As we learned when we left Belgium, in such situations mixed feelings are the best possible scenario: sad to be leaving where you are, but happy to be returning to where you were.
First we went through a tunnel that led to the mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian. 
Then we went into the mausoleum.
Then we saw the urns that the burnt emperors were put in, but I am yet to be burnt.
This is what they would shoot at enemies.
Then we got a nice view.
Then I was Romulus.
**Sophie
As I mentioned in the post about our visit to Florence, one thing we did was to hike up to the church of San Mineato. While there, we spent some time looking around the graveyeard, which is filled with remarkable monumental tombs. 
What is remarkable is not so much the artistic quality -- indeed, some boarder on the kitschy -- but the eloquent outpouring of emotion they represent in both word and image. 
We also puzzled over this image that was part of a set depicting the various guilds in the city:
At first we thought it might be for the brain surgeons' guild, and this was some sort of primitive brain surgery done with a pick. But then we realized that the child was a statue and that this was for the stone carvers.After this we went to the Science Museum. Unfortunately, most of it was closed for refurbishing. We did get to see the exhibit on Galileo's telescope, as well as this cool clock: 
We also stopped by Dante's house:
Near it is the church he attended, where his Beatrice is buried. There are baskets of petitions by her grave; I guess she's been informally canonized:
After lunch we went to the Duomo area, first passing by a workshop where they repair and make reproductions of the Cathedral's sculptures: 
Maureen and the children climbed the Dome; I thought I'd give my creaky old knees a rest:
We went to the much under-appreciated Museo del Opera del Duomo, that has many of the original sculptures from the Duomo, baptistry and campanile:
A personal favorite of me and Maureen is Donatello's prophet Habakkuk, known as Il Zuccone or, more or less, "Pumpkin Head":
Also by Donatello is his harrowing Mary Magdalene, which depicts her near the end of her life, after years in the desert:
The museum also contains Ghiberti's original panels from the east doors of the baptisty, which Michelangelo dubbed "The Gates of Paradise":
A personal favorite is this depiction of John the Evangelist, that looks strikingly like Russ Eidson, my friend from highschool:
Footsore and filled to the brim with culture, we retired to our hotel, the wonderful Nuova Italia run by the Viti family. It was where we stayed when we would bring students from Belgium and it was nice to be able to come back to a semi-familiar place. Unfourtunately, the street was torn up with sewer work and there was an, um, distict odor in the air outside.
For dinner Denis got the biggest Florentine steak you've ever seen. Thomas and I split one.
The next day we started out at the Uffizi, which is overwhelming. 
By the end of two-and-a-half hours we were punch-drunk with art. They don't allow you to take pictures of the paintings, so we bought postcards and took pictures of them:
In order to counteract the effects of too much art, the family did the Hokey Pokey on the Ponte Veccio (or at least that's what it looks like):
On the other side of the Arno river, Thomas got pasta with lobster for lunch, which he approved of:
We also discovered a Pinocchio shop:
We spent the afternoon walking up to the church of San Miniato, which provided the great views of the city:
The church itself is very nice, and has a very cool graveyard, that I'll blog about separately:
Back in Florence in the early evening, we did a bit of street shopping:
And Sophie and Denis and I took a quick look inside the Duomo baptistry, which has a spectaular ceiling:
After a quick dinner, we caught our train back to Rome, just a little bit tired.
--Fritz
Maureen
The entry to San Clemente from the street.
Inside the atrium, which offered a respite from the busy medieval streets before entering the church.
The interior of the church built in the 1100s, now somewhat baroquified.
The spectacular apse of the upper church.
A crucifix in the upper church.
The excavation of the 4th century church (with a restored 19th century altar).
To support the church built in the 1100s, supporting walls were built around the columns in the ruins of the 4th century before it was filled in.
A fresco from the 1000s in the remains of the 4th century church, painted not too long before it was burned, depicting St. Clement.
Also in the 4th-century excavations is the grave of Leonard Boyle, OP, former prefect of the Vatican Library and, more importantly, one of the few people in the world who could read Thomas Aquinas' handwriting!
Down on the 1st century level: the altar to the god Mithras.
Dr. Laura Flusche, teaching in the first century.
