2014 - Mediterranean
Day 1 - Madrid, Spain - June 11th
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Our trip started with a little bad luck. There was a storm in Atlanta that kept our plane from being able to take off, so we were sitting on the tarmac for 1.5 hours. Then when we got to Madrid, our suitcase wasn’t there. It didn’t make our connection flight on time, so they sent it to Amsterdam and then on to Madrid. It was scheduled to arrive later that evening. Somehow it mysteriously showed up at the apartment we are staying at and was waiting for us when we got back in the evening. We arrived in Madrid about 10:00 a.m. Mr. and Mrs. Espinoza were there to pick us up. We rode the bus and subway to their apartment and then went to the nearby market and bought some food for lunches and breakfasts. When it was 1:00 p.m., Israel took us to the apartment he rented for us. We dropped off our bags and then went back to his apartment to pick up Beth and the kids. We made lunches to take with us, and head out to see the city. We first stopped at a plaza and ate our lunches, and then went to a museum about the origins of Madrid. It was pretty small but enjoyable. Afterwards we stopped at a little café and had ice cream. It was yummy! It rained off and on for the rest of the evening. We kept dodging the more heavy downfalls in some little shops along the street. We walked to Plaza Mayor. It is the main square in Madrid, where they used to hold the bullfights. Our last stop before heading back to the apartment was the museum Prado. It was huge and had a confusing layout, but it was beautiful and had many nice pieces of art work. We walked back to the apartment in the rain. Israel, Beth and I stopped at a nearby restaurant for dinner. The kids (Megan, Kat, Joseph and Mark) just went back to the apartment and ate there.
![Day 1 - Madrid, Spain - June 11th]()
Day 2 - Madrid, Spain - June 12th
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We took the metro (subway) back to the Espinoza’s apartment and arrived around 9:00 a.m. Israel then made us omelets for breakfast and we bought some chocolate milk the day before so we had that too and it was all delicious! Then we made a lunch and started off our sightseeing around 10:30 a.m. We got on the metro and headed to the main part of the city to the Palace. The Palace was beautiful and there were manicured gardens all around it. There is also a Cathedral next to it and we went inside. Inside were the most beautifully sculpted silver lilies! It was the first cathedral Megan has been inside, and she loved how intricate and ornate and beautiful it was. We walked through a pretty park next to the palace and ate our lunches there. Our plans were to then visit a monastery. When we got there, it was closing for 2 hours, so we decided to walk and shop at a nearby mall until it opened again. Megan and I were looking at jewelry but everything was so expensive. Meg and Kat also went to a pet store and looked at the puppies. Kat was hungry so we sat at a little restaurant in a nearby plaza. Kat and the Espinoza’s ordered some appetizers and drinks and Megan got a lemonade. They shared their appetizers which were a yummy melon with prosciutto on top, some bread and cheese, and fried bread/cheese with ham. I was able to chat with Dave also. We then went back to the monastery, but found out it wasn’t free so it didn’t appeal as much to everyone. And we were also short on time. So we walked to a main shopping area that was covered with blue and white banners. We found some rings that we liked so we bought them. I really enjoy walking around Madrid. The architecture is really beautiful and I loved the plaza’s everywhere. We stopped at a market on our way home to buy dinner ingredients. We bought a turkey breast, veggies and a watermelon and cookies. Israel cooked it up for us and we all inhaled it in 10 minutes. We were very hungry and it tasted delicious. Israel showed Meg and I a way to walk back to our apartment without having to take the metro, so we walked back and it ended up being faster than the metro.
