Ciao all!
This posting is mainly dedicated to our most recent visitors...
My brother Mike and his lovely wife Judy!
As some or all of you may know Mike is a pilot for Delta Airlines and his wife Judy a flight attentant for American Airlines - the reason for the 'layover' title.
Mike and Judy were with us for 9 days and I have to say we had a Great time with them...
As Mike wrote in our guest book - we slept, drank, ate, talked and then did it all over and over again...
Since our guests are seasoned travelers we did not worry too much about jet-lag so when they arrived they settled in and then we hit the ground running!
We started with 'Ron's walking tour' - we went down into the center and started hitting the sights...
The Trevi Fountain, il Vittoriano, lunch at Antoninos, the Pantheon, St. Ignazi and something new...Chiesa Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini (Our Lady of the Conception of the Capuchins - or the Bones Church). The crypt under this church was comissioned by Pope Urban VIII in 1626. His brother was a Capuchin friar and 1631 he order thousands of friars bones exhumed and transferred to the crypt where they were arranged on the walls. As friars from the order passed away - their bones were added to these 'decorations' along with the bones of poor Romans. The result is some eerie yet amazing room designs, as seen below...
It was an amazing day with lots of great photos:
 |
| Coins in the fountain, the wish... |
 |
| ...to come back within 2 years! |
 |
| Judy at Il Vittoriano - nice view... |
 |
| & we saw the changing of the guards! |
 |
| The Bones Church... |
 |
| ...rooms decorated in human bones! |
After a lovely dinner and a good nights sleep - the next day we did something else new to me...
We visited Castel Sant'Angelo! This castle along the Tiber River is amazing for many reasons...
It is the Mausoleum for the Roman Emperor Hadrian (and his family) & it was built back in 130AD. It then, in the 14th century, became a fortress used to protect Popes during times of invasion. It was also used as a prison - this is were Giordano Bruno was inprisoned. He was proclaimed a heritic by the Catholic church because of his scientific theories. He was then burned at the stake in Campo di Fiori (where a statue to him stands today). Today it is a National Museum & it is definitely an amazing place filled with lots of history, beautiful art and great views:
 |
| The Castel Sant'Angelo! |
 |
| Entrance to the castle... |
 |
| Lots of steps inside... |
 |
| the Angel courtyard! |
 |
| ...lots of things to see! |
 |
| View of St. Peters from the castle... |
 |
| & a view down the Tiber river! |
I will not do the blow-by-blow or day-by-day but I will give you a few more high-lights of their stay.
On the weekend we had the chance to visit Castel Gondolfo (the Popes summer residence) and Civita Bagnoregio (a marvelous walled city on a hill in Umbria). Then during the week we had a wonderful lunch at the Hotel Eden and a colorful visit to Campo di Fiori during market time and Piazza Novona.
Take a look:
 |
| The 4 of us at Bagnoregio... |
 |
| and a friend in the city! |
 |
| The bridge to Bagnoregio |
 |
| & local town color! |
 |
| Tom, Judy, Mike & Lake Albano... |
 |
| ...in the cute Castel Gondolfo! |
 |
| Buying meat at Viola... |
 |
| at Campo di Fiori... |
 |
| Inside the Fiori Forno! |
 |
| The market at Campo di Fiori! |
 |
And having the best BLT
at the Eden Terrace Bar! |
Mike & Judy also took time to visit the Vatican Museo, St. Peter's Basilica, the Colloseo, Chiesa St. Clemente and the Roman Forum. We also got together with our friend Diane Seed for a lovely dinner at Da Fortunato.
As you can see in the pictures we had a great time with Mike and Judy - we hope they enjoyed their stay as well. I think they did!
On the home-front, evverything is getting back to normal after our visitors.
- My dear friend Joanne was next to visit but unfortunately there were no seats available on the flight she wished to take. We will keep trying and can't wait for her to arrive!
- The weather here in Rome has quickly turned to fall - it is still beautiful out during the days but starting to get chilly at night. This means the outside garden has come to an end. In the next few weeks I will start to winterize my garden for the coming winter & spring. On that note, I decided to create something new... My indoor Grey Goose Herb Garden - take a look:
 |
| Sage, Rosemary, Oregano & Mint all winter! |
- Ceramics is going well - I recently started on sculpting a bowl and hope to finish that soon. Some of my finished work, I have started making shadow boxes for... more to come!
Everything else is great here - we are well and having fun.
For now, that's all - we wish everyone great fortune and good health...
Ciao for now!
Abbracci a tutti!
Ron & Tom
