Rome

Our first day in Rome was the most grueling day of the trip.  I mean, we saw some amazing things, but the pace nearly killed us.  And again, we are some of the youngest people on the trip!

We disembarked from the ship and loaded our luggage onto a bus.  Our first stop was at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Wall.  This is the traditional burial place of Paul.  It is "Outside the Wall" because when he died, bodies were not permitted to be buried within the city walls of Rome.  The Basilica is huge and beautiful, like all the churches we have seen on this trip. But there was something very moving and solemn about standing in front of the place where Paul's body is buried.  Our group stopped in this place and had a prayer together - remembering all that Paul endured for the sake of the Gospel and offering ourselves in that purpose as well.  It was essentially the culmination of our study of Paul and it was a fitting place of closure.

Next we went on a walking tour of ancient Rome. I can't even tell you all the things we saw, except that it felt like we saw ALL the things.  I know we saw the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.

We were so exhausted that many of us considered skipping out of dinner when we heard we would have to get back on the bus to drive to the restaurant.  But fortunately, most of us rallied and we had a wonderful evening of Italian food and fun opera.  Clif was even part of the show when a singer in a red dress drew a heart on his head in lipstick :-)