Church tour

It was an hour later today, so it was 11am by the time we straggled out the door. But it was a beautiful, warm, and sunny day for our "church tour." First, we hit Santa Maria di Vittorio so that Larry and the kids could see the famous and amazing sculpture of Santa Teresa in Ecstasy by Bernini. Then, we drove to San Pietro in Vincoli to see the Moses by Michaelangelo. The sculpture dates from 1515 and was originally intended as part of a 40 statue funeral monument for Pope Julius II. Perhaps it's appropriate that it was never completed since Michaelangelo didn't like this Pope too much.

By now it was time to feed the kids, mainly to keep Avery at bay. We stopped at one of those dime-a-dozen pizza by the slice places down the the street from our last stop: Santa Maria Maggiore. The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the five great ancient basilicas of Rome and sits at the highest point upon the Esquiline hill. Its origins go back to the 4th century. Today, its 18th century facade conceals a well preserved Byzantine interior. Inside we marveled at the gilded coffered ceiling, and at the incredible 5th century mosaics depicting scenes from the life of Christ on the triumphal arch above the main altar. Below the altar is an enormous, kneeling statue of Pope Pius IX. Beneath this are the relics of St. Jerome (who died in 420 AD) who is buried in the Bethlehem crypt. The basilica also has many chapels including the heavily decorated Capella Paolina which houses the tomb of Pope Paul V (1552 - 1621) and his predecessor Clement the VIII. The Borghese family of arms, the eagle and the dragons, are featured. Santa Maria Maggiore has its own Capella Sistina near which Bernini and his family members are buried. Unfortunately, it was time for Avery to get outside so we missed this funerary chapel. Credit must be given, however, for Avery's impressive performance inside the churches. For some reason, inside of a church, he respects the sanctity of the place and keeps his voice down.

As a finale, we took Larry to see the Trevi Fountain; also a kid favorite, especially when there is a gelato stop included. It was a full day, but still Josh drove over to the Foro Olympico near our house to show Larry and Charlotte the old Olympic stadium, the entrance lined with imposing marble statues of ancient roman athletes and we also had a glimpse of the swimming pool.

Now it was time for everyone to have a little rest. Later, Morris came over to babysit for the kids so we could take Larry out for his last evening in Rome. The idea was to have a stroll (una passegiata), which we did; to have dinner, which we did; and then to go see the Ara Pacis which is being kept open late the last weekend of the month for a special viewing with the original colors projected onto the reliefs. We walked around the Ara Pacis building and saw the color projection from outside, but we never went in. The evening had become a bit strained. When the check had arrived after dinner, it sat on the table for an awkward period of time before we picked up the tab, again. I realized that apart from one dinner, we had either cooked and served Larry in our home, or taken him out to dinner for 10 of 11 evenings -- and often without even acknowledgement. It was an expensive visit.