Arrivederci Italia!
Good-Bye Italy!
Our Last Day in Italia

Our last day in Italy started with our 9:00am reservation to the Borghese Museum (the only museum where we made reservations in advance for our trip). The reservations are required because the museum only lets people in every hour on the hour and the reservation is for a 2-hour window. A rather interesting fact about the Borghese: when Napoleon conquered Rome, he looted this museum taking many of the artifacts to the Louvre in Paris. The Louvre in turn has "loaned back" some of the pieces that were originally here!

After the Borghese, we made our way down ancient Appian Way to one of the Catacombs (making a pit stop at the Garden Ristoro for lunch). The Catacombs are famous because the pagan Romans believed in cremation; the Christians, however, believed in burying their dead. Since Christians weren't allowed to build their cemeteries (and the fact that the ancient Romans didn't believe in having tombs within city walls), the Christians dug these catacombs beneath the city. The Romans persecuted many Christians - one of them being St. Cecilia who was a convert from a wealthy and respected family. She was executed for her crime (Roman men who were condemned had their head completely chopped off, Roman women had their head chopped only halfway). It is said that 1,000 years after her death, her tomb was uncovered and witnessed by Stefano Maderno, a non-Christian. He claimed to have seen Cecilia's body whole and well preserved only to turn to dust just moments later. He made a statue of what he saw - the original is in her church, a copy is in the catacomb we went to.

After the Catacombs, we continued walking down ancient Appian Way to the old city walls (I wouldn't recommend doing this walk as it is not pedestrian friendly - no sidewalks and there are cars going both ways!). We eventually made our way back to the Colosseum and Arch of Constantine, and even went to St. Peter-in-Chains Church (where you will see Michelangelo's Moses which was originally meant for Pope Julius' II tomb but was never completed).

The St. Peter-in-Chains is home to the chains that held St. Peter when he was first captured. He was able to escape when an angel came to him one night and set him free. It is said that when these chains were found, they were broken but when they were put close together, they magically reconnected!

Our last supper in Italy was at the Hostaria Romana and it was a wonderful meal indeed! Like all the other restaurants, we weren't rushed through our meal - we were waiting for our table since 7:30pm and didn't sit until 2 hours later! Great food and great staff - our waiter was so comical he kept trying to give me whiskey! We even met a nice couple from New York while waiting for our table. It turns out that their daughter goes to Pepperdine University (not too far from where we live in California) and is studying abroad in Florence. They were familiar with Santa Monica and even recommended a restaurant Saddle Peak Lodge (it's table 41) near Pepperdine. Coincidentally, it also turns out that: 1) they were staying at the same hotel as us, 2) this night also happened to be their last night, and 3) they were flying out of the same airport at roughly the same time as us (different airline)! Rather interesting wouldn't you say?

See more pics of Day 22

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See more pics of our Italy Vacation:

Day 0 - The Arrival :)
Day 1 - Lake Como: Varenna, Menaggio, Bellagio, and Cadenabbia
Day 2 - Varenna, and Bellagio
Day 3 - Venezia (Venice)
Day 4 - Venezia
Day 5 - Venezia
Day 6 - Venezia
Day 7 - Cinque Terre: Vernazza and Monterosso
Day 8 - Cinque Terre: Corniglia, Manorola, and Riomaggiore
Day 9 - Pisa and Firenze (Florence)
Day 10 - Firenze
Day 11 - Firenze
Day 12 - Firenze and Siena
Day 13 - Siena and San Gimignano
Day 14 - Siena
Day 15 - Sorrento
Day 16 - Sorrento, Amalfi, and Ravello
Day 17 - Sorrento, Ercolano (Herculaneum) and Napoli (Naples)
Day 18 - Sorrento and Pompeii
Day 19 - Roma (Rome)
Day 20 - Roma
Day 21 - Roma

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