![Day 2 - Madrid, Spain - June 12th]()
Day 3 - Avila, Spain - June 13th
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Today was a fantastic day, but exhausting too. We got up at 5:00 a.m. and met at the Espinoza’s for breakfast. We left their apartment at 7:20 for the strain station. Our train left at 8:00 for a city called Avila, which is a 1.5 hour train ride to the north of Madrid. Avila is an old walled city. The walls started being built in 1000 AD but took several hundred years to complete. The walls surround the old city, and there is still a lot of modern city outside the walls. The first thing we did when we arrived in Avila was stop for a chocolate/coffee break. Meg and I got a thick chocolate drink that you dip churros in. The rest ordered coffees. We then walked to the visitors center and got a map of the city and suggestions of things to see. When we left the visitor’s center, we walked along the outside of the walls, got some pictures, walked to a bridge over a stream, and then we went inside the walled portion of the city. We paid 5 Euro each to walk on top of the city walls. We walked all the way up one side of the city, climbed some towers and strolled along the walkway. After we got off the walls, we stopped for lunch in a park. After lunch we went to the big cathedral inside the old city that was built around 1200 AD. It was a gothic style architecture and had so many intricate details and fine things inside. There was also a museum of the cathedral at the end. We spent a lot of time at the cathedral and walking around the city and the group was ready for another coffee break. Megan and I ordered ice cream. We then went inside some shops and went to Saint Teresa’s monastery. aFter we left the monastery we had dinner part 1. A popular thing here is called tapas. You just order several dishes and everyone takes a little and passes it on. So that is what we did for our dinners today. We then walked back to the other side of town and got on the train to take us back to Madrid. We arrived around 9:30, then went to a restaurant for dinner part 2. We had more tapas and we went to bed full!
![Day 3 - Avila, Spain - June 13th]()
Day 4 - Madrid, Spain - June 14th
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We went to the Espinoza’s apartment again for breakfast. It’s been nice having Israel cook us up some nice breakfasts. Afterwards Israel walked back with Megan and me to our apartment and we checked out. So now we had our big suitcase plus two other bags to carry around until we get to our hotel. We went back to the metro and waited there for about an hour for Beth. Unfortunately, she was waiting for us at a different metro entrance, and it took Israel a little while to find her. We then took the metro to our hotel. By the time we finished getting checked in, it was time for lunch so we got on the metro again and went to Retiro Park. It’s like the Central park in Madrid. We ate lunch then spent an hour or so in the park. There is a nice lake where you can rent row boats. It was a really hot day today, so when we left the park we went to a café for ice tea and lemonade and AC. We were there for about an hour. We then said goodbye to the Espinoza’s. We really enjoyed spending some extra time with them in Madrid, and they took really good care of us. It was sad to see it end. We went back to the hotel and met our tour group at 6:30 for a quick meeting about the tour. There are 46 of us! I was hoping for 30 or less, but it should be good anyway. They then served us dinner of pasta, chicken and veggies and fries. We were at a table with people from Australia and New Zealand. Only about 1/3 of our group is from the States. Mostly we have Aussies and Canadians, a couple from China and New Zealand and England. We finished the night with a video chat with the family.
![Day 4 - Madrid, Spain - June 14th]()
Day 5 - Toledo / Madrid, Spain - June 15th
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Today was our first touring day with Cosmos. We left the hotel at 8:30 and did a bus tour of the city. We made 3 stops. One was at the bull ring, then a memorial for the author of Don Quixote, and then the palace. We then drove to Toledo, which is a about a 30 minute drive. Toledo was the capital of Spain until a hundred or so years ago. It is an old city, built in the 12th century on a hill surrounded by a river. The roads are all narrow and twisty. The first thing we did was get lunch. We got tapas at a restaurant and it was all really good. I bought a box a mazapan too, because Toledo is famous for it and I had no idea what it was. They are little cakes that taste a bit like cookie dough. We then went into the cathedral. It was very fancy and beautiful and had a lot of gold and jewels in it. Megan really likes the cathedrals. There is nothing like them in Idaho. We also went into another church with an original El Greco painting. When we got back to our hotel, we video chatted with Dave and the kids for a bit. They were just sitting down to breakfast on Father’s Day. We ate some snacks for dinner. Then we decided we wanted to go see the Madrid temple. We took the metro and walked around the temple grounds. Josh gave a talk today and he emailed it to me, so we read that and read our scriptures. Some sister missionaries were giving a tour so we joined them for a bit. As we were about to leave, all the MTC missionaries came out and sang several hymns on the temple stairs. It was wonderful!
