Anniversary Pictures

Peter —  June 18, 2009

Sorry for the few days delay, but we finally have our act together and some pictures to share – if you click on a pic, it gets bigger.  We stayed about 45 minutes (by train) north of Rome.  More of that in a moment, but we did get one day in Rome . . .

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I think that is Constantine’s arch, or was it Titus’ arch, next to the Colisseum.  And some more recent church history – us:

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Although we’ve been married a whole decade, we felt quite young next to Cornelius who doesn’t seem to be showing his age at all. . .

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We didn’t really have time to do the inside tours of these places, but I was intrigued by this cross we saw through the fence inside the Colisseum.

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Here’s the famous Trevi Fountain.  Very beautiful, although in the heat of Rome, it was tempting to jump in and cool off!

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We arrived just in time.  As we approached, he rose to his feet and stepped toward us, then pronounced a blessing over us.  Amazing how it all worked out.

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I suppose I should mention that actually it wasn’t so much our audience with the Pope as his audience of a couple of thousand, a big space, a fence, then us.  Still, it was fun to see the Pope in the flesh.

Rome is a city with an amazing amount of history, as well as typical Italian charm and beauty. . .

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We stayed in the walled pedestrianized town of Casperia, up in the hills.  Very picturesque.

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And a little workout for the legs too, with all the steps.  We loved the town and spent a good couple of days relaxing here.

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Here are some of the local young folks chewing the fat about something or other . . .

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Very attractive and unspoilt town, and purple flowers are never missed by Melanie . . .

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This was the view from our bedroom window, along with hundreds of swifts enjoying their morning and evening meals as they swooped loudly within feet of our window . . .

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It would be wrong to go to Italy and not eat too much.  So we didn’t.  We didn’t not eat too much, that is.  Just down the road was the local restaurant (the only real option), where we had some of the best of Italian food – including “Stringozzi Alla Paesana” – superb pasta.  Didn’t get a picture of it though, neither of us wanted to stop eating it to take the picture!

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Then after a relaxed meal together, we dragged ourselves back up the hill, past the fireflies, to the gate of Casperia and the short walk up to our B&B.

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It was a great few days away.  Lots of rest.  Lots of conversation.  Lots of food.  Lots of history.  Lots of memories.  What a blessing to be married to such a great wife.  10 years already . . . I feel old!