Una Bella Passeggiata...( a beautiful walk)...

The other day I went on a Spiritual Walking Tour with Fr. Greg and a few others from Santa Susanna. It was only 4 of us so we were able to move around with ease. To get to Piazza Del Campidoglio where we started the tour, from my apartment I had to walk down Via del Corso (lots of shopping ladies) down to Piazza Venezia. It has the dominating, dazzingly white, theatrical Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II (aka The Wedding Cake).

We climbed the stairs to The Piazza del Campidoglio to have a great view of the Roman Forum and Michaelangelo's wonderful architecture. He designed the square to look out over the city of Rome like an open terrace and placed on it three magnificent buildings. In Palazzo Nuovo we went into the Capitoline Museum. In Musei Capitolini we saw famous works such as the Capitoline She-Wolf, the Drunken Faun, the Dying Gaul, the original gilded bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius inside (and copy outside in the square) and many more. You really can't appreciate how awesome the Roman Forum is until you see it in person. I've attached some pictures so just eat a piece of pizza and drink a glass of wine while you are looking at them and pretend you are here with me. In the first picture you can see a piece of the Colleseum in the background. In the others is the Arch of Septimius Severus and the remains of the Tempio di Saturno.

Oh, my mom DID get her passport and she arrives Tuesday to spend Thanksgiving week with me here in Rome. She is so excited!! Wow...we have lots to see and do in less than a week!

Oh, I can't leave out the "big" event this weekend...the Tom Cruise wedding...well, I wasn't invited...surprise! but there were "stars" everywhere. The papparazzi was everywhere. I was even caught up in it at the Pantheon Friday. I guess they thought I was "someone"with my sunglasses and American accent...my friend said probably Jada Pinket Smith...yeah, right...It was a little comical to read all the hoopla and hear about the people crowded outside of designer stores etc. to get a glimpse of Brooke Shields etc.