![Day 5 - Toledo / Madrid, Spain - June 15th]()
Day 6 - Cuenca / Valencia, Spain - June 16th
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Today was a neat day. We saw 2 more Spanish cities. We left Madrid at 8:30 this morning and drove about 2 hours to Cuenca. It’s another old Roman city that was built in the 2nd century. It is also on a hilltop so there was quite a steep walk and going across a bridge to get to it. At one point they started building houses hanging off the cliff walls, called “hanging houses”. They don’t allow those to be built anymore for safety reasons. After we hiked to the city, we went to the main square and there was a cathedral there built in the 11th century. Megan and I and some from our group chose to keep hiking to the highest point in the city. I’m glad we did because we got to see many cool views of the cliffs and the old part of the city. There is a newer city at the base of the hill as well that is part of Cuenca. We were there for about 2 hours. We then got on the bus and drove to Valencia. I love Valencia. And we are only here for one evening, so I just got a little taste of it. I would love to come back and spend several days here like we did with Madrid. There are modern buildings which are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. They consist of the Opera House, a science/art museum, the IMAX theater and an aquarium. We walked around them and then walked into the old city. There were nice plazas around every corner it seemed, and many beautiful churches and streets. We went inside a cathedral and inside was the holy grail! The cup that Jesus drank from at the last supper. Who’d have thought that all this time, the Holy Grail was in a cathedral in Valencia?? The world’s best kept secret apparently. We are now back at the hotel and will be having dinner soon, then bed since the Spaniards have dinner SO late! Dinner was Paella and it was delicious!
![Day 6 - Cuenca / Valencia, Spain - June 16th]()
Day 7 - Peniscola / Barcelona, Spain - June 17th
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We left Valencia today. I was sad to leave it. I would have liked to stay for a few days and get the know the city better. We drove to a beautiful coastal city called Peniscola. The Mediterranean sea was such a beautiful color of blue, and the beaches looked amazing! We were only stopping here for an hour lunch break, so we didn’t get time to play on the beach. We walked up to the castle and on the top of the tower walls and got to see some amazing views of the city and sea below us. We also had time for lunch and we got some pizza at a restaurant. It was delicious! We drove another 2 hours to Barcelona. We waited over an hour in our hotel room for our bags to be delivered. We wanted to change our clothes and put on sandals and get on the metro and find the beach. By the time we left the hotel it was almost 6:00. We saw a cat and 5 kittens on the hotel grounds as we were leaving the hotel. The metro took us to a stop that on the map, should drop us off right at the beach. When we got off the metro it was raining and there were tall buildings all around us. We knew the beach was supposed to be south of the train station, but it was cloudy and raining so I had no idea which way was south. We walked up the street one direction, then pulled out the city map and realized we were heading north. So we turned around and walked south. The road seemed to go on and on and no beach or sea in sight. It was still raining and we were getting a little discouraged. We didn’t bring our umbrella or rain jackets, so we were getting really soaked. I looked down a side street and saw water, so we walked that way and found the beach! Megan immediately perked up and ran to the sand and started looking for shells. After about 10 minutes on the beach, the light rain turned into a down pour. Thankfully there were public restrooms nearby, so we went and washed off our week and waited for the rain to slow down. We then decided to walk back toward the metro and get something to eat. We saw a fry stand so we got some yummy chili fries for dinner. We also stopped at a market and got a couple oranges. They are delicious here in Spain! We got back on the metro to go to the hotel. When we got off the metro the rain turned into a lightning and thunder storm. We had to walk about 15 minutes in the storm to the hotel. It was a quite an adventure filled night.
