The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. EDITOR’S NOTE: Ledger Publisher Cody Sossamon recently returned from a 10 day trip through Italy — from Venice to Rome — along with 13 family members and friends. This is the seventh and final article in a series.

On Friday, July 9 ( Day 9) we said goodbye to our wonderful home for a week — Passo d’Elefante — and headed out to Rome’s Fiumcino airport where we were to return our cars and take a 14 passenger van to our hotel in the heart of Rome.

Traffic on the A1 superstrada wasn’t too bad until we got on the outskirts of Rome and then it got a bit hectic, but nothing like trying to drive in Rome itself. That’s why we hired the van WITH a driver.

The most difficult thing about the drive was trying to find the Hertz rental car return. There was no sign pointing the way anywhere around the airport. After circling a couple of times our lead driver stopped to ask a policeman. Luckily he spoke a little English and pointed us in the right direction.

Inside view of the Colosseum. Our driver met us at the Hertz office and whisked us to our hotel in no time. Well, Ok, about 30 minutes.

The Grand Hotel de la Minerve is perfectly located, only 50 yards from the Pantheon, one of Rome’s greatest and best preserved attractions. It has been in continuous use for all its 2,000 years first as a pagan temple and since the 7th century as a Roman Catholic church. At 142 feet high and the same diameter, it is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome.

Just steps away from the entrance of our hotel is the Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva, one of the most important churches of the Roman Catholic Dominican order in Rome. It’s not much to look at from the outside, but once inside visitors are spellbound by its beauty.

Outside street view of the Colosseum. The center of the Piazza della Minerva is home to the famous Bernini elephant sculpture, a base supporting one of 11 Egyptian obelisks in Rome. Since these attractions were so close and could be explored at our leisure, we headed on foot to the Colosseum after checking in at the hotel. Along the way we marvelled at the many ancient ruins that continue to be uncovered and expanded, such as the Forum, ancient Rome’s center of commerce and government.

Our group separated at the Colosseum, as my family toured it on a previous trip. While the first-timers went in to see where gladiators fought 2,000 years ago, we walked a few blocks to the the Circus Maximus, where chariot races were held (can you say Ben Hur?). We walked past the Arch of Constantine and under a huge aquaduct that supplied water to the grand residences of the Palantine Hill, which overlooks the Forum. There’s not much to see at the Circus but you can make out where the ‘race track’ was.

The Roman Forum with the Palentine Hill in the background. We had dinner at a restaurant a few blocks from the hotel and all was good until the bill arrived. After we had broken it down (the waiter spoke absolutely ZERO English) there were a few discrepancies in what we had been charged and the prices on the menu. We finally decided it was easier to pay the extra than to argue over a few euros. (That’s because my bill was correct!)

Just outside the restaurant, the Rome Police orchestra was having a concert in a beautiful square with a gorgeous church for the backdrop. Some of us stood around and listened for an hour or so while others took a carriage ride to see some of Rome’s beauty (can you say Trevi Fountain?) by night. The music was free. The carriage was not. I opted for the music.

The Pantheon. Saturday, July 10, the last day of our trip: We had reservations for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel the next morning and once again decided to walk the mile or so rather than pay for a cab ride. Per instructions, we walked past the very, very long line waiting to enter and went straight to the reservations door. That saves us about three hours! Words nor pictures can adequately describe the manmade beauty filling the rooms and halls of the museum leading to the Sistine Chapel. One could spend days admiring the four miles of displays with thousands of sculptures, paintings, wall hangings, frescoes, religious artifacts and so much more. After about an hour and a half of open-mouthed gaping, we entered the Sistine Chapel.

Inside view of the Pantheon. Wow! It’s all about the ceiling, which some say is Michaelangelo’s crowning achievement. I agree with some, whoever he is. The Sistine Chapel is the site of the Papal conclave, the process by which a new Pope is selected.

The room is very crowded and visitors are urged not to stay more than a few minutes and picture taking is strictly forbidden (Pam Lester of our group paid no attention and took some anyway. See her photo of the ceiling on page 1B.)

We had cappuchinos and snacks at the museum before making our way to St. Peter’s Basilica.

The basilica is enormous and is the richest and most impressive church on earth. As travel guru Rick Steves says, “To call it vast is like calling God smart.” The dome is the biggest and the tallest structure in Rome. No building is allowed to exceed the height of St. Peter’s. Even though we were among thousands of tourists, there was no sense of crowding. Unbelievably beautiful artwork is EVERYWHERE.

St. Peter's Basilica. We strolled back to our hotel, where we rested a while before splitting up to explore the surrounding streets and piazzas.

Everyone was on their own for dinner (room service for me club sandwich - same thing all three times I have stayed there) and a little more exploring before turning in and getting some sleep before an early wake-up call and drive to the airport to catch our 8:30 a.m flight back to good ol’ Gaffney.

The 14 of us spent 10 days in Italy (12 if you count plane travel days) and to a person had a ball! I hope you have enjoyed reading about our exploits and looking at some of our pictures. My hope is that maybe, just maybe, you will be encouraged by us to take that trip you’ve always dreamed about! Go ahead and do it!
Inside view of St. Peter's Basilica.
Our 'gang' posed for a group picture on the staircase of Passo d'Elefante.
The Fountain of four Rivers in Rome's Piazza Navona, one of the world's most famous city squares. It is topped with an Egyptian obelisk.