A busy day

Today was the first day of Linda and Bill's visit to Rome.  I picked them up at the airport, using the train last night--a surprisingly smooth experience, considering how often things go wrong when using the Italian transportation system.  A train ride, a tram ride and walk later, we were home, where Laura had breaded pork and breaded chicken waiting.  We enjoyed being reunited, and Bill and Linda were in surprisingly good shape, considering they had been travelling 24 hours  We had intended to let them sleep it off today, but they were good to go this morning, so we got an "early" start at 9:30, and went in search of the phantom bus 118 to the S. Calixtus Catacombs, after a traditional Italian breakfast, which, due to the early hour, I had to buy at the alimentaire instead of the usual grocery store, which opens later.  We certainly had plenty of breakfast:  I am ever puzzled by having to order in Italian and metric, so when I asked for 500 grams of salami and 500 grams of prosciutto, the proprietor probably did a gleeful jig behind the counter, as he dutifully sliced and wrapped 20 Euro worth of meat!  Note to self:  in future, remember that a kilogram is about the size of a 2 lb block of cheese and adjust your order accordingly.  The breakfast having been dispatched, we headed off to find the bus.  This time we used the Petroselli stop, and amazingly, the bus arrived!  We had the bus all to ourselves for most of the ride to the Catacombs, and encountered no problems, which was good as I realized half way there that I had only purchased five tickets and I actually needed 6.  Had we been caught, the fine is 50 Euros per person, payable in cash!  Once at the catacombs, we joined an English-language tour, led by a Silesian priest with a Welsh accent.  To call it English is to be generous as I understood about 2 of every three words, due to his thick accent!  What we did understand was very interesting, however.  The girls were horrified to learn of the pagan practice of infanticide and how the early Christians would try to rescue abandoned children or at least provide the with a Christian burial.  It was also interesting to learn that various popes and bishops and other martys were interred in the catacombs, as they were hunted down during the imperial persecutions and killed for the faith, with Sixtus II being the most notable death, having been caught by Valerian soldiers celebrating mass in the catacombs, a crime for which he was tried and executed the same day.  The strength of their belief is truly humbling.  Cecily was impressed to find out that the Catacombs was the original burial place of S. Cecilia, whose house (now a cathedral) we visited yesterday.  We learned about more about the famous statue by Stefano Maderno that we saw yesterday at the basilica.  S. Cecilia is depicted with one finger raised on the left hand and three raised on the right--symbolizing her belief in one good who is represented in the trinity.  It was a cool way to connect art to theology to a personal namesake for Cecily.  Post catacombs, we took the bus to St. John Lateran where Meredith showed Bill and Linda around, doing a passable job of tour guiding and describing the stories behind each of the apostles, represented as giant statues lining the main part of the basilica.  We decided next to go to Termini to buy weekly transportation passes.  This was no small thing, since everyone hates the hustle and bustle of Termini and despises the pickpockets.  As we were buying our one-ways, however, we were delighted to find that the passses are also available at the S. Giovanni metro from the vending machine. Unfortunately, it didn't take a card, but we were able to scrape together the cash to conclude the purchase, saving us, we thought, from the inTERMINIble trip! (Oh, that was truly an awful pun).  Transit passes in hand, we decided to go to Colosseo and go in search of S. Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains).  Unfortunately, that trip required us to pass through Termini, but at least the stop was brief.  We went for lunch on the way, and found ourselves stuck in a small back room of a local trattoria.  I swear it was 120 in there, making even the 95 degree outside look reasonable.  Pizza, water, prosecco and soft drinks later were were back on our feet.  We found the church (closed until 3, of course) and eventually admired the Michaelangelo statue of Moses inside as well as the "chains" restored to Rome by Constantine's mother, S. Helena. Had interesting conversations with both Olivia and Meredith about faith in general and how nothing is certain in religion and doubt is a crucial part of the faith equation.  Lot's of learning going on there today.  Afterwards, we trudged through the hot sun, back to the apartment for a short R&R before continuing to explore our neighborhood and do so grocery shopping--always a cultural experience. Took Linda to S. Maria di Trastevere and later took Meredith to the piazza for the Friday evening neighborhood block party.  Meredith and I admired a trio playing an acccordion, a bass and a "cimbale"--in American, a hammered dulcimer.  That was truly amazing.  We also encountered two Hungarians teaching children (and adults) how to play with sticks and make them do aerial tricks.  Meredith had more fun in that square than we've had since we arrived in Rome, and insisted on bringing back Cecily and Uncle Bill later, keeping us out until 10:30 watching a fire-eater, a spraypaint artist and our trio and playing with sticks and plastic things shot into the sky.  Cecily decided she wanted one of the spray-paint artists' paintings and to my delight, managed to negotiate her first foreign transaction with no help from Dad.  If they weren't converted to the delights of Europe before, they certainly were by the end of today!  Tomorrow:  more sightseeing, but perhaps a little less aggressive start in the morning.