When in Rome...

 On our way to Israel Patrick, Mrs. Mom, and I spent three days in Rome.  Unfortunately, our luggage was lost along the way so we ended up spending three days wearing the same clothes.  That certainly didn't stop us from seeing as much of the city as possible though.

Our first day we checked out St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican, which were impressive to say the least.  Every nook and cranny contained some of the most beautiful artwork and detailed architecture I've ever seen.  In fact, one thing we noticed throughout Rome was that you could walk into a building that didn't look like much on the outside and it turned out to be absolutely incredible on the inside.  What was sad to me was that, despite the beauty in the buildings, there was very little true worshipping of God going on.  We observed a strong emphasis on all the saints and relics, but the idea of having a relationship with the Living God seemed to be lacking.

St. Peter's Basilica

Inside St. Peter's

Walking the narrow steps to the Cupola

Incredible view of Rome and the mountains beyond

One afternoon we visited the Colosseum, and I thought it was crazy that a very busy street leads right up to it.  In Rome there is this interesting juxtaposition of ancient and modern.  We would be walking down the street and look to our right and see a city block worth of ruins.  It was always a bit jarring, but very cool.  I can't imagine living in a city so rich with ancient history.

Inside view of the Colosseum

Our friend John had told us to check out the Church of St. Ignatius, and we found it by chance as we wandered the winding streets of the city.  There is an interesting statue tucked away in the back corner of this cathedral.  It's a statue of St. Ignatius (holding the Latin Bible) stepping on Martin Luther's neck, who is holding a copy of the German Bible.  It's a sad but true commentary on the power-weilding of the Roman Catholic church.  It's hard for me to believe how far removed from following Christ the early Catholics really were if they couldn't stand the thought of everyone having access to the scriptures.  We took a picture of Patrick holding his iPhone which has about 100 translations of the Bible on it.  I'm sure Ignatius is turning over in his grave.

We did lots more sight-seeing around town including checking out Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, and the Borghese Museum.  Patrick and I are by no means art history buffs, and we found it rather difficult to appreciate all the awkward nude paintings and sculptures.  Instead we entertained ourselves by coming up with funny captions for some of the more-embarrassing exhibits.  Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures in the museum, so you'll just have to use your imagination.   

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Inside the Pantheon

Rome at sunset

Thankfully we got our luggage the night before we left for Israel.  We took a celebratory photo of the three of us in the dreadful white t-shirts the airline provided for us.  By that point we were just glad to have all our stuff back and ready to be on our way to Jerusalem!  To be continued....

White shirts and a bed full of luggage