Rome, 1st day, Saturday, March 13

http://
We followed the advice of world travelers and did not sleep, so Saturday was experienced with droopy eyes, but the excitement kept us awake. We had an itinerary from Sister Yvonne Mary, who preplanned our tours. She now works for tourism "division" of the Vatican, so she knows how to plan and what to see! It was awesome! After some looking around our street and St. Peter's, we did the Scavi Tour. Note: I will do my best to represent some of what we learned. I did keep a journal, but my facts may not be perfect. Remember, I was somewhat in Nat'l Board shock with no sleep for about 24 hours. This is a tour of the tombs ("city of the dead") beneath the Basilica that go back to early Roman times, before Constantine. They were not allowed to bury people within the city limits, so this hill was used as burial ground. Within the past 20 years (I think) they have "dug out" this underground city that had been buried itself when Constantine built the first church on this hill. You can not believe how intact these ANCIENT ruins are, with color still on the walls and urns still intact. Our tour guide was a young Italian Archaeologist with 10 years experience there. Mom said it was better than her first time. Enjoy the slideshow! (not allowed to take pictures on that tour) I'm getting closer to figuring out how to embed it, but there are still some technical difficulties. I adjusted the seconds in Google, but it didn't change here. I'll keep working! You get the quick tour...Also, please comment if you'd prefer the album to a slideshow.