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St. Peter's and Rugby

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 Our last full day in Italy was a long one. We left the hotel at 8:30 am and did not return until after dinner. Though I do not have many photos to share, rest assured we had another great day. St. Peter's from where we arrived The Pieta Inside the basilica, looking toward the dome The papal altar The window behind the altar The frieze depicting Pope Leo convincing Attila the Hun not to attack Rome. The famous Swiss Guards Here we are at Stadio Olimpico before the match. Italy lost to Wales but played with flair and certainly had their chances. Bad luck kept them from scoring on three different occasions. After the match, we headed back into Rome for our last dinner near the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. Sadly, the crowd on a Saturday night was huge and prevented us from getting a group photo. The boys all got to see it, though. Tomorrow, it's onto the plane and back home.  I hope you've enjoyed keeping up with our adventures. We have enjoyed a tremendous week and I hop
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Domus Aurea, Rugby Practice, and two temples

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Today started off with a visit to the emperor Nero's Domus Aurea (Golden House). Following a massive fire in 64 CE, more than half of Rome was destroyed, including a large portion of the downtown area. Nero seized upon this as an opportunity to build a palace for himself that he felt would be worthy of the most important and powerful man in the world. When Nero was declared a public enemy and chased from Rome less than five years later, much of the Domus Aurea was torn down. A significant part of it, on the Esquiline Hill, remained. It was later covered over and filled with dirt to serve as the foundation for Trajan's bath complex.   During the Renaissance, artists rediscovered the remains of the Domus Aurea under the ruins of Trajan's baths. They lowered themselves into caverns or grottos, as they called them, and tried to copy the artwork they found by torchlight. This leads to the school of art known as "grotesque" from the word grotto. This is the oculus of a
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Gladiator School!

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Our visit to Gladiator school is always a highlight of the trip. Here you see the boys receiving their marching orders from Alex, the primary instructor. Alex has the boys in uniform and ready to take the field.   The last event is when one of the boys, equipped as a retiarius, a type of gladiator, tries to catch his fellows with his net. The boys here are waiting to face him. And here is our fierce retiarius,
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