![Day 7 - Peniscola / Barcelona, Spain - June 17th]()
Day 8 - Barcelona / Montserrat, Spain - June 18th
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The day started off great. We had a bus/walking tour of the city. After that we drove an hour to Montserrat, which is a small community and monastery on the mountain top. It was a beautiful drive. Dave would love the narrow twisty roads leading to the top from his bike. The views of the city below were awesome. We walked through the village for about 2 hours then came back to Barcelona. The rest of the day was free so Megan and I were excited to go back to the beach we found last night. It was nice and sunny and perfect for swimming. So we packed our swimsuit and towel. I left our passports, credit cards, and all money except around 30 Euros, because I didn’t want to have that sitting in our bag on the beach while we were swimming. We bought 4 metro tickets, 2 to get there and 2 to get back, and got on the metro toward the beach. We had to make 2 line transfers to get to our stop. At one of the transfers, there was security checking tickets. We had thrown away our old tickets that we used to get on the metro so we wouldn’t mix them up with our return tickets. We handed them our other 2 tickets, but because they were not validated, the security guard said we had to pay a 100 Euro fine each. 100 Euro fine is for those people who jump the turnstiles and got on the metro with a ticket. I saw the signs on the metro, I knew there was a fine for that, but we HAD used tickets to get on the metro. I should have realized we need to keep our tickets as proof. I explained what had happened, and that we were tourists and didn’t realize we needed to keep our tickets with us, but we HAD purchased tickets. He didn’t care. He told me it was my job to know the rules if I’m going to use the metro. He asked for my passport so I gave him the copy of mine. He then printed out a ticket for me. Then he told me that I could pay 50 Euro now, or pay 100 Euro at the police the next day, and asked what I would prefer. I told him I would prefer the 50, but I didn’t have it on me, that it was at our hotel. Then he asked for Megan’s passport. She had nothing on her, so he began to threaten me that she would be taken to the police station, and I had to go to the hotel, leaving Megan behind, and come back with 100 Euro to pay for our fines. He gave me 30 minutes to go to the hotel and get the money and come back. I told him 1) I was NOT leaving without Megan, and 2) that it took us 40 minutes to get here from our hotel, and there was NO way I could get to the hotel and back in 30 minutes. He asked what hotel I was staying at and told me yes, it was possible, and then ignored me. So I just stood there, not knowing what to do. I was not going to leave without Megan, there is no cell service underground so I couldn’t call anyone to come rescue us, and I didn’t have the money to pay him to let us go. After about 5 minutes, he turns back to me and asked me what I was still doing there. I told him, I don’t know what to do! I’m not leaving without Megan, and I don’t have the money! So he angrily asks for Megan’s birth date and full name and prints out a ticket for her, then he tells us we have to be back in 30 minutes with the money. So we take off running back to our hotel. By the time we get to the hotel, we only have 5 minutes until we are to meet him, which was impossible. So I have reception call our tour director and she comes to the lobby and we explain what happened. She talks with the hotel reception, and all 3 of them tell me not to go back. That he is corrupt and just wanted to pocket some easy cash and then discard the tickets. So we didn’t go back. And if Spain really wants me to pay the 200 Euros, they can bill me and I’ll pay it. I was also upset that because of this whole fiasco with the security, we lost our chance to swim at the beach in Barcelona. We were leaving for France the next day.
![Day 8 - Barcelona / Montserrat, Spain - June 18th]()
Day 9 - Coulliere / Marseille, France - June 19th
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Today was a long day and our first day in France. We left the hotel at 8:30 and drove out of Spain. Our first stop was at a coastal city called Coulliere. We stopped here for about 1.5 hours for lunch. There was a small beach, but we didn’t have time to swim and it was rocky anyway. We walked along the water edge and there was a castle on the coast that we walked around. It was a nice pretty town. We then drove for about 5 hours to Marseille. We had a couple 20-30 minute breaks at roadside cafes along the way. When we got into Marseille it was so full of traffic! It was a beautiful city but packed with people and traffic. It took us over an hour to get to the Notre dame cathedral on top of the hill. It was open to visit inside, but since it was on a hill overlooking the city, there were amazing views. One really cool thing that I didn’t realize was real is that there really is a Chateau Dif, from the Count of Monte Cristo. There are several nearby islands and one of them has a fortress built on it that they used for many years as a prison. Now it is a prison. I would have loved to taken a boat out there to see it if only we had more time in that city. After we left the church we headed for our restaurant on the waterfront. It was a perfect area on the coast under a Ferris wheel and main walkway on the beach. They served grilled white fish for dinner, and Megan and I don’t really care for fish, but were so hungry because it was almost 9:00 p.m. by the time we were served, that we ate it all. And it really wasn’t that bad. We arrived at our hotel about 10:00 p.m. and just went right to bed.
