Leaving Rome tomorrow morning

We have wrapped up our time in Rome, and we get in a cab to the port tomorrow to board the cruise ship.  It's late right now, so I will do a summary.  Maybe later I'll take time to post more photos, perhaps tomorrow.

1. There is a lot of Roman Catholicism here.  OK, so that seems really obvious, but everywhere there are churches, basilicas, nuns and priests and priests with special robes (maybe bishops?) and people on pilgrimages.  There are empty churches and busy churches.  There is a lot of art in churches, and people buried in the floor, and chapels on the sides of the churches. Vendors sell bobble-head popes and plastic Vatican buildings and refrigerator magnets and scarves.  
2. There is a lot of smoking of cigarettes here in Rome.  
3. There are cool cars here.  Citroens, Alfa-Romeo, and more that Bill can recall but I can't. 
4. There is good food here. We mostly ate in trattorias (casual dining) but had some wonderful food.  
5. They use a different plug here.  I forgot to bring along a converter so had to buy one, which died after a few hours, and got another but there's some problem with using it in our room.  My Mac got down to 4%.  Puts a crimp in my blogging, so sorry I haven't posted pictures. 
6. We took a Food Tour of a neighborhood Trastevere.  It was delightful and delicious - ten stops in all. One was a wine cellar that is housed in what was the oldest synagogue in Europe that still have its original four walls standing. The wine cellar was dark and musty but the wine was delicious. The present owners are prohibited from altering the walls or even dusting the walls. When they dug out the cellar they found some artifacts that are now on display in museums.  Amazing.  
7. Gelato is delicious. 
8. Even the cobblestones here are a dream next to walking the streets in Panajachel.  
9. The Coliseum is amazing.  The Spanish Steps are further away than it looked on a map. 
10. Because we were physically exhausted, we tried to take a taxi and a number of times we were either refused or else shamed out of taking it.  "What? That's just a kilometer away!  Just around the corner!  Just walk!"  Even cabbies refused to take us and pointed up a hill that we should walk.  
11. We met some brothers outside the Coliseum who were doing the public work with the literature.  It was a delight to meet them.  Our exhaustion disappeared and we talked for a half hour or so.  

We did meet a brother (Scottish) who lives here in Rome for 20-something years and who has worked up a tour of Roman sites based on Bible history or prophecy.  Let me know if you'd like the contact information for your next trip to Rome!

We're having a great time, and eager to get on the ship tomorrow!  We send our love.