--Fritz
When he came back in, he was further inspired to write a couple more haikus about Denis' morning, and Denis then replied. The result was the following exchange. Maybe you can figure out who wrote which parts.
Denis Morning
Throbbing feet and back
Doric, Ionic
Now it is my turn
and headed off on a three hour bus ride to Naples. We arrived in Naples, and spent a whirlwind six hours seeing as much as we could (see my dad's post below for more details). We then got back on the bus for a two hour drive to Sorrento. Driving around the bay, we saw one of the more beautiful sunsets I have ever seen. As we wound our way along the streets, shifting between closely packed houses and scenic views of the Mediterranean with the sun sinking lower and lower, reflecting bright orange off the water, we were informed by David Dawson-Vasquez, the program director, that there was an Irish pub and a karaoke night at another local bar.
When we came back, we decided not to try and catch a ferry to the nearby island of Capri, and instead enjoyed a leisurely lunch with David, and then went for a walk down to the shore. While Denis only got a little wet playing in the sand, 
Sophie felt a need to wade into the painfully cold Mediterranean, 
and got her pants thoroughly wet before we went into town to look at some of the inlaid woodwork that Sorrento is famous for. 
We then went to Mass in one of the coldest churches I have ever been in. Despite the cold, Sophie, Denis, and I all kept nodding off during the homily. After Mass, we went back to the hotel in time for Sophie to change, and went up to dinner.
we woke up, ate breakfast, and went to the bufala farm (see Sophie's entry below for more details),before turning home.
As we drove back to Rome, I realized how much I had enjoyed the last few days. I don't know if it was the beautiful, peaceful town, or the fact that I was able to hang out with people who were not family members, spoke English, and were between the ages of fifteen and thirty, or some of both, but I think that it was the best couple of days I have spent since we came to Italy.
Every time we moved on to a new group of animals, a large number of the college students (always girls, I believe) squealed. First we saw the milkable cows- buffalo cows, not the black and white variety (squeal). After that, we saw the pregnant cows (slightly louder squeal) and the first time pregnant cows (still louder and shriller squeal).
Next came the 6 month old babies (squeals so loud and frequent that the poor buffalo were rather startled), then the 3- to 15-day-olds (you guessed it- squeals).
After the buffalo, we visited the piglets, then sat down to a huge and delicious lunch (consisting, as all proper Italian meals do, of an appetizer, pasta course, meat course, and desert). 
After lunch, we got to wander around for a while (Denis and I raced through a field of knee high grass and visited the horses and donkeys), then we got back on the bus and left.
**Sophie
After that we went to an ancient bar. The wine sure had fermented. Then we went to the door of a big house of a senator. Then Dr. Flusche told us about how being an ancient Roman senator was like being an ancient Tony Soprano. When you do somone a favor they owe you a favor. Then we went to the forum. It was alot like the forum in Rome but much smaller (and if Vesuvius erupts and you want to watch, go there).
Finally we went to the house of the fawn. It was really big.
It's hard to judge a city on a single afternoon, but it certainly felt different from Rome -- more Mediterranean, I suppose. Maureen said that with its crowded, narrow, chaotic streets it had an almost third world feel too it. I'm sure the Neapolitans wouldn't like that characterization, but something about it rang true to me.
We arrived in the late morning and did a quick walking tour of the historic center, including a palace that the Jesuits (naturally) had turned into a church.
We had a lunch of unbelievably good pizza (a Neapolitan invention) that made Denis sad because he said that now he would never like pizza in America again. 
Then we browsed in the various shops, which had peculiar Punch (as in Punch and Judy) figures that we supposed to bring good luck (this one apparently brings pizza as well), 
strange figurines that seemed to be people being consumed in the fires of hell, 
and the famous Neapolitan Christmas creche figurines, including US presidential candidate to put next to baby Jesus.
Late in the afternoon we toured the incredible collection in the Archaeological Museum, ably guided by Dr. Laura Flusche, who teaches art and architecture to the Loyola/CUA students in Rome.
Particularly magnificent was the mosaic of Alexander the Great defeating Darius of Persia.
We arrived in Sorrento and continued our adventures, but I'll let someone else tell that part of the story.