![Day 9 - Coulliere / Marseille, France - June 19th]()
Day 10 - Cassis / Monaco / Nice, France - June 20th
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Today was my birthday. Ursula (our tour director) knew it was my birthday from my passport info, so everyone sang happy birthday to me on the bus this morning and I got many birthday wishes throughout the day from our group members. It was nice. Our first stop was at another coastal city in France called Cassis. It was our lunch stop as we drive to Nice. We stayed for about 1.5 hours. The bus let us off up above town and then we took a little city train into town. There was a flea market going on and it was fun to walk through. I bought myself a pretty silver bracelet and Megan bought us each a seashell key chain. We spent some time down on the beach with our shoes off and walking along the water line. We then took the train back to our bus and drove to Nice. Nice is another large city on the coast with a lot of traffic, but it wasn’t as crowded as Marseille. We had some time to freshen up and then we left for Monaco! I was really excited to spend the evening in Monaco and Monte Carlo. The first thing we did was go to the Palace. WE took some pictures and saw views of the principality. We then went to a restaurant for dinner. They served us a salad, chicken bruschetta and a yummy custard dessert. They put a candle in mine and all sang to me again. I thanked everyone for coming to my birthday party. After dinner we went to the area of Monte Carlo. We drove along the Grand Prix race track on our way there. We also saw several Ferrari’s Lamborghini’s, Maserati’s and other expensive fancy cars. Monaco has the highest percentage of millionaires in the world. We also went to the famous casinos in Monte Carlo. Megan and I just got a table and ordered some hot chocolate, and then we walked around the area and looked for a Monaco hat for Dave. We didn’t get back to our hotel until midnight. It was a wonderful evening.
![Day 10 - Cassis / Monaco / Nice, France - June 20th]()
Day 11 - Cinque Terre / La Spezzia, Italy - June 21st
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Today was an exciting day. We drove into Italy in the morning and the drive was along the coast and it was beautiful. Most of us were sleeping because of the late night before. I slept for about 1.5 hours. The drive to Cinque Terre was about 4 hours. We stopped at a city called Levanto and boarded a train to take us down to the Cinque Terre region. The region consists of five small coastal cities located on the cliffs and seashore and are only accessible by train. The first one we stopped at was called Monterosso. We had almost 2 hours there and it had a nice beach, so Megan and I were finally able to spend some time swimming in the Mediterranean sea. We also found some pretty little seashells on the beach. We then got back on the train and went to Vernazza. That one is considered to be the most beautiful one and most of the pictures on the internet are of Vernazza. It is just a tiny little place, with one main walkway down to the shore. Megan and I had a slice of pizza for lunch in this town. Our next rain stop was at Riomaggiore. This one had a somewhat steep hill for the main walkway. We walked up into the town first and got some gelato. Then we stopped ina couple shops and Megan bought a ring. We then walked down to the marina which opened to a small area of coastline, but there were still several people swimming. We left Riomaggiore at 5:00 and took the train to La Spezzia. Our bus picked us up there and took us to our hotel. We had dinner in the hotel at 7:30. They took 2.5 hours to serve dinner. Megan was so tired and she wanted a shower so she left after they served the pasta at 8:30. It was good pasta. Then they served us sword fish which I did not care for. And last was tiramisu, which I don’t like either. I should have left when Megan left.
![Day 11 - Cinque Terre / La Spezzia, Italy - June 21st]()
Day 12 - Verona, Italy - June 22nd
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Today we drove to Verona. Megan and I were excited to see it. We loved the 2013 Romeo and Juliet movie filmed in Verona, and it was cool to see places from the movie. We saw Romeo’s house and Juliet’s house. We saw some lovely plazas and the old castle. And we ate gelato next to a fountain. It was perfect. We then drove to our hotel in Venice. It’s not in the water city; we’ll spend the whole day in the water city tomorrow. Megan and I chose to have a quiet relaxing evening in the hotel. We did walk to the nearby mall for fanta and water. We video chatted with Josh and Dave for a bit and then wrote Mike an email.
