Walking Around Rome

Going to Rome for the FOCUS training was an adventure we'll always remember. One of our favorite days during our trip was Friday when we had the whole day free and Tyler and I spent the entire time walking around Rome, visiting different churches, making a pilgrimage to the soccer stadium, getting caught in the rain, and not to forget practically eating our way through the streets of Rome. A cappuccino here, pasta there, a stop in the birreria...you get the picture!






We started our day with Mass at St. Peter's (at the tomb of St. Leo the Great, if you remember a previous blog) and then hit up our favorite cappuccino spot just outside the square of St. Peter's. On our way to the cafe, we saw this interesting sight:

Interesting way for a horse to get his meal, to eat from a sack around his head. It was just our first of many interesting sights around the city of Rome!

Our favorite cappuccino place

After Mass and a cappuccino, what would be next? Prayer of course! We had heard about a church near St. Peter's that had a relic of St. Faustina, one of my favorite saints, so we decided to find that church and pray there.

Santo Spirito in Sassia

This became one of our favorite churches in Rome. The name of the church is Santo Spirito in Sassia, translated Holy Spirit in Saxony, Saxony being the name of the street. It was built in the 12th century and was one of the most prayerful churches in Rome that we visited. There were not a lot of tourists who came in, but those that came in were prayerful and quiet.

We always called this church "St. Faustina's Church" because in the second chapel on the right there was a beautiful painting of Jesus in the image given to St. Faustina for Divine Mercy and next to her statue there was a relic of her heart.

The second chapel to the right with the Blessed Sacrament

The second chapel to the left with a painting of Pope John Paul II

It was very special to pray here and we returned a second time the following day. After our prayer time, Tyler had a map and he led us around Rome! We were on a search to find our favorite church from last year.

On a bridge overlooking the Tiber River and St. Peter's

Tyler was our guide and did a great job leading us around Rome using a little map. He led us right to our favorite church from last year even though he didn't have the address, the Basilica of Sant' Agostino.

Basilica of Sant' Agostino

Tomb of St. Monica, mother of Augustine

Last year Tyler and I prayed morning prayer at the statue of Our Lady of Childbirth. It was very special to come back and pray a prayer of thanksgiving for our little Jessamine and also ask for God's blessing on our future children.

Miraculous statue of Our Lady of Childbirth

Next we walked by the Pantheon and briefly went inside because it was very crowded. Tyler found a few churches on the map that were near the Pantheon, so we checked them out.

The Church of Saint Eustace, known as San'Eustachio, was named after the martyr Eustace. It was built in the 11th century and St. Philip Neri was known to pray here.

Basilica di San'Eustachio

Tomb of don Pirro Scavizzi (1884–1964), the parish priest of this church between 1919 and 1932,  whose beatification is under consideration.

The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola is next to the Pontifical Gregorian University and was built in the 1600's in the Baroque style.

Sant'Ignazio

The main altar in Sant'Ignazio

The fun part of the day was to walk around and see a church and go into it because there are so many churches in Rome. The other churches we went to were the Church of Saint Camillus (the founder of the Priest Ministers of the Sick), Santa Maria Maddalena, Church of Jesus and Mary: Chiesa di Gesu e Maria, and SS Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso (dedicated to St. Ambrose and St. Charles Borromeo.)

Next we found ourselves by the Trevi Fountain and stopped to toss a coin into the fountain.

Before we got lunch at a restaurant in one of the piazzas, we walked by a Birreria and couldn't help but go in and enjoy a Peroni.

At lunch while we were eating, Tyler asked our waiter how to get to the soccer stadium. He said something about Popolo place and a "thing outside with tracks" with a number 2 on it, and go to last stop and go across a bridge. Since we were feeling adventurous we gave it a shot.

After walking a lot and taking the above ground metro, we arrived at the Olympic Stadium where the 1960s Summer Olympics were held and both AS Roma and SS Lazio play.

A practice field with track and field practice

Walking around the stadium hoping there would be a way in...but there wasn't.

Tyler called our trip to the Olympic Stadium as his "soccer pilgrimage" and it was quite the adventure. After that we hopped on a bus, thinking it would take us back the direction we wanted to go. It did, but we got off too soon and got caught in the rain. I brought umbrellas with us to Rome, but of course I didn't bring them with us that day, but we didn't mind getting wet because it was part of the experience. We were exhausted after the day but agreed that it was one of our favorite days yet!