Rome 2023 - Why We're Going ... What We Will Be Doing

Our next adventure, starting tomorrow, is a week in Rome, Italy.  This trip is a bit different for us in that it was not a long term planned event as most of our travel is.  This started in July (I think) when the Wife received an invitation to a former student's ordination as a deacon at the Vatican.  Within a month of receiving the invitation we'd decided to attend, booked flights and a hotel (a B&B actually), and put together an itinerary of things to do prior to attending the ordination.  We're both retired so why wouldn't we?

That is why we are going.  What will we be doing?  We have an itinerary which starts late in the afternoon on the day we arrive (we arrive in Rome at 8:00am) and continues all the way until it's time to go home.  We will see/do the following in roughly this order:

• Nero's Golden House
• The Catacombs 
  • Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini
  • Capuchin crypts
  • Christian catacombs
  • Catacombs of St. Callixtus
  • Ancient underground basilica
  • Loculi burial system
  • Walk a part of the Ancient Appian Way
• The Colosseum  
• Gladiator's Gate Access
• Colosseum Arena Floor
• 1st and 2nd tiers of the arena
• Roman Forum
• Arch of Constantine
• Arch of Titus
• Temple of Julius Caesar
• Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine
• Temple of Antoninus & Faustina
• Vestal Virgins
• Senate House
• Arch of Septimius Severus
• Palatine Hill
• The Vatican Museum
• The Sistine Chapel
• St Peter's Basilica
• Dome Climb
• Hadrian's Tomb
• The Trevi Fountain
• Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore
• The Piazza Navona
• The Pantheon
• Attend an Audience with the Pope (along with a thousand other people most likely)
• The Scavi (Saint Peter's Tomb)

The last two days will be ordination events, Mass, and dinner with the family.

We will be getting around on foot or mass transit (bus or train).  Our hotel is a block from the Vatican Museum, half a mile from the entrance of Saint Peter's Square, and a couple of blocks from train and bus stops.  Our hotel will provide travel to and from the airport.  This is the first time we are travelling internationally just for one city.  Hopefully navigating the rather compact area of central Rome will not be too difficult.

I'm not sure when I will post about this trip.  When we get back it will be less than two weeks before we go to southeast asia.  I will have everything I'll need to post while in Rome but experience has shown this to be a hard thing to do.  I hope I get something posted before November rolls around.

On an aside, I was hoping to meet with one of my gamer friends who lives in Italy but, unfortunately, real life got in the way and our meeting will have to be on some future trip.