November 1st, 2008 is the day we finally began our Mediterranean vacation including a wonderful cruise and trips to cities in Italy. We wanted to do something special to help celebrate my 60th birthday and since I had most of my life wanted to go to Italy we felt this would certainly be the ticket to a grand celebration. The red-eye flight to Rome was not the most pleasant experience but I have to say it was worth the sleepless night with the worst leg twitching had by 
both Teri and me. We even took sleeping pills that only made us want to sleep even more but sadly we could not. There were, if I remember right, 22 of us on this trip including 
Hope and Larry Fredrickson, Scott and Lauri Fredrickson, Leo and Barbara Fredrickson, Bobby 
ST. John and her daughter Kristi, Becky and John Wyatt, Brad and Lorraine Janeway, Kandi and Rick Hanson, Hal and Joanne Salway, Tara and Lance Brooks, Rick and Iva Curry and Teri and me. I think I got them all and that count does come to 22... Sorry if I spelled any of your names wrong. Our first nights were spent in a fine little hotel that although it was OK, was nothing to write home about. Not a problem since the trip was not about the hotel rooms, although we did later stay in some pretty nice ones. Fortunately we got over or really didn't experience any jet-lag so we were in great shape to head out on the subway in search of the Roman coliseum. The subway ride was an adventure all alone and we expec
ted that on leaving the subway station we would have a good walk before actually seeing the coliseum but to our amazement as we ventured back to the surface and opened the doors of the subway station the coliseum stood proudly in front of us. I cannot even begin to adequately describe my wonder in actually being there and seeing it with my own eyes. I had longed to see it since I was in grade school and it certainly did not disappoint. We took a guided tour with Brad and Lorraine learning much of the construction and use of this monument to the ambitions and tragedies of our race. As amazing as this structure is it is also very sad to think about those many people that were killed there for the perverse entertainment of the Roman citizens. Following our tour we went to do a tour of Palatino, another marvel of ancient times. There is so much history on and beneath that hill where buildings were built u
pon buildings covering a very long period of history. There is even a palace or more accurately named a summer home of Mussolini, the WWII buddy of Hitler. (It's the large white building below.) One surprise I had was to realize just how much of ancient Rome still exists and is in use today. It is amazing to walk into and see buildings that are two and three thousand years old especially whe
n 
the 'old' buildings in North America are no more than two or three hundred years old. Also 
taking advantage of the subway system we visited places like the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the famous Roman fountain, got to eat at a little sidewalk cafe and ate chestnuts roasted on a street corner. We did a lot of walking, went into several Basilicas and just enjoyed Rome very much. 
both Teri and me. We even took sleeping pills that only made us want to sleep even more but sadly we could not. There were, if I remember right, 22 of us on this trip including 
Hope and Larry Fredrickson, Scott and Lauri Fredrickson, Leo and Barbara Fredrickson, Bobby 
ST. John and her daughter Kristi, Becky and John Wyatt, Brad and Lorraine Janeway, Kandi and Rick Hanson, Hal and Joanne Salway, Tara and Lance Brooks, Rick and Iva Curry and Teri and me. I think I got them all and that count does come to 22... Sorry if I spelled any of your names wrong. Our first nights were spent in a fine little hotel that although it was OK, was nothing to write home about. Not a problem since the trip was not about the hotel rooms, although we did later stay in some pretty nice ones. Fortunately we got over or really didn't experience any jet-lag so we were in great shape to head out on the subway in search of the Roman coliseum. The subway ride was an adventure all alone and we expec
ted that on leaving the subway station we would have a good walk before actually seeing the coliseum but to our amazement as we ventured back to the surface and opened the doors of the subway station the coliseum stood proudly in front of us. I cannot even begin to adequately describe my wonder in actually being there and seeing it with my own eyes. I had longed to see it since I was in grade school and it certainly did not disappoint. We took a guided tour with Brad and Lorraine learning much of the construction and use of this monument to the ambitions and tragedies of our race. As amazing as this structure is it is also very sad to think about those many people that were killed there for the perverse entertainment of the Roman citizens. Following our tour we went to do a tour of Palatino, another marvel of ancient times. There is so much history on and beneath that hill where buildings were built u
pon buildings covering a very long period of history. There is even a palace or more accurately named a summer home of Mussolini, the WWII buddy of Hitler. (It's the large white building below.) One surprise I had was to realize just how much of ancient Rome still exists and is in use today. It is amazing to walk into and see buildings that are two and three thousand years old especially whe
n 
the 'old' buildings in North America are no more than two or three hundred years old. Also 
taking advantage of the subway system we visited places like the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, the famous Roman fountain, got to eat at a little sidewalk cafe and ate chestnuts roasted on a street corner. We did a lot of walking, went into several Basilicas and just enjoyed Rome very much. 
We are so grateful to Hope who put this whole trip together and kept us on track and organized during the whole trip. These notes and pictures just scratches the surface of our trip so to follow in future posts will be photos and information of more of the vacation.
