Day 3: Friday, May 9: Most of the students were able to get a good night's sleep. It's tough to spend time enjoying the sights on lack of sleep, but it's especially tough to walk long distances and pay attention to information. Isn't sleep deprivation a torture technique? Well, we left the hotel about 8:30 a.m. and walked a few blocks to see Santa Maria degli Angeli, a church that had been a Roman bath in ancient times but was converted to a church with help from Michelangelo. From there we jumped on the Metro (after another warning about pickpockets) to head to the Vatican. This is Filiberto's third trip to Rome in the past four weeks. First he took the regular semester-long group, then last week he had a special field study from the University of Oregon, and today our group. I thought Rome was pretty crowded but he said it was so much worse last week. The beatification of two popes was two weeks ago and the crowds were still pretty big. It made maneuvering around the Vatican pretty difficult. We visited the Vatican Museums only hitting a few highlights, the Sistine Chapel, climbed the dome of St. Peter's, and visited the basilica (including the tombs on the lower level) all before stopping for lunch at 3 p.m.

Filiberto explained that we had to do it that way to avoid crowds. Going from our paid admission to the Museums to the dome to the cathedral meant we were able to avoid a good deal of the line of people waiting for each. Leaving at any point would have meant a long reentry time. A skilled administrator like Filiberto is invaluable to an experience like this. And while I'm on the subject, Kim, Angelica and I were working pretty damn hard, too. It was not easy keeping our group together in the crush of the crowds. At some points in the Museums I could not see our entire group because of the crowds. My role on these excursions is border collie trying to keep the group together. Thankfully Kim and Angelica were also doing the same thing so between the three of us we managed. Anybody who thinks I'm just over here having a good time has no idea. Yes, I'm having a good time - but it's a lot of work, too. After a lunch break we then toured St. Peter's square, the Trevi Fountain and Spanish steps. When we got back to the hotel, we had spent 10 hours out touring (with a 75 minute break for lunch), most of which we had spent on our feet. We again had dinner together and the students were a little more lively. Clearly a night's sleep - and a day together - made them more convivial. After dinner, a former Iowa State student and his wife met us for a drink. Jason and his wife just happened to be vacationing in Italy. In 16 years since I left ISU I had not seen him in the US, but we met in Italy. It was great catching up.

Day 4: Saturday, May 10: We had all of our stuff out of our rooms by 9 a.m. We went to the Campodoglio, the Roman Forum (this time from above), the Pantheon, Piazza Navona (my favorite square in Rome) and Campo di Fiori. We ended the formal Rome tour at 1 p.m. and gave the students 3 hours to go where they wanted. At 4 p.m. they were to be back at the hotel to get their bags and walk about 4 blocks from the hotel to where our bus was waiting.  Rome's streets are a mess and there was no way a bus could make to to our hotel. It was at this point when they understood the value of packing light. In my role as border collie I brought up the rear behind a student who was really struggling with her stuff. She had a wheeled suitcase she pulled by a strap, but it kept tipping over because it was not balanced, and because of the condition of the streets and sidewalks. Our driver is someone I know from our previous Italy trips, so it was really a feeling of "heading home" when I got on that bus.

There were only 2 or 3 students who made it the whole way without nodding off. I felt sleepy but there was no way I was going to miss out on the Italian countryside. Our route. We drove across the mountains and saw the tallest peak of the Apennine range. In our short drive we saw quite a diversity of landscapes, including the Adriatic Sea. Even though actual driving time is under four hours, we made a couple of stops. Experience has taught Filiberto not to go more than a couple of hours with a group of students without taking a bathroom stop. We finally reached the hotel about 9:30 p.m. and got all the students checked in. They seemed pleased with the accommodations, which are much more modern than their Rome hotel. Also they were 3 and 4 to a room in Rome, and now they are all in doubles. With an odd number of females, one got a single. She was pretty excited about that but for fairness we will probably have to rotate that room among them.