The Eternal City

Hello all! So, Rome is AWESOME. We have had such a wonderful day here checking out the Ancient City, including the Fora, the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and a host of other things. We are sad that we only have a day and a half here, but are excited to head out to Tuscany for some R&R. Tomorrow morning, we are going to make a trip across town to Vatican City (closed today as it is Sunday) before heading off to a lovely guesthouse in the country between Florence and Siena near a little town called Certaldo (for those of you like Matt's mom, who want to take out your maps and have a look).

Part of what has made Rome so wonderful today has been the reasonable weather, the fact that it wasn't overly busy and touristed (maybe because it's low season or a Sunday), and Caitlin's knowledge of some of the more interesting landmarks such as the Column of Trajan (which has the Apostle Paul on top and not Trajan, according to Wifey Extraordinaire) and The Arch of Titus (which she explained displayed a relief of the sack of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70). We also saw the exact spot where Brutus offed Julius Caesar, which is now home to close to 50 cats, cared for by a city charity, that freely roam and live in the ruins. Good times.

As always, we miss you all and love you. Thanks to those of you who email us or send us Facebook messages--we really appreaciate hearing from you and hope that you will continue to do so. Until next time...