed the many steps to the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. Someone with a ton of euros was getting married in this beautiful church. There were 32 of these eight-foot tall urns of white roses and orchids. The bride or groom must also have required tight security, as there were about twenty suited men with the characteristic ear pieces.

The statue of Remus and Romulus, the legendary twins of Mars and Rhea.

Romulus made himself king after killing Remus, and that is where Rome got its name.

Then we found our way to the Via dei Fori Imperiali, the major thoroughfare that runs through the amazing ruins of first century Rome. Everywhere we turned there was well-preserved evidence of the ancient Roman civilization.

The Colosseum.

The arch of Constantine.

On the second day we toured the Basilica at St. Peter's Square. To get in you must go through a security check. We were surprised at how quickly they processed so many people. Once inside you can walk around as long as you want to see all the beautiful paintings and sculptures.

We were very impressed by our visit to the Pantheon. The Pantheon was built in 126 a.d. and has been in continuous use since that time. Since the 7th century it has been a Roman Catholic Church.

All the bronze on the inside and outside of the building was removed and melted down in the 15th century to build the altar in St Peter's Basilica by Pope Urban VIII.

The pantheon's dome is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. It has a hole that is open in the center and has a diameter of 27 feet.

Piazza Navona.

Castel Sant' Angelo, formerly Hadrian's Mauseleum

Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. There were very few people exploring this huge edifice.

which is the burial place of St. Paul

St. Paul's Within the Walls.

This is an Episcopal church built in the late 1800's. We had read that the mosaics were so beautiful, so we had been trying to find this church. But it wasn't until we were on our way to catch our bus to the airport that we "happened on it". It was probably the most beautiful of all the churches that we entered.