A Busy Day

Monday was packed full of sights. In the morning we headed first for Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, the church built over St. Helen's home in Rome in which are contained relics of Christ's Passion; this is probably the closest to the Holy Land that we'll ever come!

From top left: the finger of St. Thomas, pieces of the pillar of scourging, silver plaited thorns from Christ's Crown, particles of the True Cross, a nail, and the Titulus (INRI); also on the left is the cross beam of the Good Thief's cross.

Next, just down the street is the Cathedral of Rome, Mother and Head of all the churches of the world, dedicated to Christ the Savior in honor of Ss. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, usually called simply: St. John Lateran. Inside are the heads of Ss. Peter and Paul.

Lunch: picnic style in front of the Colisseum with bread, wine, and cheese for the parents and biscotti for the baby (well, little child), with apples for dessert.

Since we were so close already, and since most churches are closed in the afternoon until 2:30 or 3:00, we wandered over to the Roman Forum and let Maria run around a bit amidst the ancient ruins. Behind her, you can see the remains of the temple of Vesta in which the virgins kept a fire burning perpetually.

In the afternoon we also visited the church of St. Peter in Chains, in which are housed Michelangelo's Moses and the chains which bound St. Peter while he was imprisoned (both in Jerusalem and in Rome); and St. Mary Major, another of the four Roman basilicas and the largest church dedicated to Mary in the world. Because this post is already running long, we'll let you click over to our Rome album to view more pictures.

Last, but not least, another dinner at Dino and Tony's. Last time we were in Rome we tried a handful of restaurants, but none could hold a candle to the food and service at Dino and Tony's. So this time we went there as often as our budget allowed and ate our other meals as picnics from the grocery store.

Left: Maria slurping her fill of Spaghetti alle vongole veraci (pasta with clams); right: she was quite a hit with the staff, especially Amadeo.