![Day 12 - Verona, Italy - June 22nd]()
Day 13 - Venice / Burano, Italy - June 23rd
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This morning we took a boat ride to the main island of Venice. Our first stop in Venice was to a glass blowing demonstration. Venice is famous for its Murano glass and Burano lace. Murano and Burano are other islands in the lagoon. The demonstration was really cool to see and the shop had so many beautiful glass pieces from chandeliers to wine glasses to animal figurines. I bought Dani a little glass while we were in Venice. We then went on a gondola ride. That is my favorite part. We went down several small canals in the city and a bit in the Grand Canal. It is a fun experience. Then we had a couple hours to just explore Venice. We looked in many shops and wandered down many alleyways. We got more pizza for lunch. At 2:00 we got on the boat again and rode to some of the other islands in the lagoon. We passed by Murano, with all the glass factories, and we passed by several others, one of which Casanova lived and we passed by his house which was on the waterfront. And then we stopped at Burano, famous for the lace making. We first went to a lace making demonstration. Megan bought 2 lace fans for Kaylee and Stephanie and a lace shirt for herself which is really cute. Then we wondered around this beautiful, very colorful peaceful island for about an hour. We loved this island of Venice. It was much quieter and not near as crowded as the main island. There were hanging flowers and colorful houses, and canals and bridges everywhere
![Day 13 - Venice / Burano, Italy - June 23rd]()
Day 14 - Assisi / Rome, Italy - June 24th
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Today was another long bus riding day. We drove about 4-5 hours to Assisi with a couple stops along the way. We had lasagna for lunch at one of the cafes. Assisi is a small old hill top town. It is famous for its Basilica to St. Francis, since that is his birth place. We spent an hour there, walking through the basilica and along the streets. It was so hot today and especially in Assisi, so we were all ready to get on the air conditioned bus again. We arrived in Rome around 5:00 p.m. We checked into the hotel and then left for our night out at 6:30. Our bus took us around some sights of the city, and then we got off and walked around for awhile. We walked to the Trevi fountain, which is unfortunately under reconstruction right now, so there was scaffolding all around it. Megan still threw her 3 coins (wishes) over the fence at the fountain. We also walked to the Spanish steps and through some nice squares. We got to our restaurant for dinner around 9:30 p.m. They served 6 courses. First was ham and melon, then a pasta with white sauce and sausage, then lasagna, then a salad, then I ordered beef in a peppercorn sauce. Megan had chicken in a bruschetta sauce, then ice cream and fruit for dessert. We were very full!
![Day 14 - Assisi / Rome, Italy - June 24th]()
Day 15 - Rome, Italy - June 25th
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Today was a busy but exciting day! We started pretty early. We got in line for the Vatican museum at 7:50 a.m. They let groups go in at 8:00. Doors open at 9:00 for the general public, so it was not crowded at all for us. It also helped that the pope was speaking at 10:00 in St. Peter’s square, so everyone was there instead of at the museum. We spent just over 2 hours in the museum and also the Sistine chapel. It was very beautiful. What I liked most about the museum was the ceilings. We then went to St. Peter’s square and watched the pope speak for about 15 minutes. It was packed with people! The only down side it that the church was closed because of this, so Megan wasn’t able to go inside. We then had a little lunch break and Megan and I had pizza. Then we went to the Colosseum and Roman forum. The colosseum is an amazing structure. I learned today that it only took 8 years to build it and 65% of it is the original structure. Megan was emotional seeing it and being inside it. It is quite awe inspiring especially because of all the history behind it. And the roman forum is just cool to walk through and see all the ruins and know that we are walking in the midst of the center of Rome 2,000 years ago. We then had a 2 hour break at the hotel. I slept for an hour, then we walked another 3 hours through the city. We saw the Pantheon which is one of my favorite churches, and a cool church to St. Matthew. We walked through lots of alleys and squares and it was wonderful. Megan and I had more pizza and gelato for dinner. We got back to the hotel around 8:00 p.m. Tomorrow we leave for the airport in the morning and head back to the states!
![Day 15 - Rome, Italy - June 25th]()
