A Lott 2 Be Thankful 4: ROME, Italy

This car was at the Florence Train station and was the epitome of what the cars were in Italy. Teeny, tiny little things.

Just waiting for our train.

I don't ever pass up an ice cream cone!!

Catching the train from Florence to ROME!!

Our guy at the Rome Station. He looked like straight up Mafia!!

Our hotel room in Rome.

Ok. So Del and I were Obsessed at how these cars could get in and out of their parking spaces.

Look at that! And some were even worse - actual bumpers touching front and back.

The US Embassy

It was hardly bigger than a shoe.

Del's idea of an Uber. I refused.

Streets LINED with scooters.

They even had a McDonalds. We did see a Burger King once too.

The first night in Rome, we accidentally ran into the Rodeo Drive of Rome - They had Prada, Valentino, Jimmy Choo's, Dior, Dolce and Cabana - Louis Vitton - any name brand you could think of.

And Del didn't know any of them.

This organ was beautiful in this church.

Famous Statue of Neptune.

We went to this, and another museum of Leonardo da Vinci. I came away from my trip to Italy realizing just how brilliant he an Michelangelo really were - outside of being artists, they were brilliant inventors and men.

Our first dinner in Rome. This was a quaint place just around the corner from our hotel. And it was yummy.

We leaned though, that they charge for everything, including the ice they brought me in a separate bowl. When we received the bill, and Del saw the charge he immediately grabbed the bowl and drank the melted ice.

I had lasagna again and Del had two different dishes; veal and gnocchi?

This is in the entry way of the Rome Temple Visitors Center.

This depiction of an Italian cottage is inside the Visitors Center, a place where they like to take visitors to talk, making them feel more comfortable.

The Christus.

Statues of the original apostles.

Del standing by the statue of Peter. It is said, that last March, at the dedication of the temple, President Nelson stood in this exact spot, put his hand on the keys, and said, 'These are the exact keys that I hold today'.

In front of the Rome temple

The Rome Italy Temple

On the temple grounds before the entrance of he temple, there is a beautiful plaza entry way that has beautiful landscaping and a transplanted olive tree on each corner of the square.

While waiting for the bus outside the temple o take us back to town, I noticed this young lady waiting for the same bus. The BYU shirt gave me free reign to start up a conversation. After about 30 minutes, it finally came around that I was a Packard. She said her best friend was going to Peru in March, and her mission president will be my cousin Meredith. She then said she had an aunt who used to be a Packard - my cousin Melody, in Utah. Apparently, this is Melody's niece by marriage.

The famous Colosseum

Del's next idea of an Uber.

Holding little love birds.

The Marmerdi Prison where Peter and Paul were held.

Ancient Roman ruins. These were all over the city and beyond fascinating to me.

In front of the Vatican. Yes, the Pope was three and had just talked to the mass multitude that morning.

An explanation of Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the chapel of the actual painting, so I took a picture of this, showing what it looks like.

SOOO many statues.

The Vatican was unbelievably ornate - room after room - hallway after hallway, from floor to ceiling and every crevice in between.

This painting was done by Rafael in a certain part of the Vatican at the same tie Michelangelo was doing his painting in the Sistine Chapel. They both thought very highly of each other.