The Catacombs, St. Paul Outside the Wall, The Colosseum, and the Roman Forum

Bongiorno! After a long day of travel, we finally made it to our hotel in Rome about 1:30am Saturday. After a short night’s sleep we started our first day, Saturday, June 20 by visiting one of the catacombs of Rome, followed by a visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral Outside the Wall where Paul’s remains are buried, followed by a tour of the Roman Colosseum and the ancient (remains of the) Forum. It was blistering hot! 96 degrees with no shade in the Forum. We then climbed a hill with several switchbacks to go to a restaurant that wasn’t serving because of a wedding! We had to hail a taxi for several who were overheating. It was such a great day (please note sarcasm). We finally walked down hill quite a ways to catch our bus to take us back to the hotel. Nevertheless, spirits were good with little sleep, jet-legged, overheated, hungry, thirsty, and ornery. One can’t help but be overwhelmed with the beauty and magnitude of the place, sites, and its history.