Day 1: Rome

Meredith and I started the day winding our way through the twisting streets and alleys of the Trastevere, getting list for while and stopping in at the neighborhood Church of Santa Maria a Trastevere--one of and possibly the oldest churches in Rome, dating back to around 300.  It was a joy to watch Meredith's eyes light up as we entered this massive and gilded space.  Later we brought Mom and sisters, who were equally delighted.  Cecily's observation, typically pointed:  "They build much better churches here."  They are seeing a lot of them since we also stopped in at S. Carlo ai Catinari, Santa Maria Soprano Minerva and S Crisigono on our walk about.  We participated in lighting of candles for souls at S. Carlo, which had a deep effect on Medredith and in which Cecily enthusiastically engaged.  Olivia got a physics lesson on the effects of convergence as we stared at an oculus overhead and debated it's diameter.  She was also wowed by the beatiful deep blue frescos at Minerva and is prepared to paint her ceiling, if only she could find some Lapis Lazuli laying around.  We got  the Pantheon only to find it closed, but made up for it with pizza, gelato and a free cello concert in the piazza.  The girls also enjoyed watching the ferile cats play among the ruins.   Quite by accident we came across a free concert which included the Youth Choir of Central Oregon.  We even met a  chaperone, Kathy Smith, with whom Laura had worked.  Small world.  The day also include multiple trips to the grocery, a lesson in haggling with street vendors that left the girls fascinated by Mom's and Dad's play-acting skills and a lesson in the vagaries of Rome transit.  (Suffice to say that even with a transit ticket, we chose to walk home!)  Since my baggage is still lost, I had to buy all new toiletries.  That's an experience in another language.  Let's just say the crema di barba may look like toothpaste but it's actually a product for face care. As I wait for clothes (three days, they say), we are washing the same outfit every night.  I feel like a Russian oligarch sitting around in the sauna swathed in my bath towels every night waiting for the clothes to re-emerge.  More sightseeing today, but we are saving the big stuff for Linda and Bill's arrival in a week.