Villa Borghese

   Villa Borghese is a large, beautiful park near the center of Rome.  One evening we went with a group of Senior Missionaries to a theatre in the park.  We saw the play Romeo and Juliette.  The theatre was a reproduction of the Globe theatre in London.  The acting was excellent so even those that did not understand Italian enjoyed the production.  Thanks to Elder Kimball for the picture of the theatre.  After the play we walked through the park back to the subway and paused to enjoy the view of Piazza del Popolo and Saint Peter's lighting up the night sky.  It was an amazing view.  A very enjoyable evening.

 

 

 

The many faces of Tivoli

   One afternoon we went to Tivoli, a town in the mountains just outside of Rome with the Sister Missionaries that work in the Mission Office.  We went through the Villa D'Este gardens.  The fountains are natural water pressure.  There are some great architectural designs and interesting faces as part of the fountains.  After enjoying the gardens, we walked around the city a little and had a nice dinner at a street side café.  Before driving home we enjoyed the view of the lights of Rome below.  We will return some evening to see the fountains lighted at night.

 

 

St. Paul Outside the Walls

   One day we took one of the young sister missionaries to a doctors appointment.  After we dropped her off at the doctors office we started back for home.  The direct route home would have taken us past the coliseum and some restricted driving areas, so I went the opposite way so that I could go around the restricted areas.  Not too far from the doctor's office we passed St. Paul outside the walls.  When I was here as a young missionary I had an apartment about a quarter of a mile from this church.  So we stopped and went inside and then drove past my old apartment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return to Rome

  The tradition is that if you throw a coin into Trevi fountain you will return to Rome.  For us it seems to be true.  When I first came to Rome as a 19 year old missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I followed the tradition and tossed a coin over my shoulder into Trevi fountain.   About 10 years later I was able to return to Rome with my wife, Ann.
   During that visit to Rome we both threw coins into the  fountain, and even though it has taken 26 years to get back; we have returned to the Eternal City, Rome.
   We have been called as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to serve in Rome with the Young Single Adults of our Church.  These are young adults ages 18 to 31.
   We are excited to be here.  I fell in love with Rome during my first mission to Italy.  I spent 17 consecutive months in Rome, so got to know it well.
   I love the words of the poet Robert Browning, "Open my heart and you will see,  engraven inside of it Italy."
We will be here for 18 months.  One thing we will be sure to do while here is to throw another coin into Trevi fountain.

(the fountain is currently being renovated and is fenced off, we will be sure to get there soon after the repairs are completed and add better pictures of the fountain)

A Walk in the Rain

   There have been some beautiful cloud formations here in Rome.  This was just before a big cloud burst occurred one afternoon.

   We had some time one morning so started out to go through Trastavere, the Jewish Ghetto and Janiculum  Hill.  We didn't get too far before it started to rain. We only had one umbrella with us, so ducked into a store which sold gelato, so we had to buy some, so sad.  We then went through a church.  It kept raining so we started to head back home.  We were on a narrow street when it started to rain hard so waited awhile under a door way.  Since I couldn't take pictures of what I went after, I decided to take pictures of what was before me.  I got a couple that I like.   Just goes to show you don't have to let a little rain, (or a lot) ruin your day.  Enjoy the walk in the rain.

 

Only a couple of cars came by while we where sitting there.  All slowed down so they did not splash us.  One, however, did not slow down and hit the puddle just right and soaked Ann. 

 

 

The Eternal City

My daughter told me she wanted to see some of the sites of Rome.  So here are some of my favorite pictures so far.  We have been able to get out a few times for a couple of hours at a time.  There is so much to see.  We have not yet gone to any of the museums.  We wanted to first go see a general overview of the city and then spend more time on specific locations.  We do enjoy our travels around the city.

 

Gelato

 

One of our duties is to inspect the young missionaries apartments for safety and cleanliness.  We inspect the apartment, share a message (hopefully inspirational), get to know them a little better and then take them for ice cream.  There are some great missionaries in this mission.  We love serving with them.  They work hard and love the people and country of Italy.

We went to a city a couple hours away from Rome on the East Coast and spent some time with these great Elders and Sisters.   The Sisters took us to a great gelato place.  It was some of the best ice cream I have had.  We walked there and I thought I knew the way back.  When we went with the Elders I could not find the same place, so we went somewhere else.  It was good, but not as good as the first place.