The thin and crispy crust pizza was delicious, much like what they've begun to serve at Italian restaurants in America. 
As evening drew nigh, the sun still beat upon us.  "Midsummer here is the equivalent of hell," said Mhairi as she saw some of us drooping. 
From the air-conditioned bus after the pizza party, she introduced us to "plane trees" that were posing everywhere with naked trunks.  Plane trees were originally imported from Albania, she said.  They lose their bark as they grow and it's the strangest thing to see.
As darkness finally closed in on us, we stepped off the bus to admire the impressive view of Bernini's Colonnade lit up for the night.  This building, commissioned by Pope Alexander VII in the late 17^th century, was one of the newer architectural masterpieces we were to see in this ancient city of Rome.  It made me wonder if Victoria's new Clocktower and Kid Talk buildings were built to last four centuries into the future.
This longest day had begun for us in Minnesota on Saturday morning, September 2^nd.  It now closed for us in Roma on Sunday night, September 3^rd.  Our internal clocks woke us up widely on Monday, September 4^th, at 3:30 a.m. 
By 8 a.m. we were scooted off toward Vatican City where we encountered our first of many flights of stone stairs.  There was no provision made 2,000
years ago for people with disabilities, and there were also no provisions made for those on tour in 2006 who might have wielded a complaint.  This tour was not meant for people weak in either mind or body.

Continued in Sue's Album. 
Click Here:  Italy 2006.