Rome Sweet Home: Part 2

The next day was Thanksgiving and Hannah's birthday so we decided to take it easy.  We have been to Rome before, and, although have certainly not seen everything we want to see, we plan on going back while living in Europe so we didn't feel like this was the trip to be going nonstop sight-seeing.  Bobby's godparents live close to Rome and will also be making more trips there so no one was missing out having a day off.  We, crazily, had planned a mini Thanksgiving meal to make that day and hang out around the house.  Hannah, Shelby, and I went out for coffee/gelato and stopped at a souvenir shop, but that was it.  We made a turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, carrots, gravy, and cranberry sauce.  Hannah got to open a few gifts after that.

The next day we decided to go shopping a little and see the San Callisto Catacombs.  We had intended to visit a few other sites on our way back if there was time, but the day once again disappeared before our very eyes.  This time it was mostly due to a bus strike that had us waiting forever at multiple stops to try to get to the catacombs outside the city.  We did eventually get there though, and, boy, was it worth it!

Here we are walking up to the catacombs.

Catacombs are underground graveyards basically that keep getting deeper the more people that have to be buried there.  So the oldest graves are at the top on first level.  The catacombs were where many early Christians had Mass during the time when Christianity was illegal and punishable by death.  It was a safe place because the Romans respected the dead enough to not go into these tombs to arrest the Christians. There were several famous popes that were buried in these particular catacombs as well as St. Cecilia.  I mentioned before the meaning behind Bobby's full name, Robert Cecil.  Cecil was first after my grandfather Cecil Miller, but it is also after Saint Cecilia.  I got a small medal of St. Cecilia with dirt from the catacombs in it to use in Bobby's room and to give to him one day.

This is the exit from the catacombs because no photography was allowed inside.

This is the grounds above the catacombs.

Here we have a photograph of the cold and tired family as it was starting to get dark.  The flash really makes it look like the middle of the day, but we went into the gift shop and came out to complete darkness.

For lunch that day we had fried pizzas which were only three Euro each.  For dinner, Shelby and I went out from the apartment alone for her birthday dinner.  There were lots of celebrations on this trip!  We shared a caprese salad and a main dish, and then we each had our own pasta.  It was delicious and the waiter was very sweet trying to practice his English with us even though Shelby was more than willing to practice her Italian.

It was a very nice day despite the mess with the buses.  We went to bed with sore legs, feet, and, for the three of us who carried babies or toddlers in carriers the whole day again, sore backs.