Saturday, June 09, 2007

Down the stretch...

We are seeing the finish line and I think part of us never wants this dream to end. Another part of us is tired as we have moved at a very fast pace and we've seen a ton and walked miles and worn the same shirt 5 days straight. This morning we will head over to the Vatican with hopes of seeing some Michaelangelo art and maybe the pope. By the way, George Bush is in town and yesterday we were standing along the road and heard a bunch of sirens so Kory started filming (Ben loves the European police sirens). Next thing we know, it turns into a huge motorcade and we saw Washington D.C. plates and tons of cars and we know it was Bush's motorcade. It was kind of exciting for a second.

Rome is a fantastic city. Everywhere you walk there are cobblestone streets, barely wide enough to fit one vehicle and thousands of little ristorantes and millions of gelaterias. We have been splurging a bit on the gelati, but it is just so incredibly good. We saw the Colloseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, Campo di Fiori, Piazza del Nuevo, and many other OLD Romans things.

I think we have all gained a higher level of bravery as we try to get around. The guys are no longer afraid to approach almost anyone to inquire as to where in the world we are and how do we get to such and such a place. It's nice to have all the help.

The train ride along the coast yesterday was very cool and afforded us about 4 hours to read and write and talk. We have all read at least one book (Austin studies for M-CATS) and have had great conversations as we've spent many hours "on the road". We are most definitely closer because of this experience and we will take many shared stories with us for the rest of our lives. This once-in-a-lifetime trip has been incredible and we only hope to soak up these last 5 days as much as we can.

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