We have just finished our second full day in Rome... We did indeed get fairly close to the pope as he drove by in his pope mobile and enjoyed hearing the names of all the pilgrim groups from around the world recognized before a gospel passage was read and then a short homily was given in several languages.
After the papal audience, we went on our arranged Scavi tour and saw the tomb of St. Peter under the basilica. It was very interesting to learn about the history and hear the reasonings on why they believe that the tomb they found is Peter's. The guide was very good at describing the space and orientation of things so we could tell what we were really looking at.
While we were there, we ran into a former teacher (and UD graduate) from the Highlands! She is now an official tour guide in Rome and works with the Vatican - a great contact to have when we come back. She met us for coffee at our hotel this morning and we spent about an hour catching up.
The rest of today was spent with our guide and driver seeing the catacombs outside the city, walking along the Appian way and touring the Bourgese Museum. We saw lots of sculptures by Bernini and paintings by Caravaggio. Our guide was very informative and was able to give the sights and art lots of historical context.
We then caught a high speed evening train to Bologna for the next leg of our journey. We spent the two hour train ride visiting with a couple from Scotland about gardening, composting, fishing, kayaks, and what it is like to be from Texas. Never a dull moment here!
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