Finding Our Roots in Rome

ROMA ROMA ROMAAA

DAY 16 

To get to Rome, we’ll travel through the Italian countryside to the hilltop of Assisi. We’ll visit another Basilica but this time it’s St. Francis and inside we can trace his life through the amazing wall frescos.

Then we will travel through Rome to taste some amazing food, sip rich coffee and see an abundance of ancient sights…and we also have a FREE NIGHT Woooooo! Here are the options:

DAY 17 

Rome was the center of the Western world back in the day so our local guide will take us around the historical city to make sure we don’t miss anything. We’ll stop by the Roman Coloseum, Forum Romanum, and then get to cook some mean pasta dishes! ♦ The Roma Coloseum tour includes a visit to the massive Colosseum built back in 70 A.D. The huge Amphitheater held up to 50,000 people, who would gather to watch anything from bloody gladiator contests to mock sea battles. ♦ The Forum Romanum was the commercial, political, and religious center of Ancient Rome. Today it’s a grassy field scattered with ancient columns and other ruins. ♦ And the Cooking Class is our chance to [attempt to] become a real Italian chef! We’ll learn the basics of the regional style specialties as a local professional chef guides us through the cooking. We’ll start by making two kinds of pasta from scratch (from ravioli to cannelloni…so I guess it’s whatever the chef feels like that day) and then create the sauces for our freshly ‘doughed’ pasta. But the best part is still to come…no matter how much you suck in the kitchen (which I have to say that Cody and I are both not too shabby chefs…probably him more then me but I can make a few eatable things), we’ll be treated to a three-course dinner prepared by the chef who taught us and his team! Sooo I guess that means that most people make inedible pasta if they’re going to treat us to dinner after we already prepared a dinner…

DAY 18 

Our last day in Rome includes a visit to the Vatican City, home of the Pope. Yet another Basilica to walk through but this time it’s St. Peter and it was built on the site where the saint was martyred. And then we’ll walk through the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo’s famous ceiling masterpiece…which I’ve heard you can’t take pictures of…we’ll see about that. And finally, Free Time to conclude our visit in Rome: