The Duke Hotel Rome

... is not the original. The original was about 5 meters lower and can be seen through a place in the cathedral's floor.
By the time we went outside, the line to get in wrapped all the way around the square. I decided to go to the official Vatican shopping area to get lunch and browse the shops. Bought some Rosary beads and holy water for mom, Rosey and me.
The Vatican was so crowded I opted to take the metro to the HRC for lunch. HRC was ...

... D. Behind two of these temples are the ruins of a building where the Senate met and where Julius Caesar was assasinated by Brutus and co way back in 44 BC. An evening stroll in the cooler part of the day and with the migraine contained took us up toward the Colosseum via the acient Forum area that is now a graveyard for the remnants of these buildings dating from the first and second century BC. With a two thousand year history covering the ...

... and find our way to terminal 1. JFK airport is HUGE, so that took us a while. We finally asked someone who worked there where we should go and she said we can either walk across the parking lot which would take only a couple minutes, or take the tram. It was raining a bit, and so Joy and I-not wanting to get even more gross looking- took the tram. Pretty sure this tram took the longest loop all the way around the airport before bringing us to terminal 1, which was right ...

... done by an English crew for a show on strange uses of technology being made for the National Geographic Channel. At first, because it was so goofy, I thought that it was one of those weird European candid camera type shows but it turned out to be real. The kids got into the shirts and sent each other hugs. It was hilarious. After that, it started to rain and we headed for home where we cooked up some beautiful roast potatoes and fresh flounder which had been caught that morning.

... painted by Raphael in the early sixteenth century. So there.

And that pearl of wisdom seems like a fitting way to have concluded my long weekend in the Eternal City. There is still no coin at the bottom of the Trevi Fountain to ensure I return, but then I know better than anyone else that that’s no strict requirement for coming back to Rome. The gelato, the pasta – and the cheap haircuts while I’m at it – are much more reliable drawcards.

... during the period in which he was appointed Governor of the Duchy of Urbino by his blood relation Leo X. The 58 holes in the floor of the wide gallery above (closed with wooden trapdoors) were used to drop such things as molten lead and stones on to would-be assailants. Around the walls are 15 shooting holes. From here you can see the tower of the Massara Gate, which was given to the City by the inhabitants of the village of Massa Trabaria around 1289, when the city was rebuilt ...