Bugiarda!

(Liar!)

I guess I was lying when I said I get enough sleep, exercise regularly and eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. La Bocca della Verita' (Mouth of Truth) bit down on my hand! Saturday was a nice sunny day so I took a long walk. I visited Santa Maria in Cosmedin church (pictured with the fountain of Piazza Bocca della Verita' in front of it). The Bocca della Verita' sits against the wall under the porch outside the church. I found an empty bench in the Piazza and sat there for about 30 minutes people watching. On the walk to the church I also passed two small Roman temples still standing, believed to be a temple of Vesta



(round) and a temple of Castor and Pollux (both pictured at bottom).

Another day I walked around my own neighborhood. Behind the Pantheon is Via Del Pie Di Marmo. It has The Pie' di Marmo (The Foot of Marmo). An ancient marble foot that is probably part of a giant statue from the temple to the Egyptian goddess Isis. Wow! I thought my women's size 8.5 were big... she had REALLY big feet!! (wink)

I also visited in this area the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva...the only Gothic church in Rome I believe...although you wouldn't know it from the facade due to a revisions years ago. Under the altar are relics of St. Catherine of Siena. You can see on the square in front of the church is a Bernini sculpture. OK...Bernini...man you know I love ya...but what's up with the elephant holding up the Egyptian obelisk????

Last night (Sunday) at All Saints' Anglican Church there was an Ecumenical Service of the Word for The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It was sponsored by churches together in Rome (the

Ecumenical Gathering of English Language Christian Churches in Rome). There were choirs and pastors from various Christian churches but Santa Susanna's own Fr. Greg was asked to be the guest preacher and gave the sermon. It was a very lovely evening. I've attached a picture of the various clergy in front of All Saints' Anglican Church.

One morning I went to catch the History of Rome at the Time Elevator. The time elevator is a tourist attraction where they show an Imax type show while you are sitting in the seats that move and shift to add to the effect of realism. It was actually a pretty good brief history of Rome. Funny....at one part they were discussing the the black plague. They were showing rats because they were believed to have been the means to spread it around to the people. They showed a rat climbing up the leg of a man and at the same time they blew puffs of air at our legs.

I jumped and actually almost screamed! It was so funny! At the end they showed different pictures of modern day Rome...the people, the fountains, the churches, the restaurants, the sights etc. and I felt a little sentimental... I got a little choked up. I don't want to leave!!! (grin) Roma definitely holds a special place in my heart.

Another day I stumbled upon the Area Archelogica del Teatro Di Marcello e Del Protico D'Ottava. It is archeological area with old ruins etc. It is still amazing to me every time I see the different ancient structures and ruins. It takes my breath away every time. This time just seeing broken columns (some very ornate) really captured my attention. I also stumbled upon a man giving an impromptu act of a play in Italian inside one of the arches of the old structures. You can't just plan these moments. Wonderful!

The sign on that piece of stone says "Frammenti Architettonici Da Via Del Portico D'Ottavia. Provenienti Dalle Demolizioni Degli edifici del ghetto." It is a fragment found during the demolition of the buildings of the ghetto.