Rome, the Eternal City

On Monday morning we caught our flight from Athens to Rome. Our calendar this semester had us here for two straight weeks, and with the cold, wintry weather upon us we knew we needed to do something quick before cabin fever set in:) Upon arrival in Rome a van picked us up an drove us to the Hotel Parco dei Massimi. We have used this hotel before with the Patrons group. It is lovely, though not convenient transportation wise. This time, more so than usual. Rome had just had their first snow in 26 years and was unprepared. There were huge pine trees and branches blocking sidewalks, and smashed into parked cars. The shuttle bus from the hotel to the Vatican did not run because the driver was afraid to drive it. For a Roman to say that --we knew the roads had to be horrid! We walked up the hill to the bus stop, and took the bus to get around mostly. We did use taxis to go out to the Catacombs. We covered a lot of ground in only three days. We visited Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, attended a mass in a neighborhood church,the Spanish Steps, the Trevino Fountain, the Colosseum, the Catacombs,Roman Forum, St. Peters, the Vatican, and the Sistene Chapel. Most meals we grabbed on the run, though we all ate lunch in the Vatican cafeteria together one meal. In the evenings our students met together for a devotional together. We have been blessed with a wonderful group from Faulkner. While we were down in the Catacombs we sang a hymn together and Terry led a prayer. His words
reminded me of a hymn I used to listen to by Steve Green. The lyrics were along the lines
of..." may all who come behind us find us faithful." our last evening in Rome we left the boys
reading in the room(Christian has taken over my Kindle reading the Hunger Games Trilogy)and we
went down the hill to a local trattoria. It was so good to eat a real Italian meal again. I
had Bucatini Matriciana, Taglia di filet di manzo, grilled zucchini and eggplant, and Creme
brûlée for dessert. Perfection on a plate. We flew back to Athens Thursday morning and arrived
back in time for lunch.The rest of the week we have been studying and the students have been busy with exams. Friday night we went to Debbie and Dino's for dinner. We had a lovely dinner at their new place in Vari, along with the James, Nellers, Corbins, and Steven. It was good to visit and catch up. The years have flown since we had our teenagers together as the Greek youth group. They shared their concerns with the dismal Grrek economy and the social unrest. Saturday morning there was a parade of cars flying black flags and honking down the streets of Porto Rafti. There were riots in downtown Athens and the Embassy had advised us to stay away from downtown. This evening there are reports of fires being set over a several block area-
theaters, stores, etc. The unemployment rate for young people is now at 48%. These kids feel
there is simply no hope, and they are being asked to cut back even more. We feel safe where we are. I do feel for the Greeks and Italians though. Prices have skyrocketed. For example,
chicken nuggets in Rome at McDonalds were 6.80 euros($9). Pray for these struggling people, so many of which do not know the love of God.