Rome At Last !!!

The fatigue from the long journey from San Francisco prevented us to follow the itinerary which proposed an afternoon visit to the Vatican. We spent the rest of September 2,2009, our first day in Rome inside our quarters. The evening was made eventful by Beth hosting our first dinner together with her Cup-O-Noodles. Soup and noodles never tasted that good! The laughter and camaraderie during the modest repast paled, by comparison, any banquet of fine cuisine. Pat took pictures and video for posterity.

" Thank you, Grace," was the refrain from everyone in the group the next morning. Why? Firstly, because the ECO Hotel was a recent construction so that the reasonably-sized, comfortable bedrooms and picture-perfect bathrooms had matching color scheme throughout. Secondly, and perhaps, more importantly, because we were offered a free buffet breakfast during our stay. There was a generous supply of Italian meat, cold cuts, bread, beverage, desserts, fruits, etc. We could not resist the temptation to pack sandwich or fruit for the mid morning snack. What a big savings the free buffet breakfast offered us. God is so good!

True to form, we, "budget travelers," decided to use public transport in going to the Vatica since the ECO Hotel was some distance from the center of the city. We bought 4 Euros worth of bus tickets from a "Tabaco", a small general merchandise store. The kind, elderly man and woman,
presumably the shop owners, gave us instructions on where to get on and off the bus for St.Peter's Basilica.

"Remember the 14th bustop," the old woman reminded us with her right forefinger up in the airr. As we turned to leave saying, "Grazie, Grazie," I quickly associated the information with the Stations of the Cross - 14. I knew that would help me remember.

I had been to the Vatican before when tour buses would take pilgrims almost at the doorstep of St. Peter's Basilica. But now, I was supposed to act as tour guide but the row of tall buildings and shops obscured the outline of the famous dome. As usual, I prayed for help and quoted one of my favorite Bible passages, " I sought the Lord and He answered me, He freed me from all my fears." In an instant, I heard Beth's voice talking with someone, a nun -a Filipino nun! My chest lowered and my shoulders eased back as I heaved a big sigh of relief, "Thank you, Lord, thank you!"

The nun took us from the Vaticano Bustop to the Piazza of St. Peter's. It was quite a walk
but when we entered the confines of the piazza with the majestic dome on top of the Sanctuary of the Roman Catholic World at a dustance, our hearts must have marched to loud martial music.In fact, through the corner of my eye, I saw the wide-eyed, jaw-dropping look on Edda's face while her feet took lilting giant strides to the rythm in the air. I have seen the panorama unfold before my eyes a number of times but I still manifest the wonder and awe of it all! I guess every Catholic Christian worth his name is affected in the very same way.