Day 16

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Sigh. It was to be our last full day in Rome and Italy and we were already feeling a bit sad about it. Oh well, time to get back home and back to work. Morning Prayer was in private this morning as we had decided to attend Mass at the Tomb of St. Gaspar in the evening. It was also time to think about getting our boarding passes and so it was time to find a computer. There was a little Internet spot not too far from our Hotel so we took a small hike down there early to find it closed. We returned to the Hotel for Breakfast and then made another trip to the Internet Spot. It was still closed. The lady at the hotel tried to convince us that it should be open, but our experience told us differently. Reluctantly she allowed us to use the computer in her office in order to print out boarding passes for the next morning. Only later did we discover on our bill that she charged us for that privilege.

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Today was to be another Day to explore St. Peter Basilica. We had been to the depths in the Scavi tour and now we were going to head for the heights. It was a good 300 plus steps up to the top after an elevator took us half way there. It was a beautiful day and the view from the cupola was tremendous.
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We later made our way back into the Basilica to look around and see some of the things we had missed and then on to the little museum in the Basilica. There was a guide book that sparked the interested of one of our companions on this journey. It was a setting of diamonds as some stars in a crown, a gift from some modern monarch. Actually it was a bit of a disappointment. The rest of the museum, indeed the basilica itself, was much more interesting.
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With all that climbing to the top, and walking through the basilica, some of us reported that our legs were turning to jello and that it was time to sit down. Actually it was time for Lunch, for pranzo. We had determined that we would have a last festive meal at one of the places we had visited earlier in our trip, Ristorante Orazio. We hailed a cab and gave him the card with the address of the restaurant. Even with the address he took a very interesting and long journey to a place we knew would be quicker to find. The Taxi’s that had once been so reasonable, now turned very expensive.

All of that was quickly forgotten because, as expected, it was a fabulous meal.

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The food and wine were fabulous, as was the conversation. All of us had memories of our favorite stops on this pilgrimage.
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After lunch we made our way over to Trevi Fountain. We sampled the gelato in a nearby shop. I have a wonderful picture of Donalyn going ecstatic over the sight of Gelato. I could post it here, but I also value my life. There was a nearby shop that had all sorts of culinary delights. Here I bought some spices that have made it into a variety of pastas and soups since our return. We also scoured a little theological bookstore near the Gregorian in search of a book recommended by Fr. Lopes. The book, “Mary and the Mystery of the New Covenant” by Fr. Ignace de la Potterie turns out to be a book that is out of print, but I have since been able to obtain it from Amazon. Actually, it arrived yesterday.

After a bit of shopping we made it over to Santa Maria in Trivo for the evening Mass. This is the small church near the Fontana Trevi where St. Gaspar is buried. It is also home for the seminarians in Theology. On entering the Church I see this large picture of Venerable John Merlini in front of the Altar. Then it dawns on me that it is January 12th, the anniversary of his death. Fr. Merlini is also buried here at Santa Maria in Trivio.

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It turned out to be a festive Mass presided over by the Provincial of the Italian Province and concelebrated by many Italian CPPS confreres. They provided alb and stole and invited me to concelebrate. The music was provided by the seminarians who also led the Chaplet of the Precious Blood before the Mass began.
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After Mass we made it back to our favorite Pizzeria near our Hotel for the Last supper. It was time for one final grappa before heading back to our rooms to complete packing for the trip home.

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Fr. Jeffrey Keyes, C.PP.S. published on March 10, 2007 12:15 PM.

Day 15 was the previous entry in this blog.

Going Home is the next entry in this blog.

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