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Here’s one tale we’d heard about Italy that proved to be absolutely true: that they would go bonkers over a baby. And they did! So much so that Michael the Baby had to institute a "Please, no photographs" policy: No, not really. But it was true that almost everywhere, the baby got attention. "è bello"…

No way you can do 9 days in Rome with five people, two of them little, and stay in a hotel room. My very-brief research showed me that anything even approaching the hotel standards we spoiled Americans are used to with our Residence Inns, for example, would be quite costly and probably really hard to…

Yes, we really were there:

Those of you who have been reading this blog know that I’ve been preparing for this trip for a while, partly through reading some more-or-less classic guide works, and partly through pouring over travel discussion board on the Internet. I wasn’t too worried about the trip, but I did have a few concerns…crime, etc. Well,…

Such a small world, eh? Here’s a photo of Joseph and Michael playing in the gravel in front of the Basilica of Constantine and/or Maxentius at the Forum: It had taken us a few minutes to figure out what the structure was, for it really wasn’t clear in any of our guidebooks. A family wandered…

We left Rome at 11:15 their time, which means we had been up since around 1 AM eastern. We finally got back to our house about 11:30 pm eastern – about 24 hours after we got up. Michael the Dad slept for a while on the plane from Rome to the US, both boys slept…

Actually, this was the Angelus, this past Sunday. Katie and the Pope, aka Batman:: There are other photos, from last Wednesday’s General Audience, but those are on Michael’s camera. He got some excellent shots…Pope didn’t pick up our baby, though!

Michael the Baby, here seen in his backpack, aka, the Cross (for those who trudged through Rome with it on their backs – Michael 80% of the time, and me the rest)…got quite, er, attached to the poles on the buses and the Metro. If there was one in sight, he insisted on hanging on…

After seeing the Pope at the Angelus for the first time, Sunday before last, Joseph concluded: "He’s Batman!" (You know…cape. Etc.) After seeing the Pope come through the crowd at the General Audience last Wednesday, Joseph concluded about the Popemobile: "It’s a Hot Wheels!" Joseph, after seeing various depictions of Popes in the old tiara……

I’m not going to attempt a day-by-day trip report. I don’t think that’s how I’ll remember this trip anyway. I’m just going to sort of mentally drift through Rome, picking sites and experiences as they come to me. Oh, and…we’re back!
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